Boston Bruins: Still Anybody’s Game.
The Boston Bruins once again had the tools to complete the assignment. Once again, the Boston Bruins just couldn’t close the door on their opponent. While the B’s were able to get a point in the shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, they’ve completely run out of room to maneuver. It’s been two and a half months since the Bruins were not in a playoff spot, and with just ten games to go in their season, their lead over the Ottawa Senators is just a single point. The Florida Panthers win closes their gap to four points.
“I really hope it doesn’t come to a shootout at the end,” said B’s netminder Tuukka Rask of tonight’s performance. “The shootout is not our strong part. We haven’t been able to get better at those. If it’s a do-or-die situation we have to find a way to win.” The Bruins are 3-9 in shootouts this season.
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So, what can the Bruins do to save themselves?
The Bruins did invoke the healthy scratch option for Reilly Smith. Claude Julien was just frustrated with Smith’s inability to put it all together and make it work.
“He had been really struggling,” said the Bruins bench boss of his struggling winger. “At one point you try to help him out, but I think he’s going to have to help himself. Sometimes you need to simplify your game, and worry not so much about production but more about starting to win some battles and making some good plays here. He needs to simplify things right now.
“He can’t do much. He’s losing the puck, he’s losing battles and he’s losing a lot of things right now. A lot of is based on confidence. The one thing we’ve done is given him the ice time, and the confidence has to come from him. He needs to work himself out of it. He’s been struggling for a while, and he’s had an up-and-down year. It’s the reality of things. We’ve seen him when he’s good, and he’s a much better player than he’s shown.”
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Frankly, the kid needed to sit for a game. Now, he needs to perform. If the Bruins want to avoid watching the first round of the post-season from the golf course, they all do. The bright spot of the night was Patrice Bergeron putting in his twentieth goal of the season past Roberto Luongo. This makes the seventh season that the Bruins alternate captain has eclipsed the twenty goal mark.
It’s not a complete disaster yet.
Other teams have attempted to pull away from the Bruins but have yet to do so. The Detroit Red Wings only have a three point lead over the Black and Gold. The Washington Capitals lead is just four. The Bruins aren’t out of the race by a longshot. There are five teams battling for three spots, and the Bruins are right in the middle of it.
They just have to play like the next ten games as close to perfect as possible. Can they do it? Absolutely. Now they just need to remember that they can do it.