Boston Bruins vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
On March18, when Boston and Pittsburgh faceoff emotions will be running high. Marc Sevard’s regular season was ended by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke with a concussion after a shoulder to head hit, for which Cook received no punishment.
The league has suspended Cook three times in the past, twice for head hunting and once for spearing. The scouting reports on Cooke are that he does have trouble with timing big hits but is a good disruptor of the opponent’s offensive flow. However, thoughts of retaliation could prove costly.
Boston is jockeying with Montreal for the number seven seed in the East and is coming off of a seven game road swing. A negative effect down the road would have been by the temporary shift in priorities. While Boston averages 2.31 goals per game, the Penguins offensive output is 3.05. The Bruin offense converts on 7.6% of shots on goal while the Penguins ring up 9.4% while attempting 140 more shots this season.
Defensively, a slight advantage has been by the Bruins. Boston’s save percentage is 92% compared to Pittsburgh’s 90.1% while facing 77 more shots this year than Pittsburgh while the Penguins give up 2.83 goals per game.
Only 2.37 are surrendered by Boston. Boston has a power play conversion rate slightly better than the Pens and is also much better at killing penalties. The key for Boston is defensive focus. Limit Pittsburh to 25 shots and the Bruins win. If Pittsburgh throws multiple shots on the net, the Penguins go home winners.
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