The Bruins had a plethora of scoring chances tonight, but found it hard to find the finish. The Ottawa Senators made the most of the opportunities they were presented with, and the Boston Bruins were never able to take the lead in the last game of the 2012-2013 regular season. The Bruins had plenty of chances to shape their own destiny and give themselves the division win, but just couldn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together. In the end, an empty net goal gave the Ottawa Senators a 4-2 win over our Boston Bruins. So, Bruins Nation where does that leave us. Sadly, it leaves the Black and Gold as the number four seed in the playoffs.
The Montreal Canadiens have won the final Northeast Division title in the NHL. (The division will be disbanded in favor of the four division schematic that will be used next season.)Well, to be honest the Canadiens did not so much win it, as the Boston Bruins served it up on a plate for them. That should be a bitter pill for the B’s to swallow, but they have to acknowledge that losing the division is all on them. The Bruins went 2-5-2 in their last nine games, and it just felt like their passion for the game was just weighed down by a very frustrating final stretch. The grimace on Cam Neely’s face in the last minute of the game summed up a lot of our feelings on the Bruins’ final post season ranking.
Well, that’s one less pennant for us to hang from the rafters of the TD Garden.
A lot of the hockey pundits have declared that there is no ‘switch’ that gets flicked when the playoffs begin. The Bruins are going to have to figure out what is wrong and make corrections immediately. The Bruins started off with one of their best starts in club history, and finished the season like they had become the Florida Panthers. So, I can only hope that someone gives several of the players a good shake and ask them to find their ‘A’ games again.
On the bright side of this whole debacle, the spontaneous cheer that came up from Montreal was drowned out by the groans and sighs of Toronto. Due to the TD Garden’s rather booked schedule ahead, it will probably take a day or two to hash out when the first game will be played. On a similar positive note, it will be great to see two of the Original Six meeting up for the first round of the playoffs.