With Everything to Play For, Rask Sits Out (Illness) & B's Predictably Fall Flat on Their Face

Before the all-important game against the Senators (38-35-9) had even started this afternoon, you knew that something was up when the Bruins (42-31-9) called up goaltender Jeremy Smith from Providence on an emergency basis. Apparently Tuukka Rask was very sick and after taking a few shots during warm-ups, he simply couldn't continue. He left for the dressing room, never to be seen again today (and possibly much longer this off-season). If you can believe it, things only got worse from that ominous beginning as Ottawa blasted Boston 6-1 in the regular season finale at TD Garden.

This isn't to say that backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (30 saves) is solely to blame for the loss. In fact, I don't think the outcome wouldn't have been any different with Rask in goal since Boston's terrible defense had to remind everyone once more just how hopeless they were for most of this campaign. Plus the B's finished under .500 at home this season (17-18-6; only other Eastern Conference teams to do that were Buffalo and Toronto). Still, if it was just an illness (bad sushi?) for Rask-the franchise goaltender-you can understand why he'll be hammered on the radio and TV for months if not years to come around here.

The Bruins actually scored first as David Pastrnak made it 1-0 at 5:04 (the second straight game that he'd opening the scoring) on a goal that looked offside but it was reviewed and held up for once. Brad Marchand and Max Talbot assisted on Pastrnak's 15th goal of the season as he got behind Ottawa's defense and then beat Andrew Hammond (39 saves) upstairs. Boston led 1-0 after the first period but they were outshot 17-10 so you knew that eventually the roof would cave in if they kept allowing that many quality chances.

Sure enough, the mighty Senators (who had nothing to play for but pride) hit the B's with a flurry of four goals in a span of 8:18 in the second period to put it way out of reach already. It was a microcosm of Boston's disappointing season as goon Chris Neil outhustled them to jam in the tying goal at 1:42, Nick Paul and Ryan Dzingel assisted on his fifth goal of the season. After that, Ottawa scored three virtually identical goals all on re-directed shots. Zach Smith tipped in Erik Karlsson's shot at 5:54 for his 24th goal of the season and Karlsson's NHL-leading 66th helper with Fredrik Claesson picking up the second assist. Less than three minutes later, Puempel re-directed a pass from Phil Varone with Buddy Robinson (are those real people?) for his second goal of the season. Mika Zibanejad put the final nail in Boston's coffin by tipping in a pass from Mike Hoffman at 10:00 for his 21st goal of the season. Bruins head coach Claude Julien took his timeout but by then, it was long over and you have to feel the same way about his storied tenure in Boston (remember he is the team's all-time winningest coach).

Other than rookie defenseman Colin Miller's fight with Mike Kostka, the Black and Gold showed barely a pulse or any semblance of heart in the third period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Smith both added empty-netters as Julien tried to coax a goal out of his power play unit but nothing worked in this miserable performance for his club. Ironically, Detroit (41-30-11) lost 3-2 at the Rangers (46-27-9) this afternoon which meant that a Bruins win would have gifted them third-place in the Atlantic Division. Instead the Red Wings clinched a playoff spot for the 25th straight season (extending their American pro sports record). Now the B's are down to their last hope: they need the Flyers (currently tied 1-1 at Pittsburgh in the second period) to lose today and also tomorrow night at the Islanders (45-26-9). If Philly is able to scratch together two points between those two tilts, they will get the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference and the rough prize of the Capitals (55-17-8) in the first-round of the playoffs.

If Boston doesn't get that aforementioned miracle and they miss the postseason for the second year in a row, there is no chance that Julien keeps his job here again, right? Clearly, it is not all his fault that the front office made some terrible moves (trading for Jimmy Hayes, not having more NHL-ready defensemen, etc) and many of his players underperformed but he tapped dance past the firing line last summer and I don't think that he could make that magic happen again, especially so soon thereafter. This franchise has so many issues at the moment but unfortunately for Cladue, getting rid of him would be the easy first move for GM Don Sweeney.

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After Hanging 7 Goals On Ottawa, I'd Say That Boston is Officially Ready for the Winter Classic

For a Tuesday night game in late December, you couldn't have asked for much more entertainment (that is if you support the home team) than Boston's (20-12-4) insane 7-3 victory over Ottawa (18-13-6) at TD Garden. Jimmy Hayes scored his first career NHL hat trick while Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey each added two goals apiece. What's more, near the end of the contest there were five (count them five!) legitimate fights. It was a taste of Old Time Bruins Hockey as the B's can now fully turn their attention to Friday's (1, NBC) much-anticipated Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium vs. Montreal (21-15-3).

The Senators were coming off a 3-1 win against the Bruins on Sunday night in Ottawa but they looked nothing like that club as Boston scored a season-high four power play goals (their most since 4 on Oct. 3, 2009 vs. Carolina). Improbably, the B's top-ranked power play continues to chug along (they are 30 for 102 on the season = 29.4%) while their usually strong penalty kill is finally starting to catch up (4-for-4 tonight) and they began the game 13th in the league. The two points were important since it allowed Boston to go up two on Ottawa (with a game in hand). The Bruins are also one point ahead of Detroit, one behind Montreal and two behind first-place Florida. The top six teams in the Atlantic Division are only separated by six points.

