WILMINGTON — With one last day of NHL regular-season games left Saturday, it looked as though the Bruins [team stats] would match up against the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs.
Three specific outcomes were required to change things: a Washington Capitals win against the New York Rangers; a New Jersey Devils victory against Ottawa; and the Florida Panthers earning at least a point against the Carolina Hurricanes.
And 1-2-3, that's just how things happened, setting up the Bruins for a clash with the Capitals instead of the Senators in the opening round.
"It just seemed like the chances were so great there for a while that it was going to be Ottawa," B's goalie Tim Thomas [stats] said. "I can only speak for myself, but in my own mind I did kind of game plan for Ottawa over that last week."
But now, starting with Game 1 on Thursday at the Garden, the Bruins face a richly talented Capitals club that has some of the best firepower in the league, a new dedication to two-way play under coach Dale Hunter and, as usual, questions in goal.
The B's and Caps always seem to play tight games, often decided in overtime. The Caps won the season series with a 3-1-0 mark, with one win in overtime.
"Obviously they have a potent offense," Thomas said. "They, a little bit, had our number this year, but that doesn't mean anything going into the playoffs, as we know from the past."
Indeed, past impressions of the Capitals may not have much bearing on the current team. First, top center Nicklas Backstrom (40 games played due to concussion) and No. 1 defenseman Mike Green (30 games played due to abdominal surgery) are back in the lineup.
And the Caps look different under Hunter than they did under Bruce Boudreau, who was fired in November.
"Under Hunts, I think it's a whole different personality," B's coach Claude Julien said. "I played with Hunts a little bit in Quebec. He's a no-nonsense guy. He just goes and does his thing, and he really doesn't care about anybody or the perception. He goes and he does what he thinks is right.
"We all know that Bruce was a little bit more a guy who wanted to work with the guys, share things. So they've had a little bit different situation."
In years past, if you could stop superstar Alex Ovechkin, you were a long way toward beating the Caps. Now, they're much more balanced.
"They're a team that is very capable of playing solid, two-way hockey," Julien said. "They've got their guys scoring, and they've done a good job at defending, as well. They never got enough credit for how good their defensive game has gotten over the year. They've gotten a lot better at that.
"As we all know, they gave us some tough games this season. Maybe at times we weren't at our best. Lately, the games we played against them were tight, close and well played."
Most experts pick the B's to advance. A key reason: The experience they gained last year during their march to the Stanley Cup.
Julien spoke at length about how valuable that was.
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