5 reasons the Boston Bruins will win the Stanley Cup in 2019

The Boston Bruins begin their playoff journey against a familiar foe in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here’s why they’ll get through the series (and go on to win the Stanley Cup).

The Boston Bruins are coming into the playoffs hot. Aside from missing Kevan Miller (What would a Bruins run be without dealing with at least one defensive injury), the team is as healthy as they have been in years. In 2019, Brandon Carlo will see his first NHL playoff action!

Add all of this up: Brad Marchand cracked 100 points, David Krejci is playing as well as he ever has, David Pastrnak is healthy and as deadly as ever, Jake DeBrusk is having himself a great sophomore season and Patrice Bergeron is playing like the best Patrice Bergeron of his entire career. Both goaltenders have been magnificent this year and defensively, the Bruins have three very capable pairings. Together, this team has as good a chance as any at a Cup.

I wrote essentially this same this article last year. Unfortunately, the B’s ran out of gas when they met the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018. This team just feels different, though. Toronto is better, Tampa Bay is better, but this Bruins team is also way better than they were last season. Let’s review what gives them the advantage this season, compared to last.

5. Goaltending

Last year, I wrote this: “The Boston Bruins are fortunate enough to have not one, but two starting goalies this season.” No disrespect to Anton Khudobin but the general consensus is that Jaroslav Halak is an upgrade at the backup goaltender position. His play this year solidifies that point.

Halak has a ton of experience, both as a starter and a backup. He’s having his best season in eight years, sporting a .922 save percentage and a 2.32 goals against average through 40 games. Most importantly, he’s someone the Bruins can feel comfortable putting in (and keeping in for multiple games) if Rask struggles against the Maple Leafs.

That’s no shot at Tuukka, either. I’m one of the few who supports Boston’s starting goaltender, who is also statistically the second best goaltender in NHL history, to the fullest extent. Rask will get the job done this year, as he has through the back half of the regular season. Rask’s .912 save percentage is slightly misleading because if you take out his rough start, the number is much higher.

The goalie-by-committee trend seems to be gaining momentum across the league. It’s important to have a hot goaltender in the playoffs, but a team’s chances skyrocket if that goalie can be one of two potential starters. I’m going to steal this final paragraph from last year’s article, because it works perfectly this year:

“Both goalies are more concerned with helping their team win than they are with personal accolades. This will go a long way if either of them gets hot during the upcoming playoff run. Look for Boston to primarily run with Rask as much as possible, but don’t be surprised if Khudobin Halak goes in if Rask struggles.”