Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings Preview, Score & Results

Frank Doyle has previews and predictions for all of the NHL playoffs’ opening-round series. This time he breaks down the Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings. Check out all of Sports Interaction’s Stanley Cup odds here.

Odds: Boston Bruins -351, Detroit Red Wings +236

Boston Bruins:

The Boston Bruins enter the playoffs as the Stanley Cup favorite, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. They have postseason experience, size, toughness, depth and tremendous goaltending. This is a team that can beat you a variety of different ways and understands the rigours of the NHL postseason. The Bruins have six 20-goal players and a pair (Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla) who hit the 30-goal plateau. Iginla has been a perfect addition to this team that is filled with high-end playoff performers including David Krejci, Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand.

Other NHL playoff series previews and picks:

Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Anaheim Ducks vs. Dallas Stars

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings

Detroit Red Wings:

The fact that Detroit made the playoffs for the 23^rd consecutive season is staggering, but the Wings could be overmatched here. Detroit managed to survive injuries to Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Stephen Weiss, Johan Franzen and Daniel Cleary throughout the season. Gustav Nyquist helped ease the pain once he was called up from the AHL, but it remains to be seen how a somewhat inexperienced Wings team deals with the Bruins. Detroit must stay extremely disciplined and take advantage of power play opportunities. The Wings need to frustrate Boston with their puck-possession game and avoid turnovers while supporting goalie Jimmy Howard as much as possible. In short, they have to be pretty close to perfect.

Key factors:

Jimmy Howard is the man wearing the bulls-eye in this series. He signed a fat contract extension last season and the Wings pay him the big bucks for these situations. Howard not only can’t let in a bad goal or two, but will have to carry his team. If he stands on his head and the Wings win the special teams battle, they have a chance, but they’re going to need some breaks.

Prediction:

Even if the Wings were healthy, this is a bad matchup for them. With an inexperienced lineup and goaltending concerns, this is the Bruins’ series to lose.

Pick: Boston Bruins win in five games.

Results:

Game 1: 1-0 Detroit

Game 2: 4-1 Boston

Game 3: 3-0 Boston

Game 4: 3-2 Boston