NHL play-off preview – Buffalo Sabres v Boston Bruins
This season was always going to be about defence for the Boston Bruins, especially after they traded away Phil Kessel to Toronto.
And with their place in the play-offs secured, barely, the game plan against the third-seeded Buffalo Sabres remains the same, defence, defence and some more defence.
Buffalo are the better team and with Olympic silver-medallist Ryan Miller in goal the Sabres should be well matched against the offensively challenged Bruins. However, the Bruins do lead the season series between the two four game to two, including they latest game last Thursday.
Boston’s defence may be somewhat overrated considering Buffalo only conceded seven more goals than their first-round opponent and they will hold the big advantage in the goalkeeping department.
Having an Olympic silver medallist in goal will really settle Buffalo down allowing them to play their natural game. Boston, however, will have rookie Tuukka Rask net minding after he legitimately won the job from Tim Thomas during the regular season.
Though he led the league with a .931 save percentage Rask only played 45 games this season and his save percentage was only .002 better than second place who play 24 games more than him. Care to take a guess who was runner-up to Rask? Yup, Ryan Miller.
Sabres teammate Steve Montador thinks Miller’s drive to be the best will be a key factor in how the series is decided. "This guy, he wants to be the best, he practices to be the best,” he said. “He talks about being the best. Not in a cocky ‘I'm better than anybody,' with a sense of entitlement, it's, ‘I want to be the best. Don't you want to be the best with me?'”
"What he represents is true grit and character of a winner. No matter what, he's going to give it his all. If it doesn't attract you, there's something wrong with you,” Montador added.
If the Bruins are to advance they will have to look out for Thomas Vanek who had 58 points during the regular season and centre Derek Roy who led the team in points scored with 69.
They will also have to compete without their best attacking player Marc Savard who will miss the entire play-offs with a concussion, an injury they didn’t need.
They say championship winning teams are built around a strong defence, but those teams normally have a standout offensive threat, the Bruins do not and for that reason it will the Sabres who advance to the next round.
Prediction: Buffalo in six.
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