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The Bruins mean business. After barely surviving the first round matchup against the Toronto maple Leafs in a miraculous game 7 comeback, the Bruins now find themselves in the Stanley Cup finals. That game 7 against Toronto included a 3 goal 3rd period rally to tie and force overtime, which was eventually won on a goal by Patrice Bergeron.

Since then, the Bruins have won 8 out of 9 games defeating the New York Rangers 4-1 and most recently the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 4-0 sweep. This came as a complete shock to a lot of people, especially with home ice advantage in favor of the Penguins. The Bruins rolled into Pittsburgh and out scored the Penguins 9-1 in the first 2 games of the series taking a 2-0 lead heading back to Boston. Game 3 was a much closer contest which finally came to an end nearing the conclusion of the 2nd overtime period. The final result was 2-1 after Jaromir Jagr stripped the puck from Evgeni Malkin at center ice, tapped it up to Brad Marchand who skated it down the left wing, and threw it to the front of the front of the net which was deflected in by Patrice Bergeron. Tuukka Rask turned aside 52 shots in the game and came up huge on many occasions. Onto game 4 once again in Boston, and it was a scoreless first 2 periods in an evenly matched game to that point. Then finally there was a goal as Adam McQuaid put one top left corner past Tomas Vokoun, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead which they would eventually hold on to. The Penguins surged late though with the goalie pulled, and with Tuukka Rask down on the ice with about 40 seconds left, it looked like the game would be tied. Zdeno Chara would have none of that though, as he sprawled in front of the shot and made a glove save to preserve the lead and the game for Boston.

So now the Bruins will wait for their opponent to be known as the Western Conference finals are currently 3-1 in favor of the Chicago Blackhawks. They will try to defeat the LA Kings in Chicago in game 5 to clinch their own Stanley Cup berth and earn the opportunity to compete against the Bruins for the Stanley Cup championship. Chicago would be a similar matchup to the Bruins as the Penguins were, but only time will tell.

The only thing that is certain is that the Boston Bruins have gone against the odds and have now cruised into the Stanley Cup finals. As they coasted into the playoffs with no sense of dominance, many people had written them off to lose in each of the last 3 playoff series, but they’re still here. Domination has become a lot larger theme when talking about the Bruins, as they have only gotten stronger as they have advanced themselves deeper into the NHL playoffs. With continued stellar performances by Tuukka Rask, and the evenly distributed play by the Bruins forwards and defensemen, the sky is the limit. Another Stanley Cup championship could soon be coming home to Boston.