Bruins Painfully Bow Out of the 2017 NHL Playoffs With a 3-2 Overtime Loss to the Senators

With so many injuries piling up seemingly every day to important players, we knew that the Bruins were a fatally flawed team (not to go deeper into their uneven roster to begin with). A Stanley Cup seemed very unlikely this spring but it was still a major bummer to see them lose Game 6 of their first-round playoff series today at TD Garden, 3-2 in OT to Ottawa, so the Senators took the series 4-2 and advance to play the Rangers in the second round. You won't find a much tighter six games than that since every tilt was decided by one goal including four of them in overtime(s). Ottawa went 3-1 in the extra session(s) and Clarke MacArthur forever etched his name in Senators history by scoring the power play goal that ended this one at 6:30.

You can always play the what-if game but it makes you wonder how much of a difference defensemen Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo (not to mention Adam McQuaid who was hurt in Game 2) and center David Krejci who missed Games 1, 2 and 6 would have made when Ottawa cumulatively outscored Boston just 15-13 over these six games. Boston's lack of depth eventually caught up to them along with the fact that Ottawa's power play (5-for-23, 21.7%) was better than Boston's (3-for-16, 18.8%) in this series. Senators superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson is actually playing with two hair-line fractures in his foot (surprisingly revealed by head coach Guy Boucher after this win) but you'd hardly know it by the way he played with a series-best six assists.

For only the second time in the six games, Boston actually scored first (both by Drew Stafford) but in each instance, they ended up losing in overtime which is a real kick in the hockey pants. Stafford scored a power play goal of his own at 18:13 of the first period when he blasted a shot past Craig Anderson (28 saves). Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy assisted on Stafford's second goal of the postseason. Bobby Ryan, who was also a completely random force all series-long, tied it early in the second period with a power play goal at 3:26. He tipped in Derick Brassard's shot which was also assisted by Karlsson for Ryan's series-best fourth tally of the series.

Kyle Turris gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead less than five minutes later as he ripped the puck by Tuukka Rask (26 saves) after Stafford had failed to clear the puck out of Boston's defensive zone. It was Turris' first goal of the postseason and rookie Ryan Dzingel's first career NHL playoff point. Fittingly facing elimination, the B's played one of their best frames of the entire series in the third period. They outshot Ottawa 12-3 and tied it at 1:57 on Bergeron's putback of a juicy Anderson rebound. Bergy's second goal of the postseason was assisted by Marchand and Miller. With the way that the ice was tilted their way not to mention all the momentum behind them with their home fans going wild, the Bruins should have ended it right there in regulation. You never want to leave your fate up to overtime, especially in this unwanted situation.

David Pastrnak was called for the holding penalty that preceded MacArthur's game-winner and truthfully, it was the correct call. Rask made the initial save but MacArthur was nearby to blast in the rebound for the undoubtedly biggest goal of his life. If you need something to make you feel a tiny bit better as a Bruins fan, MacArthur's career was nearly ended by concussions so this is someone that is impossible to root against if you have any sort of heart. Ryan and Brassard had the assists on his second goal of the playoffs. Karlsson dominating is one predictable outcome but who would have expected Ryan (4 goals, 3 assists) and Brassard (2 goals, 6 assists) to offensively outplay Bergeron (2 goals, 2 assists) and Marchand (1 goal, 3 assists)?

There is plenty of time to worry about the future of this team with the NHL draft, expansion draft and free agency all looming this summer. Interim head coach Bruce Cassidy said after this contest that he "absolutely wants to be here moving forward, 100%," so I think that his extension will be announced any day now. With the way that he bounced back this season, I believe that captain Zdeno Chara will want to return next fall (and not retire) but other than that, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to moves and signings although I'm confident that Pastrnak will get a long-term deal here soon.

It was great to have some NHL playoff hockey back in our lives, let's hope that it's not another three years (or god forbid more) until the next postseason appearance for the B's. With all the talented young guys, led by Pastrnak and 19-year-old rookie defeneseman Charlie McAvoy, there is plenty to be excited about. They have a bigger infusion of quality newcomers than I can ever remember in the five years that I've been covering them (for what that's worth).

