Disappointment is the only word I can use to describe the feeling I have right now with this Boston Bruins team. The team has just seen it’s 3rd loss in a row and despite clinching their playoff spot with the 1 point in the shootout, it’s not enough.
Being a long time Boston resident and having been in the city the day of the bombings (and not to far from them actually), my emotions were riding high for the Bruins to win this game and give the city a lift, they failed to deliver. Despite going up 1-0 in the first 5 minutes of the game and even getting a 2-1 lead in the second period, the Bruins had a terrible call go against them that saw their big man enter the box for 2 minutes as well as failed to capitalize on an empty net (which seems to be a reoccurring theme this season) and allowed the Sabres to gain momentum off a 1-1 tie and a 2-2 tie by the end of the game. The Bruins shakiness continued into the shootout and Drew Stafford ended the night for Buffalo with 2 points to get within shot of 8th place.
For me to say that my emotions were riding high is an understatement, and for me to even do this article in first person is very unprofessional, but it needs to be said. The Bruins are not playing as a team and it is costing them. Tonight should have been the nights played with all cylinders running, but they weren’t; tonight should have been the night the Boston Bruins blew out the Sabres in a shutout and clinch the Northeast, they didn’t. The Boston Bruins continue to struggle in all the points I brought up in my last article. No pinching at the blue line (Wade Redden was the only one who did this all game and his pinching brought up a fantastic chance for the Bruins in the third), the forwards were sluggish and were letting their angles get shut down. Once again, Jarmoir Jagr and the fourth line did a majority of the offensive workload. This isn’t how they should have been playing. Everyone needs to contribute, and if you can’t then you need to be benched.
Even after an emotional national anthem and a tear jerking tribute for Boston Strong, the Bruins again were playing sloppy and proved they were not ready to go all the way. They cannot keep relying on Jagr to be “the guy” at age 41, they cannot keep getting away with sluggish breakouts and poor offensive play. The powerplay needs to be improved, and this has been echoed all season long but they failed again to do that. I am not gonna sit here and say they failed the city, because they didn’t; and that’s going to far. But they certainly disappointed a lot of people (myself included). I know I’m a Bruins fan, and I was a bruins fan during the worst time to be one. But tonight wasn’t a night to let it go to the wind, tonight was a night to give the people of Boston a reason to smile following Monday’s tragedy, and the Bruins couldn’t do it.
Improve the defensive play, improve the offensive play, fine tune those lines until the comb is broken and get this team running for a Stanley Cup again. Enough is enough, enough disappointments, no more losing, no more laziness. Light some fires under the collective butts of the players who need it (Lucic I’m looking directly at you) and play Bruins hockey.
Don’t just play for the Cup, play for the city, play for us.