Tomas Kaberle

History Won’t Be Made: Bruins’ 3-0 series lead is different this year

By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent

As I type this, the Boston Bruins are about to take a 3-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Again.

For the next two days leading up to game 4 in Boston, I’ll ignore pretty much all sports radio, television programs and fair-weathered friends who’ll no doubt text me something that includes the words “just like last season” based on the reasoning that really, this is not last season.

The Bruins have now officially beaten the Flyers 5-1 in game 3, displaying what could almost be determined as a damn near-perfect game, all topped off with a power-play goal, their first in 30 attempts this postseason. Thomas was brilliant, yet again, as all four lines played effectively, developing chances in the offensive zone and dominating the puck through center ice. Boston was remarkable on the face-off dot winning 43 of 55 draws and landing 24 hits in what seemed like one of their most physical games of the postseason.

This is not last season.

An In-Depth Inventory of the Penguins Defensemen

Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Ray Shero wants his team to be tough to play against. On Monday morning, he invested $1.7 million in that goal by signing physical defenseman Deryk Engelland to a three-year contract extension. Engelland has just two goals and three assists in 32 games this season, but his value to the Penguins doesn’t come from the scoring department. After delivering technical beat-downs to Colton Orr and Jody Shelley, Engelland has quickly carved out a reputation as one of the league’s top enforcers.