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Senators Blank the Bruins 1-0 in Game 4 to Take a Commanding 3-1 Series Lead

Game 4 was right up Ottawa's boring alley: low-scoring, mostly forgettable hockey but ultimately the Senators skated away with a huge 1-0 victory this evening at TD Garden. Ottawa takes a 3-1 lead in the first round series vs. Boston and they will have a chance to eliminate the Bruins on Friday (7:30, NESN) at Canadian Tire Centre. Senators goaltender Craig Anderson made 22 saves for his fourth career playoff shutout and third in an Ottawa uniform.

After a scoreless first period (Boston has yet to score a 1st period goal in the entire series) in which Ottawa outshot the home team 14-12, things started to get bogged down in the second frame which is just how the Senators prefer it. The B's actually had some great scoring chances in the first but Anderson came flying out of the crease to stop Brad Marchand before Ryan Spooner was later stuffed on his shot from the slot. Each team was limited to five shots in the second while the Senators outshot them 8-5 in the third.

The Bruins appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 10:49 of the second when rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy's shot from the point (possibly deflected by an Ottawa stick) went by Anderson. The issue was that rookie Noel Acciari was just barely offside something like 20 seconds before the goal. The Senators' evil genius head coach Guy Boucher used his challenge and after a long review, it was rightfully overturned much to the disappointment of Bruins fans. As I said, it was the right call (after the fact), but it's frustrating when it is called a goal on the ice and more importantly, the infraction had nothing to do with the goal which happened way later.

Ottawa had won both Games 2 and 3 by the same final scores: 4-3 in overtime. When Bobby Ryan scored his third goal of the series at 5:49 of the third period, you had a feeling that the B's were in trouble. Defenseman Erik Karlsson (of course) made the goal as his slap pass was intentionally wide of the goal right on Ryan's stick. Tuukka Rask (26 saves) and Zdeno Chara nearly combined to make the puck stop on the goal-line but Ryan overpowered them to push it across. Ryan (3 goals, 2 assists) and Karlsson (5 assists) have points in every game this series. Derick Brassard was credited with the second assist on the game-winning goal (Ryan's 2nd in a row), giving him a three-game point streak (2 goals, 3 assists).

Boston was 0-for-1 on the power play in Game 4, leaving them 2-for-11 in the series. Ottawa was 0-for-3 on the power play and they are 3-for-13 in these four games. Senators defenseman Cody Ceci led everyone in ice time (25:37) while McAvoy was second (25:03), Karlsson was third (24:51) and Zdeno Chara was fourth (24:09). The Bruins won Game 1 (2-1) but they have lost three straight contests heading into Friday's tilt in Canada's capital city. No pressure right? All the B's can do is worry about that one and figure out a way to bring this series back to Boston rather than having to pack up their stuff for the summer.

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B's Improbably Rally from A 3-Goal Deficit In Gm. 3 but Once Again Fall 4-3 in Overtime vs. Senators

Playing in their first home playoff game in three years, the Bruins were so excited that they barely showed up for the first period of Game 3 tonight at TD Garden. In fact, Boston dug themselves a 3-0 hole but managed to rally with three goals in the second period before losing 4-3 in overtime on Bobby Ryan's backbreaking power play goal. The series couldn't be tighter thus far as Ottawa leads 2-1 yet every game has been decided by one goal and the last two were won by them in an overtime. The importance of winning Game 3 was apparent coming in as historically when a series has been tied 1-1, the team that wins Game 3 has won that series 67.3% of the time.

Rookie defenseman Tommy Cross made his NHL playoff debut and had an assist while rookie right winger Noel Acciari scored a goal in his first ever NHL postseason action. The Senators would never be called an explosive offense by anybody but that's exactly how they looked early in the first when they scored a pair of goals just 25 seconds apart. First the sublime Erik Karlsson connected on a long-range flip to Mike Hoffman for a breakaway that the underrated left winger finished by Tuukka Rask (28 saves) at 7:15. Derick Brassard doubled Ottawa's lead with a shot from in close, assisted by Ryan and Viktor Stalberg.

The Garden crowd was jumping from the start, it being Patriots Day and a beautiful spring day on top of that, but the B's did little to garner that love for awhile. Hoffman gave the Senators a 3-0 lead at 3:42 of the second period when he blasted in a shot from the point on the power play, assisted by Chris Wideman and Brassard. Boston punched back with a pair of goals in quick succession (42 seconds apart). Acciari tipped in John-Michael Liles' floater at 6:05 (2nd assist to Riley Nash) and then David Backes scored his first playoff goal as a Bruin at 6:47 after Ryan fell down (and lost both of his gloves in the process), assisted by Liles and Cross. By that point, the "Anderson, Anderson" chants were in full effect and Craig Anderson (17 saves) did little to calm things down when David Pastrnak smoked a one-timer by him at 13:51 for the tying goal. McAvoy and Spooner assisted on Pastrnak's first career NHL playoff goal.

