Defending champion Bruins meet Caps in first round

To a man, the Bruins players often point to one thing when asked about head coach Claude Julien’s biggest strength behind their bench: unflappability. From his ability to re-instill confidence in a team that squandered a 3-0 series lead to Philadelphia in 2010 to how he kept his team focused last season when facing 2-0 deficits in two playoff series, including the Stanley Cup Final, Julien has time and again shown he’s never going to panic. That resonates with everyone in the dressing room.

Julien has also become adept at tweaking his lines when his offense or defense needs a boost, and also at matching his top defensive pair and/or top forward line against the best offensive players on his opponent's squad.

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup last season without much of a power play. Their man-advantage showed up now and then, but for the most part was non-existent. They might be looking at attempting to duplicate that feat this postseason.

Despite offensive stalwarts like Seguin, Krejci and Chara, Boston’s power play was in the middle of the pack all season, finishing with a 17.2 efficiency rate. The power-play units also showed a propensity for lengthy goal droughts.

Ever since Julien’s second season, the Bruins’ penalty kill has been one of the best in the NHL. Bergeron, Marchand, Peverley, Kelly, Paille and Campbell form three great pairs that make life easier for Thomas. This season, Boston killed 83.5 percent of its man-disdvantage situations.

Milan Lucic, Boston -- The left winger was slowed by a broken toe during Boston’s 2011 Cup run, but he still produced five key goals and a dozen points while answering the bell for all 25 postseason games. He’s heading into the 2012 postseason mostly healthy and playing some of his best hockey, finishing with 61 points. While he didn’t match last season’s goal total, he’s still the Bruins’ biggest tone-setter with both his prowess around the net and his physicality that takes a toll mentally and physically on opponents.

Mike Green, Washington -- This has been a season to forget for Green. He’s missed time with multiple injuries after a great start, and since returning his production has disappeared. He can still be an impact player for the Capitals, both on offense and on the penalty kill, and an uptick in offense from him could make Washington a far more dangerous team.

The Bruins will win if … Tim Thomas is his usual all-world self in goal and Boston’s balanced offense, led by some players with streaky tendencies, can grind out enough goals in support of the club’s stingy defense and goaltending.
 

Capitals will win if... They have all of their stars playing at an optimal level -- when Washington was a favorite in the past three seasons, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green were never playing well at the same time during the postseason. The situation in goal will receive a lot of attention, but a few strong weeks from that quartet of stars could help the Caps find previously unrealized postseason success.