By Giving Away A Two-Game Lead, The B's Are On The Verge Of Yet Another Historic Playoff Collapse

 

    As we are constantly reminded, being a fan of the Bruins is never an easy existence. They can have a once in a lifetime record-setting regular season only to follow that up by struggling mightily to put away an inferior team in its first round playoff series. For the second game in a row, Boston had a chance to eliminate Florida but once again, they could not complete the task as they lost 7-5 tonight at FLA Live Arena in Game 7. This sets up a pressure packed Game 7 on Sunday night (6:30, NESN) at TD Garden which I truly believe is a legacy type contest for Bruins veterans like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci. If they lose, our worst fears will be correct (that the regular season was just a mirage) and it would be more damning evidence that this group has been vastly overrated and winning the Stanley Cup way back in 2011 will feel like even more of a fluke.

    Oh hey, which goaltender do you think that B's head coach Jim Montgomery should start on Sunday? Linus Ullmark (26 saves) is a lock to win the Vezina Trophy but right now, he is completely unraveling both physically and mentally. Boston used him and Jeremy Swayman in a lethal tandem all season and they talked about doing that in the playoffs as well but so far, Ullmark has played every game. I think that Swayman should start in Game 7 but it is rather insane to expect a guy that has been sitting all series long to suddenly step in with the weight of the franchise on his young and slender shoulders. 

    This felt like another game that the Bruins were left chasing the more aggressive and determined Panthers from the start. UMass defenseman Brandon Montour continued his stellar series with a power play goal at 2:01 of the first period. Left wing Matthew Tkachuk and center Aleksander Barkov had the assists on Montour's third goal of the playoffs in which he walked right in and took a low wrist shot by Ullmark. B's left wing Tyler Bertuzzi quickly answered with a power play tally of his own at 6:09. Left wing Brad Marchand and defenseman Charlie McAvoy had the helpers on Bertuzzi's third goal of the season where he knocked in a nice feed from Marchy. Ullmark's juicy rebound led to Tkachuk's go-ahead goal that made it 2-1 for the home team at 13:52. Left wing Nick Cousins smartly shot the puck right at Ullmark's leg pads thus creating an easy rebound opportunity that Tkachuk buried for his fourth goal of the postseason. 

    Trailing 2-1 going into the second period, B's right wing David Pastrnak finally reemerged with a filthy between the legs shot for a tying power play goal at 5:42. Marchand and McAvoy had the assists on Pasta's third goal of the series. Boston should have grabbed a 3-2 advantage but defenseman Brandon Carlo's possible goal was waived off for an extremely questionable hand pass call on B's left wing Jake DeBrusk. Naturally, moments later Barkov broke his goalless drought with an easy tap-in at 9:22. Left wing Anthony Duclair and center Carter Verhaeghe picked up the assists on Barkov's first goal of the series. Florida was up 3-2 heading into the third period but nobody could have anticipated how bonkers that final frame would actually turn out to be. 

    Boston briefly had the lead not once but twice in the third period. Bertuzzi and Pastrnak both notched their second goals of the game a little over two minutes apart. Bert fired through a screen of Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (29 saves) at 1:31 with the assists going to Carlo and Marchand. Pasta was finally heating up and looking like the 61 goal scorer in the regular season as he one-timed a pass from Bertuzzi for a 4-3 B's lead at 3:53. Marchand had the other assist on another highlight reel strike by Pastrnak in this contest. 

    Besides Ullmark turning into a puddle, Boston's defense is similarly in shambles. First they let some AHL scrub (right wing Zac Dalpe) tie it with a wide open one-timer from the slot at 7:21. Defenseman Eetu Luostarinen and center Anton Lundell notched the assists on Dalpe's memorable first goal of the series. DeBrusk staked Boston to its last lead (5-4) with a shorthanded goal at 10:22. Center Pavel Zacha stripped the puck away from a Panthers defenseman which led to DeBrusk having a mini-breakaway that he finished with a backhander. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov had the other assist on Jake's fourth goal of the postseason. Tkachuk could not be stopped though as the poked in a power play goal just 27 seconds later which tied it at five. Lundell and defenseman Gustav Forsling had the assists on the stunning goal from Florida's emotional leader. Things only got worse from there as Luostarinen got the last go-ahead goal with a high wrist shot that eluded Ullmark. Montour had the lone assist on Eetu's second goal of this series at 14:22. The Black and Gold pushed for a tying goal late in regulation but Bobrovsky made his most important stop of the series as he had a kick save on Pastrnak that led to center Sam Reinhart's empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining. His third goal of the series was assisted by defenseman and noted goon Radko Gudas. 