It was the exact same goaltender matchup from Sunday as once again Craig Anderson (30 saves) took on Tuukka Rask (29). I guess that Ottawa really didn't want to play backup Andrew Hammond at all since Anderson was hung out to dry and kept in for the entire beating. Hayes fittingly opened the scoring at 8:01 when a good bounce allowed him to tap the puck in from close range. Kevan Miller assisted on Hayes' sixth goal of the season. One of the few things more improbable than a Hayes goal was Senators tough guy Chris Neil tying it at one but that's what he did at 12:31. Rask left him a juicy rebound and he deposited it for his second goal of the season with assists to Shane Prince (Tayshaun's little brother?) and Max McCormick. Bergeron got his first goal of the contest (and first on the power play) at 16:25 when he put in a shot from the slot. Torey Krug (back after missing one game with an undisclosed injury) and Ryan Spooner had the assists on Bergeron's 13th goal of the season.

Unlike Hayes, Beleskey created many chances earlier this season but similarly couldn't find the back of the net with much regularity. Hopefully that'll change as well as he scored a power play tally at 1:21 from Brett Connolly (1st point in 12 games!) and Brad Marchand (who could be suspended after a low bridge hit in the first period). Beleskey's sixth goal of the season was followed by Mika Zibanejad who cut it to 3-2 late in the second (17:51). Neil and Prince assisted on Zibanejad's seventh goal of the season.

Bergeron's second power play goal came at 2:38 of the third period and it gave Boston another two-goal lead (4-2). Krug picked up his second helper while Seth Griffith (called up today with David Krejci on IR) got his first point of the season. Mike Hoffman's shot went off Dennis Seidenberg's skate which confused Rask and trimmed Boston's advantage to 4-3 at 4:22. Hoffman has 18 goals (who knew?) while Eric Karlsson (32 assists) leads the NHL in assists with Marc Methot getting credit for the other apple. Hayes finished a 2-on-1 with Max Talbot at 15:49 then 51 seconds later, Beleskey smoked a one-timer from Spooner. Loui Eriksson sneakily got assists on both of those as he became the third Bruin to reach 20 assists this season (joining Krejci who has 22 and Bergeron who has 21). The hat trick came with 0.2 seconds left in regulation aka garbage time (haha also on a power play) but Hayes will certainly take it. Frank Vatrano and Dennis Seidenberg assisted on the goal that set off a steady stream of hats (ironically the team had given away winter hats today) onto the ice.

Bruins-Canadiens doesn't need an introduction and in case you need a little review on their storied history, turn on NESN, NBCSN or the NHL Network for the next few days. Friday's game is always the showcase event for the league on New Year's Day and with the College Football Playoff the night before, I predict this edition gets its best rating yet (if you're into that kind of thing, which you're probably not). A little snow would be nice but with temperatures expected to be in the low 40s, it should be a virtually perfect atmosphere for the best rivalry in the NHL and one of the greatest in professional sports.

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Apparently Back-to-Back Games in the NHL are Tough, Who Knew?

Boston came into Ottawa tonight riding high after their overtime win over Columbus last night (hold your laughter) and a four-game winning streak. It turns out that all dreams go to die at the perfectly lame titled Canadian Tire Centre. The Bruins (12-6-1) fell 4-2 to the Senators (8-7-4) after building up a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period but then doing absolutely nothing else but self destructing.

Things looked swell early as Loui Eriksson got another one of his phantom goals at 6:03. He "tipped" Matt Bartkowski's shot from the point for his fourth goal of the season, also assisted by Patrice Bergeron's faceoff win in Ottawa's zone. Brad Marchand played like his old self for a shift, weaving around the Senators' defensemen and wristing the puck by Craig Anderson (30 saves) at 9:50. His third goal of the season was assisted by Bartkowski and Eriksson.

Ottawa got some life by an unlikely source: goon Chris Neil who received a cupcake of a turnover (sorry to mix my desserts) from Torey Krug. By scoring with 50 seconds left in the first period and cutting it to 2-1, he swung the momentum to the home team's side.

Neither club did much in the second period so fast forward to the third where the B's tripped all over themselves (or something worse) while the Senators pounced on Tuukka Rask's (27 saves) worst game of the season.

Jason Spezza kicked off three goals in 8:39 for Ottawa when he finished a beautiful slap pass by Erik Karlsson at 1:32. After tying it at two, Ottawa never looked back as something named Jared Cowen's shot from the point beat Rask (it deflected off Johnny Boychuk's stick and went through Rask's five-hole) at 5:42. Not content for that to be the final gaffe, Bobby Ryan mugged Reilly Smith and took the puck away like nothing. His snap shot went off the inside of the post and in at 10:11, goodnight Bruins!

Boston gets two days off before they play in Carolina on Monday (7, NESN). Yes that's right, the Bruins meet the Hurricanes (8-7-4, 3rd in Metropolitan Division) a few hours before the Patriots and Panthers kick off the second most anticipated NFL game of the weekend. Unlike New England and Carolina, not much is expected of Bruins-Hurricanes since Carolina is a blah team minus Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner. Since it is the beginning of another back-to-back (Tuesday at Rangers), I'll submit my uneducated guess that Chad Johnson gets another start on Monday.

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