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Boston Bruins: 2020 was filled with its ups and downs for the Black and Gold

By Scott Roche

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 31: The Boston Bruins react after their 3-2 loss during the second overtime period to lose Game Five of and the Eastern Conference Second Round to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 31, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 31: The Boston Bruins react after their 3-2 loss during the second overtime period to lose Game Five of and the Eastern Conference Second Round to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 31, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 04: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins reacts with his teammates after scoring in the second period of a game against the Vancouver Canucks TD Garden on February 4, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

2. Playoff troubles

When the league announced that the Eastern Conference restart would take place in Toronto, there were a lot of questions surrounding if the Bruins could continue their play from March in their quest for a second Stanley Cup in nine years.

They faced issues right out of the gate. Pastrnak and Kase struggled to get on the ice Warrior Ice Arena in early July for training camp because of the COVID protocols.

Boston lost all three Round Robin games to the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and Tampa Bay Lightning. They had the fourth-seed and were matched up with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Quarterfinal Round.

The Bruins ended up beating the ‘Canes in five games, but it didn’t come easily. Hours before Game 3 of a 1-1 series, Rask announced that he was leaving the bubble to go home to deal with a family matter.

That left the netminding duties to Jaroslav Halak. He won the final three games of the Carolina series, but things came to a crashing halt against the Lightning in the next round when the Bruins were sent home in five games to the eventual Stanley Cup winners.

Goaltending wasn’t the only issue in the bubble. Aside from Brad Marchand scoring seven goals and dishing out five assists and David Krejci having four goals and eight assists, the Bruins offense struggled. Pastrnak missed games with an injury and Ritchie took some ill-advised penalties against the Lightning that cost the Bruins some power play goals.

It was an uphill climb from the moment the team stepped on the ice at Warrior Arena in July until they were bounced from Toronto at the end of August. One must think, what could have been in the playoffs if the season was not stopped in March?

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