    You could say that it will be nice for the Bruins to have Game 7 on their home ice but I think that the brave fans who decide to go to it will (understandably) be paralyzed by fear the entire night. Remember that Boston is 1-2 at the Garden in this series and they have lost their last two outings there so yikes. We all remember in 2010 when the Bruins somehow choked away a 3-0 series lead against the Flyers so it would be tough to ever top that but if they lose on Sunday to the Panthers, look out below. It would be a an absolutely terrible finish to what had seemed like it was shaping up to be a very special season for the B's.

The Bruins Cap A Horrific Two Nights At The Garden With A 4-3 Overtime Loss To The Panthers

 

    This postseason is supposed to be different but tonight's gut punch of a 4-3 overtime loss by the Bruins to the Panthers in Game 5 of the first round felt hauntingly familiar. With a chance to be the first team to advance to the second round of the playoffs in the league, the B's made it harder on themselves as they never led and fell despite outshooting Florida by a huge margin (47-25). The overtime goal came courtesy of a horrific mistake by Boston's goaltender Linus Ullmark (21 saves) who went to play the puck behind his net but instead, fumbled it away then tried to scramble back in time to stop Panthers star left wing Matthew Tkachuk. Ullmark was down and out as Tkachuk patiently waited before lifting a backhander over Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk at 6:05 of overtime. Florida center Carter Verhaeghe (3 assists) had the lone helper on Tkachuk's third goal of the series. Now, instead of getting some extra time to rest before their next series (against a better club), Boston has to schlep back to the Sunshine State for Game 6 on Friday (7:30, NESN). Ugh. 

    Among many things that the B's wasted in this contest was the emotional return of captain Patrice Bergeron who made his first appearance of the series and scored his 50th career playoff goal because of course he did. In a potential close out game, the Panthers picked a good time to score their first goal in a first period during this series. Verhaeghe fed left wing Anthony Duclair who knocked the puck out of the air in traffic to net his first goal of the postseason at 8:26. Florida's much-maligned goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (44 saves) got another start and he had some shaky moments but ultimately he came out on top. B's left wing Brad Marchand continued to play really well as he tallied a power play goal that tied it at one early in the second period. He took a shot that Bobrovsky stopped but like a basketball player that misses a shot, he followed up his own rebound and put it in for his fourth goal of the series. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy registered the lone assist at 2:27. It looked like it would be tied 1-1 heading into the third period but the Panthers scored a crushing goal at 18:52 as center Sam Bennett ripped a wrist shot from the slot into the top corner past Ullmark. Verhaeghe and left wing Nick Cousins notched the assists on Bennett's third goal of the series. 

    Trailing 2-1 to begin the third period, Boston's power play once again clicked to get an early goal to knot it up. Bergeron perfectly tipped a shot by Marchand with McAvoy grabbing the other assist. The Garden's PA announcer had not even talked about Bergeron's goal before Florida answered with another go-ahead tally: right wing Sam Reinhart (much like Sam Bennett) was left wide open in the slot where he cranked a shot past Ullmark. The power play goal was his second goal of the series with assists to Tkachuk and center Aleksander Barkov (who has been noticeably quiet for most of these games) at 5:14. No worries though as the B's had one last mini-comeback left in them: left wing Taylor Hall (who is currently on fire) found a loose puck in front of Bobrovsky, he wheeled away from defenders and fired a rocket that went in the top corner. Defenseman Brandon Carlo and center Charlie Coyle picked up the assists at 9:16 on Hall's team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs. In the final seconds of regulation, Marchand had a breakaway but Bobrovsky stopped what would have been an insane series-clinching strike 

    Going back on the road might actually not be the worst thing for the Bruins at least in this series since they are 1-2 at the Garden (losing their last two) and 2-0 in Florida. There is guaranteed to be tons of Bruins fans in the building which has to help matters. As the hockey cliche goes: the fourth win is the hardest one to get in a playoff series. Much like the Hawks last night, the Panthers proved something by showing up and battling rather than rolling over after they lost the crucial Game 4 at home. Wacky stuff constantly happens in the NHL playoffs but you have to believe that the B's will not let another opportunity to eliminate Florida slip through their hands. Needless to say, they want no part of a Game 7 against an opponent that has absolutely nothing to lose so all the pressure would be solely on them.

