After completing the winningest regular season in National Hockey League history, the Boston Bruins begin the Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday in quest of the NHL’s ultimate prize.
The Bruins set NHL records with 65 triumphs and 135 points, but in many ways it will be seen as a failure if they can’t win 16 more games and capture the post-season crown for the first time since 2011.
“There’s numerous statistical metric you can look at that make the season special, but for me it’s how much those guys care about playing for each other,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.
“We appreciate what we’ve accomplished. The beauty of sports is you have to have a short memory because we’ve got to move on. We start from game one and that’s all our focus is now.”
The Bruins will host the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven opening round playoff opener when the post-season begins on Monday.
The Panthers and Ottawa were the only NHL clubs to beat the Bruins twice this season, splitting the season series with two victories in South Florida and two defeats in Boston.
“Every game was tight,” Montgomery said. “And their transition offense is something that has been excellent for three years and continues to be so.”
“They are a really good team, a dangerous team,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to have to be at the top of our game if we want to have success.”
Other first round series in the East send the Toronto Maple Leafs, chasing their first Stanley Cup since 1967, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, seeking their third Cup in four seasons; division champion Carolina against the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers.
In the Western Conference, defending champion Colorado faces second-year expansion side Seattle, Dallas will meet Minnesota, the Vegas Golden Knights will take on Winnipeg and NHL goals leader Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers open against the Los Angeles Kings.
“It’s exciting,” Montgomery said. “This is the best time of the year when you get ready for playoffs.
“As a coach, it’s where you do a lot of adjustments. It’s where you try to get your players to elevate their game and believe what they do on the ice is going to make a difference.”
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron missed Saturday practice for what Montgomery called “extra rest”
Linus Ullmark, the NHL’s top goaltender with a 1.89 goals-against average, worked out after being out a few days with an injury.
“We don’t have any issues with him,” Montgomery said. “He was out there in practice, and I thought he performed well.”
Boston’s only prior playoff meeting with Florida came in 1996, when the upstart Panthers ousted the Bruins in the first round.
Boston right wing David Pastrnak scored 61 regular-season goals, second only to McDavid’s 64 and one shy of Jaromir Jagr’s single-season record for goals among Czech-born players.
But the time for pesonal feats is over and the moment for chasing the Stanley Cup has arrived.
“My thoughts are totally somewhere else than 60 goals right now,” said Pastrnak. “I had my fun when I scored it, I enjoyed it. My thoughts are totally somewhere else now.”
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