Yes, it’s going to be a big day today in the city of Boston. Shohei Otani, the best player in Major League Baseball takes the mound for the Los Angeles Angels shortly after 11 a.m.at Fenway Park.

Then the 127th Boston Marathon, a special one indeed in the hearts and minds of many, will be winding up close by. Take a late afternoon break, and then a hockey team no one in their right mind expected to win 65 games, let alone 55, takes the ice at TD Garden with the weight of a record regular season on its shoulders. The Florida Panthers are up first to try to enforce the Curse of the Presidents Cup in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs – especially after they suffered from the curse a year ago.

Can the Boston Bruins back up their incredible, jaw-dropping regular season with a Stanley Cup? Reverse the Curse, as the Red Sox said in 2004?

You know, it sure looks like it.

“This is what everyone laces it up for,” Bruints team president Cam Neely said on Sunday after practice at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Mass. “It’s an exciting time in Boston, that’s for sure. The city’s going to be popping tomorrow.”

And the Garden will be popping tonight. The Bruins are winning because they are the deepest team in the league. They haven’t even needed Brad Marchand at full strength, as he hasn’t really been himself for much of the season after coming back from hip surgery. There’s some concern about Patrice Bergeron missing practice the last couple of days, but he’ll be out there when it counts. Think of all the injuries he’s played with over the years.

“I’ve spoken to him, he’s feeling fine,” Neely said. “I haven’t gotten into that with Patrice, what his mentalty is, but he’s a true professional, as we know.”

It’s that time. They’ll be all sorts of entertainment going on in and around the Garden. But the true fans will keep their eyes on the prize. The playoff beards will be everywhere. It’s their time.

Expect some long games. In this first round series, the Panthers know they don’t have as much talent as the Bruins, so they’ll try to goad them into taking penalties, roughing, skirmishes, etc. Anything to disrupt the flow that Boston has had.

“They have a little more agitation up front,” Neely said, noting that the Bruins have to be disciplined to stay out of the penalty box. He should know, he was both an agitator and the agitated as Boston’s premier power forward during his playing days.

Neely was no fan of former coach Bruce Cassidy, referring to some changes needed in coaching style. So the change was made in coaches instead, and that brought a new style under Jim Montgomery. It seemed to work.

“We added a little more thought with our defense getting caught up into offense, I thought that was a big change for us,” Neely said. “They could join rushes or get into the offensive zone a little bit more than in the past.”

It has been a freewheeling, free skating style but the B’s have the grit to go with it and the best blue line corps we’ve seen in years. So good that Zdeno Chara could leave for the Capitals and Islanders,then retire and run the Marathon, right?

Sure, we all know the perils of playoff hockey, facing the same team for possibly as long as two weeks, both at max effort. But it’s still hockey, right Cam?

“It’s really just playing smart,” Neely said. “I don’t think we need to change much from what we did during the regular season. It’s just playing smart and under control, managing the puck, making sure we don’t have costly turnovers.”

And avoid costly injuries. That can always change the equation.

“We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup all year, and the record speaks for itself,” Neely said. “Our depth is as good as it’s ever been.”

And the Bruins have looked better than any NHL team ever has. They just need to do it for, oh, two more months.

Bruins over Colorado in six in your Stanley Cup Final.

The Bruins just didn’t catch lightning in a bottle this year. They caught Lightning in a Cup.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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