Bean: If I'm the B's, give me the Penguins to start the playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Bruins will find out their first-round opponent over the next couple of days.
Get a point against the Islanders and it's the Capitals in a 2-3 matchup. Lose in regulation to the Islanders, and their fate will come down to Tuesday's regular-season finale to see if they end up getting the top-seeded Penguins instead.Any good team should feel confident no matter who they play in the first round, but this has been a weird year for the Bruins. They looked flawed for much of the season, but have been reinvigorated by a strong trade deadline, better health and the play of Jeremy Swayman potentially pushing Tuukka Rask.But both Washington and Pittsburgh are loaded with guys who have been there before. Either series should be challenging, even though the Bruins are 4-1-2 against Washington and 5-3-0 against Pittsburgh.
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Bruins playoff picture: Where B's stand in tight East raceOn paper, the choice would appear easy. The Capitals are the lower seed and the Bruins have tortured their goalies en route to a solid record in the season series thus far. I wouldn't be too quick to want the Capitals, though.Washington is banged up and has the aforementioned questions in net, but also feels like a team of destiny. Everyone might have been screaming about Tom Wilson last week, but the Rangers ended up feeling the effects of that ordeal far more than Washington did. If the Capitals are smart, they'll treat last week as adversity they overcame, not too different from the Bruins surviving Canadiens fans calling the cops on Zdeno Chara back in 2011.
| Bruins 5-on-5 Stats | vs. Capitals | vs. Islanders | vs. Penguins |
| Shot Attempt % | 54.74 | 54.64 | 51.62 |
| Shots on Net % | 55.37 | 54.95 | 55.43 |
| Goals For | 17 | 10 | 13 |
| Goals Against | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Scoring Chances For | 128 | 167 | 132 |
| Scoring Chances Against | 113 | 144 | 154 |
| Save % | 0.912 | 0.913 | 0.914 |
The Penguins finished the regular season by winning nine of their final 11 games. They score like mad men (their 3.45 goals per game ranked second in the league as of Sunday night; the Capitals were fourth), led by a 62-point season from Sidney Crosby. I fear the intangible stuff with the Capitals because everyone hates them, but you've also got to consider that the Penguins are reaching a "these guys won't be here forever" point with their core of Crosby (33), Evegni Malkin (34) and Kris Letang (34).On paper, Pittsburgh is the tougher opponent, partially because they know who their goalie is. Tristan Jarry isn't anything special, but he has been against the Bruins. Though he's just 2-2-1 in his five games against the B's this season, he's posted a .931 save percentage and 2.18 goals against average with one shutout in those games. Jarry has performed better against Boston than against any other team this season.Capitals goalies can't say anything of the sort. Vitek Vanecek has started most of Washington's games, but he has an .896 save percentage and 3.19 goals against average in six games against Boston this season. He was pulled in the second period of the teams' March 5 meeting, a 5-1 Boston win. Ilya Samsonov, who's currently in COVID-19 protocols, has an .871 save percentage against the B's in parts of two games.I don't care, though. I fear the Capitals more, even if both teams are beatable opponents. The season series against Washington, which concludes Tuesday, has been great, but it feels like a playoff series between the teams could go either way.Plus, if Chara shuts down Boston's scorers, we'd never hear the end of it. Give me the Penguins and hope the Capitals tire themselves out against the Islanders.
