NHL and NBA Postseason Check-In

The NBA and NHL playoffs have begun. Boston and Washington D.C. sports teams are 4/4 for clinching playoff berths this season. However, it’s a tale of two cities as Boston holds early series leads while the Washington teams continue to struggle in the playoffs.

Davis Pastrnak, 21 years old, dominates the playoffs with 9 points in 3 games

The 2^nd seed Boston Celtics are facing the 7^th seed Milwaukee Bucks in their first round Eastern Conference matchup. The Celtics won an overtime thriller in Game 1 by a score of 113-107 and then handled business on Tuesday defeating the Bucks by 14 to take the 2-0 series lead. Although Boston holds the second seed in the East, they are heavily undermanned after critical injuries to Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The team’s young stars are rising to the occasion early in this playoff series.

Terry Rozier has been a key player to fill the roles of injured stars

The 2^nd seed Boston Bruins play the 3^rd seed Toronto Maple Leafs in their first round Atlantic Division matchup. The Bruins dominated the Maple Leafs through the first two games at home winning both games by 4 goals. However, the energy created by a rowdy Toronto crowd was too much for Boston to handle as they dropped Game 3 by a score of 4-2. The young phenom, David Pastrnak, is dominating the series with 9 points at only 21 years old. Pastrnak leads the NHL playoffs in points through 3 games of play.

Bradley Beal needs to increase offensive production to match Raptors' stars

The 8^th seed Washington Wizards squeaked into the playoffs to face the 1^st seed Toronto Raptors in their first round Eastern Conference matchup. The Wizards lost their first two games in Toronto by giving up triple digits in points in both games. Their defense has been lackadaisical and will be crucial to fix as they head back home for Game 3 this Friday. Hopefully John Wall and Bradley Beal can match the offense produced by the Toronto Raptors’ stars.

Artemi Panarin stuns the Capitals with a Game 1 overtime goal

The 1^st seed Washington Capitals play the 1^st Wild Card seed Columbus Blue Jackets in their first round Metropolitan Division matchup. The Capitals lost back to back overtime heartbreakers at home before heading to Columbus on Tuesday. Last night, the Capitals got a lucky bounce off the skate of Lars Eller in double overtime in a must win game to cut Columbus’ series lead in half. The Capitals have struggled to hold regulation leads blowing several two goal leads in this series.

Although the first round matchups are just underway, Washington D.C. and Boston sports teams seem to continue to write their own script in playoff history for their respective cities. Washington’s struggles show their lack of confidence whereas Boston continues to breed confidence through the banners that cover the ceiling of the historic Boston Garden.