NHL Playoffs 2012: Will the Game 5 Winner Take the Bruins-Capitals Series?

In the entire Claude Julien era, which is on the cusp of rounding out its fifth season, the Boston Bruins are 22-9 in playoff games held at the TD Garden. With a nearly identical 23-9 record at Joe Louis Arena, only the Detroit Red Wings have fed off their fanbase better in that same time frame.

Since the start of the 2010 playoffs, the Bruins have gone 16-6 in postseason home games—a run unrivaled by any NHL team in that span.

If they thrive on and add to that telling statistic in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Washington Capitals, the Bruins ought to be in a comfortable position by Saturday’s final siren.

Even if they subsequently fail to close out the Caps in Washington on Sunday, all but three of their current players can recall last season, when Game 6 losses in Montreal and Tampa Bay were both followed by series-ending triumphs at home.

With a hypothetical 23-9 home playoff record under Julien and three straight Game 7 victories from last season, they ought to be the favorites in the event of a rubber match next Wednesday.

On the flipside, the Bruins could be victimized by their mysterious aversion to afternoon games and perilously hand the momentum to Washington.

Between the 2011-12 regular season and postseason, the Bruins are 6-9-2 in games starting at 4 p.m. local time or earlier. Three of those regular-season wins were polished off in a shootout and the latest loss was a 2-1 double-overtime decision last Saturday that drew a 1-1 knot in this series.

With the rare, rapid, one-day turnaround between Games 5 and 6, momentum ought to be a greater factor than usual as the series nears its climactic stage. And the last thing Julien’s pupils want is to lend the Capitals their first upper hand of the series entering the first elimination game, which will be played at the Verizon Center.

Before they even converge on Causeway Street on Saturday, Boston buffs may also want to root for the NHL’s other black and gold bunch Friday night. Should the Pittsburgh Penguins extend their series with the Philadelphia Flyers once more, Game 6 of that series along with that of the Boston-Washington card will be played on Sunday.

In turn, it is safe to speculate that the Keystone State clash would get NBC’s afternoon time slot while Bruins-Capitals would be slated for sometime after 7 p.m. on the NBC Sports Network.

As trivial a matter as it may seem, the evening puck-drop could be a boon for the Bruins. But naturally, it will mean next to nothing if they are not the ones seeking to polish the series off in hostile territory.

Unripe Washington goaltender Braden Holtby has already waged two valiant battles with Tim Thomas in the two-time Vezina and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner’s domain. For his effort, Holtby boasts a 1-1 record with two goals against over a pair of overtime games at the Garden.

Give him a chance to steal a second road win in three tries and hustling back to play Game 6 at home will be Holtby’s equivalent of a baseball slugger sliding the doughnut off his bat.

As of Friday morning, Holtby trails only Vancouver’s Cory Schneider―who has played in two fewer games―for the NHL’s best playoff save percentage at .953. His Capitals have yet to trail at any point in the first or second period of a single game in this series and he has yet to let a deficit swell beyond one goal.

The Bruins, who tied Philadelphia for second in the league with 3.17 goals per game, are simply not flexing their characteristic strengths. Their depth is only showing in the form of secondary scoring via blueliners, third-liners (although Rich Peverley is presently rostered as a top-sixer) and fourth-liners.

Boston went 32-0-0 in the regular season when leading after two periods, making itself the only NHL club not to spill a single point in the standings in that situation. Yet it has not had a lead to safeguard at any intermission so far in the playoffs.

Whether or not the Bruins replenish their familiar persona on Saturday could be the X-factor in what has now been reduced to a best-of-three affair.

To do that, they will need to wake up early and smell the aroma of anticipation generated by their 17,565 rooters.