Boston Bruins: B’s Hoping For A Better 2015.

Dec 31, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center

(43) scores the winning goal on Boston Bruins goalie

(40) during the shootout at TD Banknorth Garden. The Maple Leafs won 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins(19-15-4) were hoping to capitalize on a strong win over the Detroit Red Wings.  They were hoping to finish out 2014 with another victory over another divisional rival on New Year’s Eve. Had the Bruins brought their total sixty minute game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they would have easily won the contest. Sadly, they didn’t. It took an early 3-1 lead to get the seemingly uninterested B’s to play to their potential. The Bruins were able to catch up, but lost in a shootout 4-3.

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“We’ve got to be consistent. [Playing against Toronto] that was a problem. We came out hard and then we, kind of, let off, and they took a 3-1 lead. We had to battle back again, I thought, after we battled back we tied them three to three, and had a good game,” said B;s forward Brad Marchand after the game. “We can’t give up lapses where we allow a team to get ahead by a couple goals. We have to make sure that we play the system all the way through the game, and we don’t have huge ups and downs. If we can do that then hopefully we can string a few wins together.”

2014 was not the best year for the Bruins. They started out the year with an incredible amount of potential. They won the President’s Cup for the best regular season record. They tore through the Red Wings in five games. Then they hit the Montreal Canadiens, and they fell down in the second round.

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The year continued and the hits kept coming. The Bruins had to give up Jarome Iginla due to salary cap restraints. They chose to give up more veteran leadership when they didn’t re-sign Shawn Thornton. That leadership problem only compounded with the trading away of Johnny Boychuk, and injuries to Zdeno Chara and David Krejci. Then the string of injuries came down on the team like some jackhammer of fate. It turned out to be the roughest year the B’s have seen since Claude Julien took over the reins.

It wasn’t a total wash for the Black and Gold though. Dougie Hamilton stepped up on both sides of the ice. Chris Kelly showed the fan base was a dependable leader he could be for the team. Loui Eriksson has finally been showing the scoring potential we were hoping for. The Bruins are finally starting to play a full, healthy team. Now, 2015 is about taking that last step. Playing a full sixty minute game. Every time.

The Bruins are currently fifth in the Atlantic. They’re once again out of a playoff slot. They’re ten points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the division, and two behind the Rangers for the last playoff slot. They’re going to need to be the team we know they can be. They’ll need to be champions again. We’ve seen that potential, and now they’ll need to live up to it. The B’s will get a chance to prove that tomorrow night when the Ottawa Senators come to town.