Bruins Sweep Hurricanes, Punch Ticket To Stanley Cup Final
BOSTON (CBS) -- For the 20th time in franchise history, the Boston Bruins will be playing in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Bruins punched their ticket after completing a sweep over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. Tuukka Rask continued his excellent run, making 24 saves and earning his second shutout of the playoffs in the series-clinching win on Thursday, while David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron each scored a power-play goal in the second period for Boston.
Bergeron added a third-period tally midway through the final period, before Brad Marchand scored an empty-net goal with 2:17 remaining in regulation to make the score 4-0.
This marks the third trip to the Stanley Cup Final for the Bruins in the last nine seasons. Prior to 2011, the Bruins had not reached the Cup Final since 1990.
The Bruins now await a winner out of the Western Conference, where the San Jose Sharks currently own a 2-1 lead over the St. Louis Blues. Game 4 of that Western Conference Final will be played on Friday night, and the earliest a series winner could come would be Sunday. Game 6, if needed, will be played Tuesday, with a spot for a potential Game 7 set for Thursday, May 23. For the time being, the Bruins at least know they can rest through the weekend.
The Bruins have won the Stanley Cup six times in their history, most recently in 2011. The other Cup wins came in 1972, 1970, 1941, 1939 and 1929. There's a chance for a championship rematch this year, as the Bruins defeated the Blues in 1970, when Bobby Orr famously flew through the air after scoring the series-winning goal.
Players on the current roster who played during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Blackhawks include Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Tuukka Rask. Of those six players, four played in the 2011 Cup Final -- Chara, Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci -- while Rask served as the backup goaltender for that championship run.
The Bruins made it this far by coming back from a 3-2 series deficit in the first round against the Maple Leafs, winning Game 6 by a 4-2 final score in Toronto on Easter Sunday and then winning Game 7 on home ice by a 5-1 final.
In the second round, the Bruins were once again in a hole, trailing the Blue Jackets 2-1 through three games. The Bruins then kick-started what turned out to be a seven-game winning streak, outscoring Columbus 11-4 over the final three games, ending that series with a 3-0 win in Columbus in Game 6.
Prior to winning Game 4 against the Hurricanes, the Bruins rallied from a 2-1 deficit through the opening two periods of Game 1 at home, scoring four goals in the third period en route to opening up a series lead. The Bruins poured it on with a 6-2 win in Game 2, before narrowly earning a 2-1 victory in Game 3 in Carolina.
The schedule for the Cup Final has not yet been released. But unlike in 2011 and 2013, the Bruins will have home-ice advantage this time around. Game 1, whenever it is played and whomever it is played against, will be played in Boston.
