Bs Shit The Bed, Lose Game Seven 3-1
The better team won. The more determined, hungrier, just plain better Montreal Canadiens are moving on to face the New York Rangers for the right to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Final. And what a shame for the Bruins and their fans as it could have been so much more.
The Bs couldn’t have it set up any better for them—-home ice at a raucous Garden for a ‘winner moves on’ game. They just needed one great game to wipe out all the mistakes from earlier in the series. But like the rest of the series, they were helter-skelter, offensively deficient, out-hustled, out-coached, and not willing to pay the same price that Montreal paid. The result was a 3-1 Canadiens win on yet another night where the Bruins, as their coach is wont to say, had way too many passengers. Instead of the Rangers, a team the they easily dispatched in five games last year, and a possible third Cup appearance in four years, the Bruins are now preparing for vacations and family time.
Things started off shitty as the Bs just didn’t look ready to play a game of this magnitude and Montreal jumped on them early. Just 2:18 in, Dale Weise took advantage of a napping Steve Bartkowski to put the Habs up 1-0. I’m not sure Brandon Prust warranted two guys either, which allowed Daniel Briere to get open. The Bruins did settle down a bit but every time they did get a chance, which wasn’t nearly enough, Carey Price was there to snuff it out (I mean those shots that didn’t hit him on the CH).
Tuukka Rask made a pair of big saves to keep the deficit at a goal but he got left hanging again halfway through the second. After another ugly turnover, Max Pacioretty finished off a two-on-one with David Desharnais to make it 2-0 and officially Panic Time. Jarome Iginla’s tip of a Torey Krug pass cut it to 2-1 with 2:02 left in the second and had to have the Bs feeling good going into the room before the final period.
But, like the entire series, the Bruins struggled to get entry into the Habs’ zone and when they did, they didn’t get many quality chances. When they did get those chances, Price was there. Claude basically dropped the fourth line for the final stanza (swapping in Paille for Fraser on third line) though he never mixed up lines. The Bs held the Habs to just four third period shots but they only managed eight because of Montreal’s series-long ability to take away passing and shooting lanes. With just under three minutes left, Briere’s attempted pass hit an off-his-game Zdeno Chara and sailed by Rask to make it 3-1 and put two in the hat of the Bruins 2013-14 season. An ugly ending to an ugly game from an ugly series.
This one will haunt the players for awhile. But for me? I’m over it. When my team clearly didn’t play good enough to deserve to win, then I’m not gonna waste time going over ‘what ifs?’ and worrying about it. Disappointing end to an ultimately disappointing season (Prez trophy means shit). Anything less than a Cup appearance was going to be a failure of a season. This came up way short. Pete and Claude need to figure out why so it doesn’t happen again next year. Because the Canadiens aren’t going anywhere.
A few more buds for your season-ending bowl…
*Yes, the refs sucked again. No, that’s not why the Bruins lost.
*Calling a snow-shower in a Game Seven is a fucking joke. But when you’re Brad Marchand and have a bad enough reputation that you already got called for goaltender interference when you got pushed into him by a Hab, why do you even roll the dice and do that? Absolutely nothing good can come from it on the Bruins side. Only bad. Like the two-minute minor he was assessed.
*Rask had a decent game last night but a shitty series.
*Shawn Thornton got just five shifts in the game, with three in the first and one each in second and third. Given the lack of fisticuffs in the series and how little Claude used Thornton, you have to wonder why the Bruins didn’t go with somebody who could give them many more minutes and more scoring potential (Ryan Spooner?) rather than essentially burning a roster spot with a guy who barely sees the ice for two-thirds of the game.
*The Habs took a page out of the Patriots’ playbook and pulled off the whole ‘imaginary disrespect’ thing pretty good. Hey, whatever works for you.
*Milan Lucic looked like a donkey acting like that in the handshake line; not just the verbal threats but his whole comportment. Like Mike Milbury said on NBCSN, if you don’t have your emotions enough in check immediately after the game, then don’t put yourself in a position where you’re gonna behave like that because it makes you, and by extension your team, look foolish. Even Jarome Iginla looks a little embarrassed about what’s going on in front of him. He probably could’ve used a few minutes before addressing the media as well. If you’re still that heated, and it’s certainly understandable that you would be, then hold off until you’re ready to deal with it. But he’s right about Weise crying to the media about it.
*I’m a big Claude guy but him invoking ‘Boston Strong’ as a reason Lucic pulled on the crest of his jersey after a goal earlier in the series made me wince.
*Chara had a bad enough series to wonder if he might be hurt yet again. He just wasn’t his dominant self out there. And his clock is ticking.
*David Krejci was far from dangerous this post-season. He passed up way too many shots and was constantly looking for the perfect play. How many times did he circle around the net only to look…look…look…and…nothing? Just a huge disappointment from a guy who has always risen to the occasion. No goals and just four assists. Awful.
*Marchand didn’t score once and had just five assists in the playoffs. Not sure if he was still hurt from whatever ailed him late in the regular season. But if he wasn’t, he sucked.
*Wholesale changes aren’t in order but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Peter move a body or two. A loss like this means a team could use some tinkering.
*Torey Krug was the team’s leading scorer with 2-8—10 totals.
*Though he only scored once, Carl Soderberg’s stock went way up in the playoffs. He was a bull centering the third line and helped the Bs possession game immensely. Should be a fun to watch next year.
*This team’s youthful D was much different from last year. Maybe the win over Detroit lulled us into thinking they were equipped to handle the heat of a Montreal seven-game series but they had their issues. Also goes without saying how much they missed Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid.
*Chris Kelly was also missed. You can never have too many battle-hardened vets who know what it takes to through a series. His appearance would have also had a ripple effect throughout the line-up.
*Yeah, it sucks. But it’s just a game. Win it all or lose early, your life really doesn’t change much at the end of the day. Thanks for reading.
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