from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

This may not be the center of the hockey universe 4-6 weeks from now, but it is at the moment, and it doesn’t look like the Bruins are about to change anyone’s mind. At least not any time soon.

The Blue Jackets are the best team in the Stanley Cup playoffs at this hour, and they showed that with convincing force and competitive push Tuesday night with their 2-1 win over the Black and Gold that gave them a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.

Three laps into Round 2, all three games have been settled by a goal, the first two in overtime. All close encounters of the Cup kind. But the Blue Jackets showed in Game 3, before a roaring, snorting, and cannon-blasting sellout house of 19,337, that they can continue to keep the Bruins’ best offensive players quieter than Crane Beach on a frozen January morn, and that their goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky (36 saves), has the early inside edge for the Conn Smythe trophy as postseason MVP.

continued

Below, Tara Sullivan also of the Boston Globe plus the game highlights and Brad Marchand being Brad Marchand...