For the third consecutive season, the Boston Bruins have won a playoff round and will be advancing to the eastern conference semi-finals. Their quest to win their first Stanley Cup since 1972 will continue when they play against the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Bruins had relative success against the Flyers during the regular season, the players and coaches still have bitter memories of last year’s playoffs when they lost four straight games to the Flyers after winning the first three games of the series.
Both teams were seeded higher going into the playoffs than last year, when the Bruins finished the regular season in sixth place and the Flyers finished seventh. This year, the Flyers finished second in the eastern conference while the Bruins finished third.
The biggest obstacle is both teams recently finished grueling seven game series in the first round of the playoffs. The Bruins beat their arch rival, the Montreal Canadiens, in overtime in game seven while the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres in game seven.
The Bruins are hoping that playing on the road will lead to success like it did against the Canadiens. After losing their first two games on home ice, the Bruins got back in the series by winning two straight games in Montreal. Since the Flyers have home ice advantage in the series, the Bruins will have to continue to win road games in order to advance to the eastern conference finals.
The Bruins will play game one in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 30 at 3pm. The game will be televised nationally on NBC.