Bruins Take A 3-1 Series Lead & Depart Florida With The Panthers' Soul After A Lovely 6-2 Victory

 

    After radio silence for the first three games of this first round playoff series, I just had to chime in today after the Bruins and Panthers treated us sleep deprived young dads to a rainy Sunday afternoon special. Boston kept the momentum rolling from Friday's pivotal 4-2 victory in Game 3 as they won 6-2 today at good old FLA Live Arena to put the Panthers on the brink of elimination facing a 3-1 deficit. The teams get an extra day off (for Florida to start booking those tee times and island vacations?) before they meet again for Game 5 on Wednesday (7, NESN) at TD Garden. After surprisingly crumbling in the third period of Game 2 and getting blown out 6-3, the B's righted the ship with a memorable weekend in the Sunshine State. Neither performance was perfect but they looked much more like the club that had the best record in NHL regular season history. 

    The two main stars in Game 4 for Boston were goaltender Linus Ullmark (41 saves)-shown above challenging Panthers bozo Matthew Tkachuk to a fight in garbage time-along with left wing Taylor Hall (2 goals, 2 assists). Shouts to left wing Jake DeBrusk who also added two goals plus left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (goal, assist) who has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in his first four NHL playoff games and fellow newcomer Dmitry Orlov (assist) who has a point in all four contests. This was a true team win for the Black and Gold as every guy that suited up (and remember that they were once again missing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci) seemingly made a positive contribution. 

    Boston never trailed in Florida this weekend and their much maligned power play scored a goal in the first period and in the second period to stake the Bruins to a 2-0 lead. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (25 saves) was making his first start since March 27 and shocker, he looked rusty. He made a good save but then couldn't cover up the puck which allowed left wing Brad Marchand to knock the puck in at 9:45 of the first period. Center Pavel Zacha and Bertuzzi had the assists on Marchand's third goal of the series. 

    After Tkachuk picked up a stupid cross-checking penalty at the end of the first period, the B's made him pay as DeBrusk finished a pretty passing sequence from Orlov and Hall at 1:52 of the second period. Jake's second goal of the postseason gave Boston a 2-0 lead. Tkachuk briefly made up for his idiocy with a goal at 16:00 of the second period that cut the Bruins' advantage down to 2-1. He made the most of a favorable bounce and put in a sweet shot between his legs before Ullmark could recover. His second goal of the playoffs was assisted by center Carter Verhaeghe and UMass defenseman Brandon Montour.  

    Once again, Boston struck early-this time in the third period-to regain control of the contest. Bertuzzi had an awesome re-direct of a shot by defenseman Brandon Carlo. Left wing Nick Foligno added the secondary assist at 2:26 on Bertuzzi's second goal of the series. Florida briefly made it interesting as center Sam Bennett's power play goal made it 3-2 Boston at 6:11. He went to the net and was rewarded when Ullmark left a rebound on the doorstep. Montour and Tkachuk assisted on Bennett's second goal of the playoffs. The B's wasted little time wrapping it up though as DeBrusk scored a similar tally to Bennett's less than two minutes later at 8:05. Zacha and Hall provided the helpers on that one before Hall clinched it with a beautiful goal via a breakaway. His filthy dangle around a helpless Bobrovsky was a reminder that he used to be an NHL MVP not that long ago. Center Tomas Nosek and Ullmark notched the assists on probably the prettiest goal that a Bruin will score this postseason. For good measure, Hall added an empty netter at 19:31 for the final margin. Rookie left wing Jakub Lauko and Kennebunkport native Garnet Hathaway got their names on the scoresheet with the assists. 

    This is not the NBA and we are talking about the Bruins so even with a commanding 3-1 series lead, this is not fully over quite yet. Still, you have to like their chances to get this done in three possible games. They are clearly better than the Panthers so there is no need to give them any hope and have to go back to Florida for a Game 6. Get this over with on Wednesday and hope that the Leafs-Lightning series (which Toronto currently leads 2-1) goes seven games before you have to face one of those much better teams in the second round.

    

Home From a Productive Trip (3-1-0), the B's Sleepwalk Through a 5-2 Defeat vs. Calgary

When you have the best record in the NHL (39-13-12) and the most points (90) like the Bruins currently do, it is tough to complain about all that much in this unexpectedly smooth campaign. Still, they ended what had been a great road trip with a bizarre beatdown in Vancouver on Saturday (9-3 blowout) night then they came back to TD Garden this evening and never really put up much of a fight as they lost 5-2 to the Flames (the first-place Wild Card team in the West) who they had beaten 4-3 last Friday in Calgary. It was a wasted opportunity for the B's as well since the Lightning (40-18-5) lost (for the 3rd game in a row) 4-3 in regulation to the Maple Leafs (33-23-8). Boston remains five points ahead of Tampa Bay and 16 points in front of Toronto so it's already down to a two team race for the Atlantic Division crown in 2019-20.

