The Boston Bruins have hired Jim Montgomery as their new coach, giving the hockey lifer another chance at an NHL head-coaching job less than three years since he lost his first one.
You can make an argument for each of the four players on the list, and how their successes or failures directly impact the team's wellbeing. But only one can be crowned MVP of The Hub.
Whether they win the Finals or not, the C's are positioned to compete for a return to this point in upcoming seasons. Can we say the same about the other three teams that call Boston/New England home?
Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots, and Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for Boston in the sixth straight blowout for the home team. Charlie Coyle also had a goal and an assist for Boston, and Erik Haula and Derek Forbort added third-period goals before Curtis Lazar backhanded the puck into the empty net with 4:17 to play to make it 5-1.
Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help the Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists, including the tiebreaker early in the third period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Sunday to even their first-round playoff series at two games apiece
Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal to give Boston its first lead against Carolina all season. Then he added a pair of assists to help the Bruins hold on and beat the Hurricanes 4-2 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night.