Capitals End Bruins' Season With 2-1 OT Win In Game 7

In many ways, an exit like this was bound to happen. By losing Game 5 on home ice and going down 3-2 in the series, the Boston Bruins effectively took away any leverage they had in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals. They won Game 6 in overtime but still, all the pressure was on them. The Caps had absolutely nothing to lose and nobody believing in them and that's what fueled them to an improbable upset.

Following the familiar pattern from the rest of the series, Game 7 turned out to be a one-goal game (for the seventh time, an NHL record) and it also went to overtime (for the fourth time). Unfortunately for the B's and their fans, the Caps ended their season with a 2-1 OT win tonight at TD Garden.

After Patrice Bergeron couldn't shoot a fluttering puck past Braden Holtby (31 saves), moments later Joel Ward (1st of the playoffs) followed up a rebound by ex-Bruin Mike Knuble and put it past Tim Thomas (25 saves) at 2:57. The whole play started when Benoit Pouliot failed to properly dump the puck into the Washington zone. Knuble was able to block it with his body then skate in on an odd-man rush.

Seeing your favorite team's season end is never easy, especially when you feel like they left money on the table so to speak. Yes the Caps played better than the B's in the series, that's a fact since they went 3-1 on the road. Still, I find it hard to accept that the Bruins aren't a better team when they put it all together. Sadly, they never really looked like themselves for most of this series. That's what happens when you score one goal in four different games.

This series followed some weird patterns: three 4-3 games, three 2-1 games, one 1-0 game. Boston went 2-1 in Washington. The two main reasons that Boston lost were its beyond pathetic power play (2 for 23 in the entire series) and the disappearance of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Brad Marchand for long stretches of games.

The Bruins lost three of the last four games (two on home ice); they were outscored 16-15 while the first and last two games of the series all went to overtime. Boston won the first game but lost the all important final one which meant everything.

Another big factor was that Holtby vs. Thomas was a wash at best, actually check that. The 22-year-old rookie was a hair better than the guy that won the Vezina trophy and Conn Smythe award last season.

The alarming part about Game 7 was that the Bruins came out with hardly any emotion or jump, it was like they forgot this was such an important game. Sitting Shawn Thornton in favor of Jordan Caron for the second straight game probably didn't help in that regard either.

Washington took advantage as Matt Hendricks scored his first career playoff goal by tipping John Carlson's shot from the point at 11:23 of the first period. Jason Chimera had the second assist although it should have gone to Looch who started the whole Benny Hill play by overskating the puck along the boards in his own end.

Other than Dennis Seidenberg, who was Boston's best player all series, Tyler Seguin had a very solid Game 7. He punctuated it with the tying goal at 14:27 of the second period, his second of the series. He followed Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk's shots as Holtby left the rebound in the crease and Seguin swooped in to tap it before he was crushed.

There hasn't been a repeat Stanley Cup champion since the Red Wings in 1997-98. The Bruins followed suit of recent history as they became the seventh winner in the last nine years to bomb out in the first round of the playoffs.

I think the only way to look at that is it has become such a grind to survive and win a Stanley Cup that teams naturally have big hangover effects at some point in the next season. Once the playoffs roll around, that squad is naturally more beat up and fatigued mentally and physically.

Don't get me wrong, this is not an excuse. The Bruins should have beaten the Capitals mainly because they are a superior team. The problem was that they didn't show that at any point. They never had a two-goal lead and rarely had a one-goal lead for that matter which only fed into Washington packing it in and playing the defensive game that they wanted after they grabbed a lead.

It will be a much longer and probably more interesting offseason for the Black and Gold. I wouldn't be shocked to see them try to trade Thomas to get some high-end offensive talent. Lord knows they could use it at this point. I love Thomas but how many more great years does he have left in him? Plus, they have Tuukka Rask waiting in the wings and how much longer will he be content as Thomas' backup?

After winning three Game 7s in their magical run last spring, this felt exactly like 2008 (losing Game 7 to Montreal), 2009 (losing Game 7 to Carolina) or 2010 (losing Game 7 to Philadelphia) for the Bruins. Most of all, I'm just sad to have no more rooting interest left in the NHL playoffs. There's nothing better than them in any professional sport; I will still watch but it will only frustrate me when I see all the teams continue to advance that I know the Bruins could have potentially gotten past.

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Capitals Put The Bruins On The Brink Of Elimination

Coming into this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, on paper it looked like Boston's biggest advantage over Washington was in goal. Surely, Tim Thomas could outplay a third-string rookie (Braden Holtby). Turns out (so far) that we were all wrong.

