Boston Bruins Playoff-Clinching Scenario Post-Ottawa Game
Boston Bruins Playoff-Clinching Scenario Post-Ottawa Game In Three-Team Race For Post-Season
The Boston Bruins received some troubling news prior to their game against the Ottawa Senators which led to Jonas Gustavsson receiving the start with Tuukka Rask being declared inactive with an illness. Jonas Gustavsson entered the game with an 11-8-1 record and posting a 2.65 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. The Bruins have been using Tuukka Rask as a workhorse down the stretch and Gustavsson’s last start game back on March 18th. Being out of the crease for three weeks clearly took a toll on the Bruins backup as he couldn’t get the job done for his team, allowing four goals in the first two periods. In his defense, however, the entire Bruins’ team was slopping and appeared to be playing lackadaisically in front of him for the majority of the game.
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The Boston Bruins had a chance to clinch a playoff win by winning their last three games of the season, all of which were set to be played at home. The Bruins lost the first game of the three and found the control of their own destiny slip away from them immediately. The playoff scenario became far more cloudy for the Bruins who were in a battle with the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
After beating the Detroit Red Wings, the Bruins playoff clinching scenarios were complicated at best, but losing to the Ottawa Senators as well as the Detroit Red Wings losing to the New York Rangers made the situation much easier to understand. This is how the Bruins can make the playoffs after losing a blow-out loss to the Ottawa Senators:
Boston Bruins lose in regulation + Philadelphia Flyers earn at most one point in their final two games
Finish: Second Wildcard spot
The Philadelphia Flyers two remaining games come against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and the New York Islanders on Sunday. Pittsburgh has already announced that they will be resting both Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. It’s also important to note that Evgeni Malkin is already out of the lineup until sometime in the latter round of the playoffs, meaning the Penguins aren’t doing the Bruins any favors late in the season.
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The Bruins playoff chances look bleak right now, and all the team and fans can do right now is watch. It’s a rare situation where the players on the ice and the fans watching are in the same boat, but there’s nothing more the Boston Bruins can do to bolster their playoff opportunities; that ship has sailed.