Haggs: Boston Bruins Look Playoff-Ready In Recent Battles |BHN+

There is no denying that Saturday afternoon’s black and blue matinee between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning had a heavy, physical and intense playoff feel to it between the two rivals in their fourth and final regular season meeting.

The Bolts were undoubtedly in an irritable mood amidst a road losing streak and it seemed both teams wanted to make a forceful statement ahead of a potential Stanley Cup playoff series a month or so down the line. The Boston Bruins showed they’re not fooling around either, though, in a 2-1 win over the Lightning at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon where the two divisional foes were literally throwing punches right off the game’s opening faceoff at center ice.

The good news from a Boston Bruins perspective is that they showed they’re loaded with heavy artillery in the playoffs if any team decides to start an alley fight in the middle of a playoff series.

That doesn’t happen as much as it did in the old-time hockey days, obviously, when teams would chase each other back to the locker rooms.

But there have been times in the recent past when the Black and Gold found themselves getting pushed around in the postseason without the right personnel to forcefully push back.

That was addressed by the “all in” Bruins with the additions of hard-hitting Garnet Hathaway and heavy defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the Washington Capitals along with a gritty forward from Detroit like Tyler Bertuzzi, who doesn’t mind banging bodies around the net looking for offense.