National Hockey League Playoff Game Capsules

Boston, MA (Sports Network) – The Boston Bruins are back in the Stanley Cup finals. For the second time in three years, the Bruins will fight for the coveted chalice after Adam McQuaid’s third-period goal gave the team a 1-0 win and a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. Backed by a stout defense and a 26-save shutout from Tuukka Rask, his second of the series and the playoffs, Boston capped a remarkable conference finals performance that saw the team allow just two goals to a high-powered Pittsburgh offense. The Bruins now await the winner of the Chicago/Los Angeles series in the Western Conference and will be going for their seventh Stanley Cup championship in the history of the franchise. Boston defeated Vancouver in seven games to win its last championship in 2011. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, failed to advance to the Cup finals for the first time since winning it all in 2009 — the third trophy in the history of the franchise — despite having some of the best offensive players in the game. Superstar captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were held without a point in the series, as were late-season additions Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow. Tomas Vokoun, who had played admirably in the playoffs after relieving an ineffective Marc-Andre Fleury in the Penguins’ opening-round series against the Islanders, made 23 stops in the final game of the postseason for Pittsburgh.

Categorized in: NHL