The Pittsburgh Bruins, and Playing Well in March…

Let’s take a second and compare the Pittsburgh Penguins of 2013 and the Boston Bruins of 2014:

The Similarities are Stunning

March of 2013, the Penguins won 15 games outscoring opponents by 27 total goals. March of 2014, the Bruins won 15 games outscoring opponents by a 33 total total goals. Pittsburgh’s stretch saw four shutouts. Boston’s stretch saw three shutouts. The Penguins won the Eastern Conference in early April of 2013; Boston has clinched the Eastern Conference with multiple games to play still in the regular season. And lastly, both teams started the month of April off rough dropping a couple of games and playing poorly.

Carl Soderberg Bruins
In consecutive respective years, the Pens and Bruins have had exceptional months’ of March. But can it continue?. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Pittsburgh has since said that last March was to easy for them and they didn’t feel that they were ready for the playoffs, in particular the series with Boston. If you flip the scale and examine Boston in March of 2013 and the Penguins in March of 2014, you see a lot of the same trends. Boston struggled last March before hitting their stride and winning the Eastern conference. Pittsburgh has seen nearly all of their talent sidelined by injury and have dropped a few try ugly hockey matches. Could it be that the tables have turned in 2014?

The Common Factor

Jarome Iginla
Nice to see you again, Jarome. (Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports)

I can’t finish these comparisons off without mentioning the one common factor between these two teams: Jarome Iginla. Iginla was supposed to go to the Bruins a year ago and then decided against it last minute. Iginla played well for the Pens, but nothing extraordinary. He then signed with Boston in the off-season and during the month of March played absolutely incredible. But is Iginla carrying a curse with him? He is, after all, one of the few great NHL legends who will likely be first ballot Hall of Famers, but have never won a cup.

There is a reason why they play the game. As of now, all of this is speculation, but as everyone is taught in grade-school, history tend to repeat itself. Watch out Boston, the Pens are bringing the brooms.

Be sure to jump into the action on twitter by using the hashtag #THW.

1 thought on “The Pittsburgh Bruins, and Playing Well in March…”

  1. Well, if Pitt sweeps Boston that wouldn’t be history repeating itself would it? History repeating would be if Boston sweeps Pitt. Think about what you write before you let millions of people read it. You’ll look better as a writer that way. Anyway, Pitt will choke like they always do, they’ve proven that they are inept when it comes to playoff hockey. They simply can’t win when it counts and have no idea what the definition of team is. Not a good way to go about trying to win a cup.

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