Here's How Bruins Can Beat Sabres In Round 1 NHL Playoffs

Boston Bruins center Alex Steeves

Here's How Bruins Can Beat Sabres In Round 1 NHL Playoffs originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Bruins were not supposed to be a playoff team in year one under new head coach Marco Strum. After losing six straight in the first month of the season, they were further written off in what was falsely labeled a rebuild year.

But after going 11-3 in the first month of the new year, Sturm’s Bruins shaped into a contender in the East. They finished the season with the fifth most wins in the Eastern Conference and are now preparing to take on the first-place Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It’s a tall task, but given the Sabres' track record, it is perhaps the best draw in the playoff pool. ESPN writer Rachel Kryshak outlined how the Bruins can go about besting the Sabres.

“Make no mistake, the Sabres are very much the Cinderella of the NHL this year,” Kryshak wrote. “But the thing about Cinderella is, the clock always strikes midnight.

“Can the Sabres stave off a goaltending fall back to Earth, a power play that does not produce, or finishing that dries up when scoring chances are more difficult to come by? If they can, the glass slipper might fit.”

Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been unhuman since he took over full-time in net after went down with an injury.  He is 11-2 in net since the Olympic break and is hardly allowing two goals per game.