Bruins GM Don Sweeney had a pretty quiet trade deadline yesterday as he flipped winger Danton Heinen to Anaheim for former first-round pick and winger Nick Ritchie (Brett's younger brother). This came on the heels of another deal with the Ducks on Friday: washed up right wing David Backes, a prospect (defenseman Axel Andersson) and a first-round pick this summer for right wing Ondrej Kase (who was a scratch tonight as he recovers from an injury). Other Bruins trade targets who didn't ultimately materialize: former BC star Chris Kreider re-signed with the Rangers, Tyler Toffoli was traded last week to the Canucks and poor Kyle Palmieri has to continue to rot away in New Jersey. Coming into tonight, Ritchie had eight goals and 11 assists in 41 games for a terrible Anaheim club while Kase put up seven goals and 16 assists in 49 games. I don't expect either guy to light the world on fire but considering that Heinen is just a guy and Backes has literally nothing left, they have to be at least a slight upgrade for the Bruins heading into the playoffs.

You always hear about how that first game back after a long road trip (in the NHL or NBA) is always a tough one to find your legs in. That seemed to be the case for the Black and Gold who never led and only managed to tie it up once on First Responder's Night (one of the team's best annual events) at the Garden. Jaroslav Halak was honored in a pregame ceremony for appearing in his 500th NHL game earlier this season. Starting goaltender Tuukka Rask (23-7-6) had his season-long 20-game point-streak on home ice snapped as he allowed four goals on 30 shots. The Flames were buzzing early as T.J. Brodie's shot hit the post and then settled between Rask's legs for a face-off. Boston wasn't so lucky on the next bounce as Mikael Backlund's shot went off the end boards but went right to Matthew Tkachuk (Keith's older son) who finished a backhander top-shelf past a sprawling Rask. BC's Noah Hanifin had the secondary assist on Tkachuk's 21st goal of the season at 11:35 of the first period.

Boston tied it with a shorthanded goal by Brad Marchand-his franchise-best 27th of his career-at 10:08 of the second period. Charlie McAvoy had the lone assist as Marchand used his speed and elusiveness to do most of the hard work for his 25th goal of the season. A pair of goals by Sean Monahan only 1:12 apart later in that frame put Calgary in complete control with a 3-1 advantage. He one-timed a pass from former BC star and Hobey Baker winner Johnny Gaudreau at 13:25. His 20th goal of the season was also assisted by Michael Stone. Before the Bruins knew what hit them, Monahan scored a power play goal at 14:37 by perfectly re-directing a pass by Tkachuk with Erik Gustafsson getting the other helper in his Calgary debut.

The Bruins came in with an NHL-best 21-2-9 record at home so you figured that no matter how sloppy or lethargic they were, they would probably push back a bit at some point. Indeed, they cut it to 3-2 at 13:09 of the third period as Chris Wagner scored an extra greasy goal (his specialty). Sean Kuraly and Par Lindholm notched the assists on Wagner's sixth goal of the season. He's scored goals in back-to-back contests for the second time this season (Dec. 5 & Dec. 7) which means something when you are on the fourth line which by the way was Boston's best forward group in this tilt. For a time it seemed like the Flames would at least blow it in regulation and have to go to overtime but then Backlund said no way with the dagger insurance goal at 18:30 (his 13th of the season was unassisted) before adding an empty-netter shortly after that.

This was the start of a very difficult week for the Bruins as they host Tyler Seguin and the Stars (37-20-6)-good enough for second-place in the Central Division-on Thursday (7:30, NBCSN) then they go to Long Island for a Saturday matinee (1, NESN) with the Islanders (35-20-7)-the top Wild Card in the East. No practice tomorrow should help Boston get some rest and refocus as they only have 18 games remaining in the regular season. With any luck, Kase is healthy enough to play against Dallas and he can give them some kind of spark. The Stars won 4-1 at Carolina (35-23-4) tonight and at 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, they are clearly clicking at the moment. Thursday should be an entertaining tilt on national TV with the slightly later start time (ie. more time for pregame suds for Bruins fans in the nearby bars).

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