The tempo along with the back-and-forth nature of this game was great and the Bruins seemed to take control in the third as they finally outshot the Senators 9-7 in that frame (after Ottawa outshot them 21-10 through 2). Boston didn't have anything to show for it though as Anderson made a nice stop on Kevan Miller's screened shot and then Hoffman hit the post with a hat trick bid. 60 minutes still wasn't enough to decide things for these chillingly even Atlantic Division clubs. Nash turned out to be the goat as he was whistled for a roughing penalty in overtime (after taking a Marc Methot elbow to the face). Boston's penalty kill survived for more than half of the two-minute power play (1:05 to be exact) but Ryan was able to work a give-and-go with Kyle Turris on the doorstep of the Bruins' net begun by Karlsson at 5:43 that gave the Sens an enormous victory on the road.

I wouldn't dive into the hot take machine and call Wednesday's (7:30, NESN) Game 4 a must-win for the black and gold since that is the laziest cliche in sports but it is ever so close. You can basically guarantee that it will be tight regardless (most likely a 1-goal game) so why not make it easier on themselves by getting off to a good start and not playing like garbage for 25+ minutes? Ottawa clearly has figured out how to get results against them and they have to be starting to creep into Boston's heads with these last two heartbreakers. It would also help if the B's don't allow two power play goals or take needless penalties on one of its best shorthanded players in overtime. Yes the call on Nash was harsh but blaming refs is never my bag so I'm going to pass on that one. There is nothing left to do but knot this series back up and return to Ottawa tied 2-2 rather than the grim prospect of facing elimination on Friday.

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Bruins Have Picked a Bad Time (mid-March) to Lose 3 Very Critical Games In a Row

Halfway through their most important week of the entire 2016-17 regular season, the Bruins (38-29-6) are in a funk. They dropped their third game in a row tonight, losing 3-2 to the Senators (40-24-8) at TD Garden. Not only did Ottawa improve to 3-0 vs. Boston this season (5 wins in a row dating back to last season) but they went up six points on the B's with a game in hand. The two teams meet one more time (April 6 here, their 2nd to last game of the regular season) but they could also collide in the first round of the playoffs if Ottawa stays in second in the Atlantic Division and Boston hangs onto third-place.

Playing in the second half of a back-to-back, the Bruins deserved at least a point after falling 4-2 in Toronto (33-23-15) last night. Boston outshot Ottawa 36-22 as Senators goaltender Craig Anderson rightfully earned the No. 1 star of the game with 34 saves in his 22nd win of the season. The Senators came in 0-2-2 in their last four contests but they never trailed this evening as Tom Pyatt deflected in Cody Ceci's shot (that then also went off Colin Miller) at 4:09 of the first period. Mike Hoffman had the second assist on Pyatt's eighth goal of the season.

David Krejci quickly answered for the Black and Gold with a power play tally at 8:57 of the first period. He was posted up near the blueline and crushed a one-timer from Ryan Spooner. Torey Krug set a new career-high in assists (41) with his helper on Krejci's 21st goal of the campaign. Ottawa's power play came through early in the second period as Kyle Turris banged in a one-timer from Erik Karlsson and Hoffman at 1:34. The Senators were 26-2-2 when leading after two periods while the Bruins were 3-21-3 when trailing after two periods so neither statistic was a good omen for the home team. Still, things looked up when Krug made a sweet move to score a Bruins power play goal 17 seconds into the third to tie it at two. It was an abbreviated 4-on-3 so he was able to take advantage of all that open ice for his seventh goal of the season.

It doesn't matter how you do it but getting no points in Toronto then no points tonight when you are tied in the third period both times is unacceptable. The Bruins blitzed the Senators in the first two frames (outshooting them 18-8 in the 2nd) but they trailed 2-1. Turris was the hero for Ottawa as he bagged his second goal and the game-winner of the tilt at 4:04 of the third. At the end of the second, Ottawa's forever overrated captain Dion Phaneuf was called for unsportsmanlike conduct which led to Krug's highlight-reel goal. Elisha Cuthbert's husband (damn him!) exacted his revenge in the third by providing the shot that Turris tipped past Tuukka Rask (19 saves). Chris Wideman had the second assist on Turris' 26th goal of the season.

