Boston Bruins Tickets

Boston Bruins 2010 Playoffs Preview After coming into last year's postseason as the top seed, the Boston Bruins had to fight just to reach the 2010 NHL playoffs this time.

The Bruins earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they will have to take down the Buffalo Sabres to advance past the first round.

Boston does come into the playoffs with at least a little bit of momentum after their season-ending victory over the top seed Washington Capitals. The Bruins managed to win despite playing without a few key players.

It will be interesting to see what Boston decides to do in goal for the playoffs. Tim Thomas has less than a handful more starts than Tuukka Rask, and the latter has been more effective. Rask's goals against average and save percentage are significantly better than that of Thomas, as is the team's record when he is the starter.

Boston will have its hands full with the opponent's goaltender as well when they square off against Buffalo's Ryan Miller. Miller is one of the top goalies in the world as he demonstrated during the Olympics.

Boston has a number of players who can find the back of the net, but no real star who can put the team on his back and carry them along for the ride. Zdeno Chara is a very talented player, but Marco Sturm was the leading goal scorer with just 22 tallies on the season.

Boston and Buffalo are both challenged in the scoring department, so tight, defensive-minded games are likely throughout the series. Then again, most Eastern Conference playoff games involving teams from the Northeast tend to go that way.

The Bruins are certainly not a fluke after last year's stellar regular season, but it's going to be tough to overcome Miller and Buffalo's home ice advantage. That said, if they can get past Buffalo, a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals is not out of the question.