Is Home Ice an Advantage for the Bruins?

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 18, 2010 11:25 AM EDT

Now that the have Bruins tied their series with the Buffalo Sabres at 1-1, it now shifts to The Hub of Hockey for Games 3 and 4, but is playing in front of the Causeway Crowd an advantage for the Bruins? A loud and boisterous crowd of guys named Sully and Murph should be a huge edge for the hometown team, but this is the team that finished the season with a mediocre 18-17-6 home record and went over two months without a home win.

Looking deeper at the numbers, in many respects the B's played better at home during the regular season despite their record:

	Home	Road
Goals For	99	97
Goals Against	97	94
Power Play Goals For	30	14
Power Play Goal Against	16	21
Shorthanded Goals For	4	2
Shorthanded Goals Against	3	1
Power Play %	19.4%	12.7%
Penalty Kill	88.9%	83.6%
Record	18-17-6	21-13-7
Team +/-	-12	+10

Of course, this is the playoffs. So, you can threw out all the regular season numbers and wipe the slate clean. This is a whole new season and you can be sure that The Garden will be packed on Monday with fans rooting for the Black & Gold and creating a difficult environment for the visiting Sabres.

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I think the Sabres will take one game here. Bruins still win the series in seven games.

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by bestbostonsports on Apr 18, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

I think whoever wins the next game wins the series. Boston at home I don’t think matters one way or the other, not this season.

by MattS on Apr 18, 2010 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

So does that mean they win Game 6 or one of the two upcoming?

by 13_Legion on Apr 19, 2010 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I will go on record to predict that if the Bruins can score another 3 goals tomorrow on the same PK, that they’ll win the Cup this year. This prediction made April 18, 2010, 10:52 PM (EST).

by j3rockstar on Apr 18, 2010 10:52 PM EDT reply actions

I’ll go on record saying that if the Sabres can score 45 goals on the same PP they’ll win the cup 8 seasons in a row.

"The horse jumped over the f#@king fence."
- KV

by TEMSON on Apr 19, 2010 8:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Now that's just silly...

…the minor PP would end after one goal….Geeeeeez. LOL

by j3rockstar on Apr 19, 2010 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions

That’d be one mighty MAJOR penalty for sure!

by 13_Legion on Apr 19, 2010 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

well played

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Helping of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Apr 19, 2010 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

"In many respects the B's played better at home"?

I don’t know about that…

Looks like the power play was a lot better, and penalty killing a bit better. Everything else looks pretty even, except plus/minus. That home +/- is just sad. Then again, a lot of that probably has to do with that ugly home losing streak earlier in the year.

by Fizrat on Apr 20, 2010 11:54 AM EDT reply actions