Boston Bruins Playoff Fate in the Hands of Others
There’s no question about it, the Boston Bruins need to come out in full force today in Tampa. They need to give it their all and take two points. Unfortunately, having played poorly in the past two games – as well as MANY other games this season – even if the Bruins blow away the Tampa Bay Lighting and easily take two points, they may still not make it into the postseason and the only ones to blame are themselves.
Chiarelli: "We're still mathematically alive, and things can happen, but we’ve put ourselves in this position."
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 10, 2015
Since the B’s were unable to clinch a playoff spot on their own, they have to rely on either the Ottawa Senators or Pittsburgh Penguins falling in their matchups today. If either team takes two points then the B’s are out no matter what the outcome of the game against Tampa is.
The Bruins currently have an 18.9% chance of making it into the postseason. That is a big difference from the approximately 90% for both Pittsburgh and Ottawa. However, all three teams need to bring their A game in order to head into a postseason.
“We have to look at ourselves, nobody else. We’ve put ourselves in the position that we have to win the next game, no ifs or buts, and you’ve got to hope that you get some help.” Claude Julien
Looking back at the season, the Boston Bruins have not played as strong as they should have. If they had improved their game earlier on, or even in the last month, chances are their fate wouldn’t have come down to the last regular season game. Think about where they would be if they won even a couple of the nine shootouts that they lost. Instead, they now find themselves from the outside looking in.
One thing that has become apparent is that some players on the team don’t appear as though they even want the season to continue. The passion, drive, grit and energy that were once true characteristics of a Bruins player have really started to drift away this season. You still have your players that bleed black and gold, like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug and others that come out each game with the energy and passion that they’ve always had. But you have to think that having some negative players on the roster brings them down as well.
Whether or not the Bruins continue their season after tonight, there will need to be some very big changes in the offseason so that next year they won’t have to leave their fate in the hands of others and can together as a team seal their playoff fate with a positive record.