Boston Bruins: Four Straight Losses Hurting Postseason Chances
By Andrew Dulac
Boston Bruins: Four Straight Losses Hurting Postseason Chances. After showing us they can play with some of the best, the Bruins go out and lay an egg over the last week.
What was once a comfortable 10-point lead for a playoff spot in the division standings, the Bruins playoff hopes are now in jeopardy as they cling to a three-point lead with Detroit just out of the playoff picture. Tonight, the Bruins take on the Florida Panthers who currently sit in second place behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A win tonight would put the Bruins in second place just behind Tampa Bay, who has the night off and faces-off with the New York Islanders tomorrow night. In a perfect world, the Bruins would win tonight, the Lightning lose tomorrow, and then the Bruins would win again Saturday when they beat Toronto north of the border. The Bruins had the best road record in the NHL for a big chunk of this season, but then they dropped their last four road contests and now own the third best record.
Unfortunately, the world is not perfect and the Bruins NEED to win tonight. The cliché, “we need to take it one game at a time, one play at a time” quote that I feel like we are fed 1,000 times throughout a hockey season has never been more relevant than now. There is a very similar feeling to last year isn’t there? Let’s go back and time and look at this time last year.
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The Bruins at the end of February beat up on the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 and ended a six-game losing streak. They had a decent stretch of wins and some close game losses before they went on a five-game winning streak. They follow that up with another six game skid, then go on another five-game win streak. Suddenly there was three games left and the Bruins look like they might sneak into the playoffs, but then… they drop their last three games and miss the playoffs by one point.
This year, the Bruins make some deadline moves and get 12 out of a possible 14 points in seven games after the deadline. They beat some teams that are kind of good (Blackhawks and Capitals to name a few) and now find themselves in a four game skid, all against playoff caliber teams. Still ahead, the B’s have Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit before the post season starts and the playoffs will start with or without the Bruins.
Of the eight remaining Bruins games this season, three are against current playoff teams. (Four if you count Detroit, who is not currently in the playoff structure.) Games against teams like Carolina, New Jersey, and Ottawa are teams that are still considered to be teams “in the hunt” but are realistically, barring a miracle, spoiler teams who aren’t going to make it and are looking to upset teams fighting to get into or improve their playoff positioning.
Next: Repeating Past Mistakes?
The Bruins don’t want a repeat of last year and miss the playoffs for the second straight season. They need to get in to the dance this season. Once you’re in, anything can happen. Any hockey fan knows that. Time to sit back, relax (or panic depending on the next couple of games) and wait to see what happens.