By Wayne Whittaker, Boston Bruins Correspondent I’m still not 100% certain that actually happened. There’s no way. This team? They’re the ones that blow 3-0 leads. They’re the ones that underachieve, collapse under pressure, that rally late but come up empty. This was the team that was supposed to lose Monday night. But instead, here we are, ...
A lifeless Bruins team rose from mediocrity to play their hearts out for one another and for themselves. They battled back from a three-goal deficit with 10 minutes to play in the game to force an overtime. The confidence and energy of the players on the ice were as high as any time in the playoffs thus far. The Bruins were winning Game 7. And nobody saw it coming. Not even me.
The Boston Bruins can’t play like they did in Game 5 because if they do, there’s going to be a Game 7 and if there’s a Game 7–well, that’s not good.
The team has this problem with complacency. They start out strong, get ahead of their opponents, and then they stop. Everything stops, actually. They stop skating, stop hitting, and stop any type of effort that helps them to maintain a lead. It has been apparent in games this season and now the Bruins are doing it in the playoffs.
So here we go again.
By Mike Miccoli In Game 2 on Saturday night, the story wasn’t that the Bruins couldn’t keep up the momentum, it was that the Maple Leafs played on a higher level, looking like a different team than Game 1. As for the Bruins? Well, they just weren’t good enough. Make no mistake about it though, ...
With a record of 20-7-3, the Boston Bruins are currently sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, two points back of the division leading Montreal Canadiens (with a game in hand), and second only to the Pittsburgh Penguins in terms of goal differential (+22.)
With only a scant 18 games left to play in a shortened season, one would think that the Bruins would be a confident bunch heading down the stretch. Below the surface, however, there is cause for concern, and the Bruins have some work to do in the last week of March to avoid going into April looking more like lambs than lions.
The Boston Bruins are having a strange season. Strange in the sense that they’re considered a “struggling” team even with a top-five record in the NHL and strange in the sense that their once-sound defensive game is suddenly filled with cracks.
In conversations, columns and general musings, it has been difficult to classify this team. The Bruins have yet to really dominate a game but in the same breath, they haven’t exactly been bowled over either. They’ve made some pretty incredible comebacks but yet can’t hold a third period lead at times. Some players have looked elite at times while managing to disappear completely during stretches as well. We’ve been waiting for the team to take it to the next gear and finally break through for 30 games now. They haven’t.
It’s bad but it’s also not bad. Strange, right?
With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, it’s imperative that Peter Chiarelli add to the Bruins roster because the current team isn’t going to do much in the playoffs. But what does the team need to be successful? Glad you asked.
There isn’t much to say about the 2013 Boston Bruins that hasn’t already been said—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Prior to Tuesday night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Rangers, the team was off to its best ten-game start in franchise history (8-1-1) behind a torrid goaltender tandem, contributions from all four lines and shrewd coaching from Claude Julien. For right now, the players are clicking and the Bruins are quickly becoming powerhouses of the Eastern Conference. So why does it feel like something is missing?
Because there is.
It didn’t take long for the Boston Bruins to call upon their seventh defenseman to enter their starting lineup. On Monday’s 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets, the Bruins were forced to dress newly-acquired defenseman Aaron Johnson in place of Dennis Seidenberg, who was ruled out of the second game of the year with a lower-body injury.
Paired with Johhny Boychuk, Johnson made his presence felt early in the first period after connecting with a flattening hit on Dustin Byfuglien against the boards in Boston’s own zone. Johnson saw 15:14 minutes of ice time in his first game as a Bruin while spending time on the penalty-kill.
“Well if there’s one area (where) I would say that our depth is extremely good, it’s on defense.” This is a quote from Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien from Monday afternoon. Reports indicate he wasn’t smirking or showing any signs of sarcasm at the time. In game #2 of the Bruins season, their second-best defenseman ...
The Boston Bruins approach the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season as a favorite in the Eastern Conference. With talent and experience throughout the lineup – and a few dynamic youngsters including top scorer Tyler Seguin and rookie Dougie Hamilton – the B’s should contend for a second Stanley Cup in three seasons. In this, ...