The Garden crowd made it feel like a playoff atmosphere (you can tell how badly they want some playoff action in their hockey-loving lives) and you thought maybe the B's would tie it late with another power play goal when Senators goon Mark Borowiecki (who leads the NHL in penalty minutes) was called for holding Frank Vatrano or more like he gave him a Jake Roberts style DDT on the ice. However, Ottawa's No. 12 ranked penalty kill got the job done and Anderson continued to stand on his large head until the final buzzer sounded. In fact, Patrice Bergeron whistled a shot off Anderson's mask that barely rattled him, he was that dialed in.

The Bruins fell to 12-6-0 overall under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy and 7-2-0 at the Garden. There is still time to turn this around though with nine games left in the regular season and only two of those on the road (at Islanders and at Blackhawks). In other words, there is no excuse for them to not make the playoffs for the third year in a row-don't blame the messenger! Boston hosts Tampa Bay (34-29-9) on Thursday (7, NESN) in a must-win for both teams. The Lightning lost 5-3 at home tonight to the lowly Coyotes (27-37-9) so a regulation loss to the Bruins would likely be a fatal blow to their dwindling playoff hopes. As the Raiders late great/insane owner Al Davis famously used to say, "just win baby!"

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Zdeno Chara Named A Norris Trophy Finalist

The timing of it sucks but today, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was named one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy, handed out to the league's best defenseman.

He joins Nashville's Shea Weber and Ottawa's Erik Karlsson as nominees for the award which will be handed out June 20 in Las Vegas at the NHL awards ceremony.

Chara's a five-time Norris Trophy finalist (fourth time in five years he's been nominated) and he won it in 2009. Surprisingly of this group, only Chara's team is currently out of the 2012 NHL playoffs. Karlsson and the Senators face the Rangers tonight in Game 7 while Weber's Predators have already advanced to the Western Conference semifinals against the Phoenix Coyotes.

From ESPNBoston.com
Chara had a career-high 52 points this season (12 goals, 40 assists), fourth-best among all defensemen, and tied for third among all players with a plus-33. Chara, 35, played his 1,000th game in March and was a captain at the 2012 All-Star Game.

Karlsson, 21, broke out this season with 78 points -- 25 more than any other defenseman, and tying him for 10th-most among all players.

He had 59 assists, best among the league's defenders, and tied with Weber with 19 goals.

Weber, 26, had a career-best 49 points, tying him for sixth in the league overall, and scored 10 goals on the league's top power-play unit. His average ice time of 26 minutes, 9 seconds was fifth-most in the league.

Weber was a Norris finalist last season, finishing second in voting to Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom.

I don't really have a feel for how this will shake out. You can make a case for any of the three players although I don't think that Karlsson deserves it as much as Chara and Weber since he's all offense and doesn't play a lick of defense (you know, a defenseman's main job). This award should be about the best all-around defenseman. In that case, Chara and Weber are basically even.

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In 2011-12, The Bruins Own The Senators

Not to sound like too much of a degenerate but there will be two more opportunities (in the regular season) for you to cash in on the Boston Bruins' dominance of the Ottawa Senators this season.

Boston (37-20-3) improved to a perfect 4-0 against Ottawa (32-23-8) with a closer-than-it-should-have-been 5-3 win tonight at Scotiabank Place.

The Bruins have outscored the Senators 19-11 in those four games; they've tallied 4+ each time including five goals in three of those contests. The Senators have been held to three goals (three times) or less every time.

This one had some drama as the B's built up a 4-1 lead in the third period but then fell asleep briefly as Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson beat them twice with basically the same one-timer from the left-hand wall.

Patrice Bergeron (2 goals, 1 assist) clinched it with an empty-netter that made it 5-3 with 19 seconds remaining.

These teams actually meet again on Tuesday and I would expect more fights since Chris Neil knocked Johnny Boychuk out of the game with a clean but nasty hit. Later, Zdeno Chara and Neil fought. Plus, Kyle Turris elbowed Joe Corvo in the head.

Tim Thomas (27 saves; 26-12-0) gave Boston a five-point lead over the Senators in the Northeast Division with three games in hand for the Bruins (four by the time Ottawa comes to Boston).

