Tonight’s hockey action did not go as hoped for Boston Bruins fans. In fact, it was likely the worst case scenario for the Black and Gold. The Detroit Red Wings pushed passed the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The Pittsburgh Penguins surrendered a three goal lead to the Ottawa Senators and lost in overtime 4-3.
So, Wings win, Sens win in OT, Pens gain a point. And tomorrow the Bruins are playing a team they haven't scored a goal against this year.
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) April 8, 2015
Yup, that sums it up rather perfectly. Everybody who the Bruins didn’t need to get a point got at least one. (So much for favors from the hockey gods.) At the moment, the Boston Bruins are still hanging on to a playoff position. They’ve got a game on the Ottawa Senators whom they are tied in points with.
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Without doing anything to hurt themselves, the Bruins chances of getting into playoffs dropped tonight. They’re now listed as a 79.6% chance of making the post-season. Ottawa’s miracle win has now moved them back over the thirty percent mark (31.8%). Detroit’s has blossomed to 96.2% and Pittsburgh (who has to wonder why Marc-Andre Fleury is playing his usual post-season hockey before it’s started) is still a surprising 92.9%.
Now the Bruins don’t get to have any relaxing games. They’ve somehow got to dig down deep and put a puck past Braden Holtby. He’s stonewalled the Bruins all season, shutting out the Black and Gold twice this season. Now, it’s possible that the Capitals (who have secured a playoff slot already) might sit Holtby (who has played in the last twenty-three games for Washington) tomorrow night, but that’s unlikely.
Puck Prose
This means there will be increased pressure on Tuukka Rask. He hasn’t exactly had a cake walk in net for the B’s this season. If Rask plays the remaining three games of the regular season, he will have tied a Bruins franchise record for the most amount of games played by a goalie in a season with seventy. The last player to play that many games for Boston was Eddie Johnston during the 1963-64 season. ‘
Thankfully, the Bruins will have their captain back on the ice. Chara took a puck to the foot during the Bruins 2-1 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was listed as day-to-day, and it wasn’t sure what his prognosis was until he came out to practice with the team this morning.
“I mean, we all block shots, said Chara about the puck he took to the foot. “We all do whatever it takes to win, and that situation obviously I decided to make a play by blocking and that was it, and I continued to play, and we ended up winning the game, so that’s the positive part. It feels good. I practiced today. We had a good practice and worked on a few things, getting ready for Washington.”
The Bruins don’t have a choice. If they want to make the post-season, they’ve got to win tomorrow night. Anything less than two points will put their once guaranteed playoff path in severe jeopardy. Now, all the Bruins need to do is score against someone they have yet to score on all season.