NHL Playoffs 2021: 3 reasons Bruins will win the Stanley Cup

The red-hot Boston Bruins are finally clicking and are on the path to winning the Stanley Cup.

Entering the 2020-21 season, everyone figured the Boston Bruins would be one of the best teams in the competitive MassMutal East Division. While it took them a while to start looking like the team everyone thought they would be, the Bruins are finally looking like a true Stanley Cup contender.

It remains to be seen where they will finish in the MassMutual East Division, but seeding shouldn’t be overly important in that division. No matter what, whoever emerges from the division is going to have to beat two great teams. Considering the Bruins are by far the most battle-tested of the Capitals, Penguins, and Islanders, having played the most playoff games of any team in the last five years, they’re a good bet to emerge from the chaos.

Here’s why the Bruins have what it takes to bring the Stanley Cup back to Boston.

3. Trending up

To win the Stanley Cup, you need to be playing strong entering the playoffs. This will be especially important this season because, as I mentioned earlier, the MassMutual Division is going to have four very strong teams in the playoffs. There won’t be much time to get into playoff mode.

Luckily for their Bruins, they’ve been playing some pretty impressive hockey as of late. Entering May 5, they have won 10 of their past 13 games, with only one of those games going into overtime. Five of those games have been against either the Islanders, Capitals, or Penguins, and they’ve gone 4-1-0 in those five games.

Since acquiring Taylor Hall at the trade deadline, the Bruins have gone 14-3-2. He’s given their second line a much-needed boost. With David Krejci, Hall, and Craig Smith together on the ice at 5v5, Boston’s outscoring their opponents 12-1 in a shade under 150 minutes. If they can keep it going, the Bruins are going to have two top-tier forward lines, which will make them very hard to stop.