Once again, Holtby (34 saves) was better than Thomas (28 saves) this afternoon and the Caps took a 3-2 series lead with a 4-3 win at TD Garden.

Every game this series has been decided by one goal and the Capitals have scored first four out of five times.

Washington opened up the first two-goal lead of the series but Boston battled back with a pair of goals in 28 seconds. The Capitals went ahead 3-2 in the third period but the Bruins responded with their first power-play goal of the series. Troy Brouwer (2nd of the playoffs) ended any thoughts of another overtime session as he snapped a shot over Thomas with 1:27 left in regulation. It was extremely deflating since it appeared to be a shot that Thomas would normally stop. No traffic or tips means that there were no excuses. That wasn't the only weak goal that Thomas allowed either.

The B's hit the post twice in the first period: Zdeno Chara rang the crossbar on a power-play and Daniel Paille skated in on a breakaway while Boston was short-handed but he also ended up unlucky.

After no goals in the first, Alexander Semin (3rd of the playoffs) scored on a rebound at 11:16 of the second. Dennis Wideman and Marcus Johansson assisted on the goal. Thomas made a good initial save but neither he nor his defense could clear it out of danger. Despite many bodies between him and the goal, Semin was able to squeeze it through.

The Capitals doubled their lead at 14:27 as Jay Beagle notched his first goal of the postseason. His shot was tipped on the way in but it also went right off Thomas' glove so I think it was one he should have stopped.

Just when it looked like the Bruins had flatlined, Milan Lucic found Dennis Seidenberg (1st of the playoffs) for a pretty goal at 17:21. David Krejci had the second assist. Everyone came out of witness protection (well except for Tyler Seguin) as Brad Marchand (1st of the playoffs) tied it at 17:49. Rich Peverley and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Holtby's token weak one of the contest. Marchand barely poked it but the puck found a hole through Holtby's leg pads.

The difference in the game was the third period. Thomas gave up two bad goals (for him) while Holtby made unquestionably the best stop in the series-a full split to deny Seguin. Old friend Mike Knuble (1st of the playoffs) put Washington up 3-2 at 3:21 when Thomas kicked Joel Ward's shot right to him. John Erskine had the second assist.

Boston snapped a woeful 0-for-16 start on the power play in these playoffs with Boychuk's blast from the point at 8:47. Seidenberg and Marchand picked up the assists. It was surprising to see Holtby get beat on a relatively routine shot from distance like that.

Game 6 is tomorrow afternoon in D.C. (3 p.m., NBC). Patrice Bergeron and Joe Corvo both left with injuries today so who knows if they'll be able to play. Boston has no choice but to win, otherwise it will be an extremely bitter end to a postseason that was filled with so much hope. It starts with Thomas, he needs to be much better. Likewise, their offense needs to show up as well. They can't go out like this.

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What the hell is going on out there?

I laid low after going to the Bruins' 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals on Saturday. I was going to blog about it, but why bother? My internet-related apathy was not good karma apparently as the Flyers came into the Garden last night and dominated the Bruins, 4-2.

Like Saturday, there's really not much to say about Boston (42-13-9) at the moment. They've lost eight of their last eleven games and after looking like they recovered with the two blowout wins last week, it's back to square one.

The NHL trading deadline is this afternoon at 3 p.m. and it's anybody's guess whether the wet-behind-the-ears B's will be buyers or if they'll keep the team as it's currently constructed.

If the last few weeks have shown anything, it's that the Bruins need some kind of spark. This is a club that will have a home-ice advantage in the playoffs, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the Capitals, Devils and Flyers will all be tough outs in their own rights.

Patrice Bergeron (who's been playing really well lately) gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first period last night with a power play goal. His seventh strike of the year was assisted by Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard.

Philly (34-18-10) tied it up in the second when Scottie Upshall scored an unassisted goal.

The Flyers wrapped it up with three straight goals in the third period. Two Simon Gagne tallies, were sandwiched around one by former Bruin Mike Knuble.

Stephane Yelle scored a garbage-time goal on the power play for the B's but I don't think even Yelle's kids have him on their fantasy teams, so it was utterly meaningless.

Philadelphia goaltender Antero Niittymaki (15-5-5) made 22 saves for the win. Bruins goalie Manny Fernandez (14-5-3) was not as sharp, with 22 saves in the loss.

One of the worst teams in the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes, travel to Boston tomorrow night for what should be a must-win for the B's.