Trying to Clinch Home Ice vs. Leafs, B's Give Away a Game Against the Going Nowhere Panthers

How did the Bruins (47-22-9) game against the Panthers (35-32-12) at TD Garden go this afternoon you ask? Well to illustrate how poorly things went for the home team, good old Roberto Luongo (30 saves, 17-16-4) was named the No. 1 star. In other words, I feel bad for anyone that paid to get into this dog's breakfast of a performance by the B's. Hell I go for free (humblebrag) and I still wanted a refund for being subjected to that gross 4-1 win by Florida.

Boston could never really make it interesting as they trailed 2-0 in the first period, got their only goal midway through the second then Tuukka Rask (19 saves, 26-12-5) gave up a soft shorthanded goal that he has to stop when it matters (say in the playoffs in a few weeks). It's tough to get to down though on a team that is tied with Calgary (48-23-7) for the second most points in the NHL. Furthermore, before this no-show, they had won 12 straight games at the Garden and earned points in 14 in a row (12-0-2) here. Likewise, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand saw their 17-game home point streaks end in front of mostly children and their families on a sunny Saturday in late March.

Florida has been an underachieving team for years; at least if you look at their collection of talented young forwards and defensemen, you wonder why they haven't been more of a factor in the Eastern Conference. Truth be told, Luongo and/or their lack of other quality goaltending options have been their biggest issue for why they'll miss the playoffs once again in 2018-19. They have the No. 2 power play in the NHL which isn't the be-all end-all but a top line of Jonathan Huberdeau (2 assists), Aleksander Barkov (assist) and Evgeni Dadonov (2 goals) is pretty nice. Of course, it doesn't help matters that they play in the toughest division in hockey with Tampa Bay (59-14-4), Boston and Toronto (45-25-7) all looking down on them. Carey Price is the only reason they aren't better than the Canadiens (41-29-8) in my humble opinion, how else can you explain why Montreal is a playoff contender and they aren't?

The puck luck was on the Panthers' side all afternoon (side note Boston had been 7-0-1 in matinees this season before this) from start to finish. A loose puck bounced in off of Riley Sheahan at 13:37 of the first period for a 1-0 Florida lead. Dryden Hunt (that can't be a real name) and Milton MA's own Keith Yandle had the assists on Sheahan's ninth goal of the season. A juicy rebound kicked out by Rask led to another goal for the Panthers a little over two minutes later: Dadonov potted the goal (his 27th of the season), from Aaron Ekblad (game-high 25:20 of ice time) and Huberdeau at 15:44.

Fittingly for such a crap performance, Boston's fourth line was the only one cited positively in head coach Bruce Cassidy's post-game remarks. Noel Acciari cut it to 2-1 at 13:12 of the second period after an awesome shift by Torey Krug (tying his career-high from last season with 45 assists) who threw the puck across the ice and the former PC standout put in a working man's backhander. His sixth goal of the season was also assisted by Joakim Nordstrom. B's fans finally had something legitimate to cheer about but Rask managed to end that quickly by allowing Troy Brouwer to beat him blocker side for a backbreaking shorthanded goal at 14:19. BC's Mike Matheson had the second assist on Brouwer's 11th goal of the season.

The Bruins outshot the Panthers 31-23 and had 61 shot attempts (20 blocked, 10 missed net) to their 35 (8 blocked, 4 missed net) but in the end (Lincoln Park voice, sorry that's very dated and quite lame) it didn't matter one bit. Dadonov scored an empty-net goal at 17:41 of the third period and everyone went home slightly upset. Granted it's tough to be that angry on a Saturday unless you are truly a psycho. Even if Toronto (45-25-7) wins as expected tonight at tanking Ottawa (27-44-6), the Leafs would still trail Boston by four points while both have four games remaining in the regular season. That is not an insurmountable lead for the B's but they appear unlikely to blow that while Toronto is all over the place.

Enough of these worthless matchups against clubs that will be sitting on a tropical beach and drinking their faces off by next Sunday. Speaking of which, Boston is at Detroit (30-38-10) tomorrow night (7:30, NBC Sports) to start their final (Midwest) road trip that also includes stops in Columbus (43-30-4) on Tuesday (7, NESN) and Minnesota (36-33-9) on Thursday (8, NESN) before returning for their home/regular season finale vs. the Lightning next Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). The Red Wings have won four games in a row which I suppose is swell but that franchise is still a hot pile of garbage. Jaroslav Halak (21-10-4) will be in net as the Bruins try to improve on their stellar records this season in Game 2s of back-to-backs (9-2-2) and Game 2s of three games in four days (11-3-2).

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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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Backstrom Scores In Double Overtime, Capitals Even Up The Series At 1

Two goals in 144 minutes of action isn't going to cut it if the Boston Bruins want to advance out of the first round of the 2012 NHL playoffs.

Nicklas Backstrom scored at 2:56 (assisted by Marcus Johansson) into the second overtime this afternoon as the Washington Capitals took Game 2, 2-1 at TD Garden. The series is now even at one and Boston has their hands full.

Let's start with the fact that Braden Holtby (43 saves) followed up his great Game 1 performance with an even better one. Benoit Pouliot tied it at one with 7:47 left in regulation which means that in the first two games, only him and Chris Kelly have scored goals for the B's. Not Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron, etc. That has to change, fast.

Tim Thomas (37 saves) played very well and he was screened on the game-winner plus it was a fluttering puck.

After a scoreless first period, you could feel that this would be another low-scoring affair after Game 1 was 1-0 in OT. Troy Brouwer broke the deadlock with 2:03 left in the second period on a bizarre play. The puck rolled in on Thomas and he tried to cover it up but he couldn't. Brouwer was there to sweep the gift in, with Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner getting the assists.

Typical of Pouliot, his goal was a beauty as he beat Holtby to a loose puck and was able to poke it by him before they bumped into each other. Brian Rolston and Chris Kelly (only guys on the Bruins with multiple points, really) assisted on the electrifying goal which woke up the Garden.

There is no need to panic since the Bruins for the most part are playing fine. Still, you can't help but realize that they could as easily be down 2-0 in this series as they could be up 2-0. I guess 1-1 is fitting. Washington is much more committed to defense than I ever would have imagined and Holtby is legit. It would really help the Bruins if they can get a lead (something they haven't had yet) in Game 3 and make the Capitals play from behind, something Boston excels at (holding leads).

The series shifts to D.C. and Game 3 is Monday night at 7:30 p.m. (NESN).

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