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

2. Stifling defense

Scoring goals is certainly useful in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After all, the entire objective of hockey is to score more goals than your opponent. When you score goals, you’re more likely to score more goals than your opponent. Imagine that! But it’s also important to be strong defensively.

Defense has traditionally been a strength of the Bruins. They have a laundry list of all-time great defensemen. Though they recently parted with long-time captain Zdeno Chara, their current group has lived up to the incredibly high bar set by the big man.

As of May 5, Boston’s been undeniably terrific in their own end. According to Natural Stat Trick, here’s where they rank at 5v5 in some key categories.

• CorsiAgainst/60: 49.07 (4th lowest)
• ShotsAgainst/60: 26.35 (4th lowest)
• Expected Goals Against/60: 1.92 (4th lowest)
• Scoring Chances Against/60: 23.23 (6th lowest)

On top of that, no team has been better on the penalty kill than the Bruins. They have the highest kill rate in the league (86.2%) and they also have the lowest expected goals against per hour rate while shorthanded.

Charlie McAvoy has been brilliant this season and should get quite a few Norris Trophy votes. Matt Grzelcyk, when healthy, has been very good. Mike Reilly has quietly been one of the better trade deadline acquisitions this year, averaging over 20 minutes a game for the Bruins.