Erik Karlsson (14th goal of the season; 1 goal, 2 assists), the NHL's leading scorer for defensemen, wasted little time as he gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 1:10 into the first period. Jason Spezza (3 assists) and Milan Michalek had the assists as the shifty Swede stickhandled into a good shooting lane and beat Thomas.

Just 2:46 later, Bergeron (18th of the season) answered with a rebound goal past Senators backup goaltender Alex Auld (33 saves). Chara and Tyler had the assists but Bergeron did most of the work by parking himself in front of Auld.

Auld showed just how terrible he is by giving up a weak goal to Brad Marchand (career-high 22nd of the season) at 16:13 of the first. Bergeron and Chara assisted on Marchand's wrister that beat Auld from a long distance.

There was a cool moment in the second period as rookie Carter Camper potted his first NHL goal. It wasn't a classic since his backhander didn't have much on it but who cares? Adam McQuaid assisted at 3:57.

David Krejci (13th of the season) staked Boston to a commanding 4-1 lead with a power-play strike at 10:24 of the third from Dennis Seidenberg and Corvo. Krejci was in the right spot as he followed Auld's stop by snapping a shot over his leg pads.

The longest road trip of the season ended with a 3-2-1 mark. Not bad at all, especially considering they never won two games in a row. They'll get to come back to TD Garden and wait to see if anyone gets dealt by the 3 p.m. trade deadline on Monday afternoon. Otherwise, they'll return to home ice on Tuesday night against the Senators.

UPDATE 2/26: The Bruins sent Andrew Bodnarchuk and Josh Hennessy to Providence, meaning that they are probably on the verge of making a move.

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Seidenberg's Long-Range Bomb Helps Bruins Score 3 Unanswered Goals, Knock Off Senators

It felt good to have NHL hockey back tonight, didn't it?

The Boston Bruins started the post-All-Star break portion of their schedule by hosting the Ottawa Senators tonight at TD Garden. The B's (32-14-2) spotted the Senators (27-20-6) a 3-1 lead in the second period but the home team rallied for three unanswered goals themselves, capped off by an absurd game-winner by Dennis Seidenberg to win it 4-3.

I'm not sure if Seidenberg saw Craig Anderson leaning or what but his slapper from center ice (really) beat Anderson (26 saves) at 7:09 of the third period. It took a hop off the ice and seemed to curve in-Bend It Like Seidenberg?-but come on, an NHL goaltender can never give up a goal like that, especially in that spot.

Whatever the case, Boston will take it since they mostly struggled through the first and second periods to get their legs back.

Captain Zdeno Chara (8th of the season) gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 11:57 of the first on a screened blast from the point on the power play. The tireless Chara, who was everywhere at All-Star weekend, was assisted by David Krejci and Milan Lucic (who set a perfect screen on Anderson).

Ottawa tried to show that they are a legitimate threat in the Northeast Division by setting a physical tone against one of the toughest teams in hockey, who had beaten them the first two times they met this season. Pumping three straight goals in didn't hurt either.

After Shawn Thornton fought Chris Neil, Adam McQuaid traded blows with Zenon Konopka. Then the Senators tied it at 1 thanks to Colin Greening's (12th of the season) tip of Milan Micalek's pass at 18:40. Filip Kuba (2 assists) had the other helper.

Ottawa poured pressure on Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (30 saves; 21-9-0) in the second period and they were able to score twice more. Kyle Turris (5th of the season) made it 2-1 with a snipe at 7:43 from captain Daniel Alfredsson then Erik Karlsson (8th of the season) beat Thomas between his leg pads, from Neil and Kuba at 13:28.

Milan Lucic gave the B's a big momentum swing by scoring his 18th of the season with 45 seconds left in the second. For once, Lucic showed off good hands by stickhandling into a better shooting position then ripping one past Anderson. Rich Peverley and Chara had the assists on the goal which got the stunned crowd back into it.

Boston finally woke up in the third as Brad Marchand (18th of the season) tied it at 3 with 2:20 gone by with the team's second power-play strike. It was a classic Marchand goal, the result of supreme effort and skill around the net, assisted by Joe Corvo (2 assists) and Seidenberg.

Carolina comes to the Garden on Thursday and it's time that Boston beat them. I guarantee that you didn't know the Hurricanes are 3-0 against the Bruins so far this season. That has to be one of the most shocking numbers in the NHL at the moment. I expect the B's to bring a more complete effort than tonight and finally pick up two points against a team that's going nowhere.

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