When the Boston Bruins lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at the TD Garden, it was seen as a bad loss. Well, it was seen that way because the Maple Leafs are banged up and going to miss the postseason, while the Black and Gold are fighting for their postseason lives.
However, the loss might end up costing the Bruins a postseason berth, but in the overall big picture, it was a loss that helped them. Why? Well, they own Toronto's first-round draft pick in June, should it fall outside the top 5 in the NHL Draft Lottery in May. The odds of that increased on Wednesday night when the Leafs beat the New York Rangers at home, 3-2, to pick up two more points in the standings.
Boston owns the pick after they traded Brandon Carlo to the Leafs at teh trade deadline last March. To compound matters surrounding the pick, prospect Fraser Minten, who general manager Don Sweeney also got in the deal, is centering the Black and Gold's top line.
Bruins take advantage of Sabres schedule
After losing to Toronto, the Bruins had a brutal back-to-back, having to travel to Western New York to play the first-place Buffalo Sabres. However, maybe, just maybe, Boston was getting a break in the schedule. For the Sabres, however, it was the first game back at home after a West Coast trip. Those games are usually a struggle for teams, and that was the case for Buffalo.
“Those first two periods were probably our poorest periods of the last three months,” said coach Lindy Ruff. “… You’re playing a team that’s battling as hard as it can to stay in the playoff picture. They won more battles.”
The Bruins took a 2-1 lead through the first two periods, only to have Buffalo score two goals, 33 seconds apart, on a major Mason Lohrei miscue. Former Sabre, Casey Mittlestadt, tied the game with six minutes left before Pavel Zacha won the game 38 seconds into overtime. It was a surprising win, but one that Boston desperately needed.
Bruins show much-needed resilience
No matter what, the Bruins needed to leave Buffalo with points. One or two. That looked bleak after Lohrei's third-period gaffes, but his teammates dug deep and were able to score the final two goals for two huge points. After the game, Zacha didn't beat around the bush about his team's comeback.
“We know how important this game was. Just kept coming the whole game, especially in the third period,” Zacha said. “We just never gave up and came back in the game. We know what we have in this locker room, the resilience.”
Given the upcoming schedule for the Bruins, they are going to need a lot of resilience if they are going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.