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In Claude Julien’s eight-year tenure the bench, his Boston Bruins have been a club that prefers to do things themselves. But if the Black and Gold are to make the playoffs for the eighth season in a row, they’ll need some help from their division rival Buffalo Sabres tonight. With Ottawa clinching a playoff spot by way of their 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon, there’s just one spot to be had between the B’s and Buffalo’s opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Eastern Conference.
So, here you are, on the last day of the season, rooting for the historically awful Buffalo Sabres to beat Sidney Crosby and the Penguins (in any fashion) to keep your playoff hopes alive. A refresher of sorts? The Sabres have just 23 wins in 81 games this year, and have a goal differential of minus-111. They enter today’s action with both the league’s worst power play and penalty kill. They’re real bad.
There’s the ‘respect’ element from the Sabres’ point of view, especially with the league’s worst record locked up, so you can definitely expect a strong charge from a Buffalo roster that’s been laughed at since day one. But whether that’s enough to keep Pittsburgh at bay, even with all of Pittsburgh’s injury woes and consistency issues, seems like a pretty big stretch, even for the ultimate optimist.
But this is the situation that the Black and Gold, who, fittingly, have been haunted by inability to finish all year, have worked themselves into. And that’s not even the biggest obstacle in their way, either.
No matter the end result between the Pens and Sabres, in order to get into the postseason, the Bruins will need to beat a Tampa Bay Lightning squad that’s won 32 of 40 at Amalie Arena and vying for the Atlantic Division title and home ice through at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
A win is an undoubtedly tall task for the Bruins, especially when you look at the back-to-back disappointing losing efforts from the Bruins in D.C. and Sunrise, and one that’ll truly test the desperation of the club’s core that the front office that’s always been reluctant to break up.
If the B’s fall short tonight, not only will they fail to make the postseason, but it’s expected that sweeping change would come to the locker room on Causeway. You’d probably see one of, if not both of Julien and general manager Peter Chiarelli lose their jobs. A piece, perhaps even multiple pieces of the Bruins’ core that won the 2011 Stanley Cup, could be moved out of town. If there’s one game that’ll test the highly-regarded mental strength of Julien and the B’s, it’ll be this one. There will be no rah-rah speeches. No smashing sticks. For the Bruins, it’s entirely about their on-ice play tonight.
Generally speaking here, this year has been the strangest one the Black and Gold have gone through since returning to legitimately competitive hockey in 2008, and with all that in mind, you should probably expect something absolutely nonsensical to factor into the end result of tonight’s game.
You should probably just hope that it doesn’t involve the shootout. Like, at all.
He’s been their guy all year, and he’ll be their guy once again tonight. It’s Tuukka Rask in the B’s crease for the 12th straight start. It will also be his 70th appearance of the year, tying the 28-year-old netminder with three other goalies for the franchise record for single-season appearances. Rask comes into tonight’s game on the heels of a 26-of-30 losing effort against the ‘Cats on Thursday night, but has won five of his last seven, posing an impressive .934 save percentage over that run. And although he has nine wins and a .915 save percentage in 12 career starts against Tampa Bay, Rask was yanked after allowing four goals on 12 shots against in his last starting against the Bolts.
Tampa Bay counters with Ben Bishop. In a downright stellar year for just about everybody on the Bolts, the 6-foot-7 Bishop has set a career high in wins (39), and comes into tonight’s game with six wins and just 20 goals allowed in his last nine appearances. The 28-year-old has been especially strong at home this year, with 26 wins and a .924 save percentage in 33 games at Amalie Arena this year. Bishop’s career figures against the B’s are nothing mindblowing, however, as he’ll take to the ice with just one win, 3.33 goals against average, and .887 save percentage in six career games against Boston.
- David Krejci has just two goals and three points in 13 career games in Tampa’s barn.
- Boston winger Brad Marchand has five goals and 12 points in 17 career games vs. Tampa.
- Forward Reilly Smith has just one goal in his last 21 games played.
- Lightning forward Ryan Callahan has been held pointless in five of his last seven games.
- Steven Stamkos has 15 goals and 21 points in 26 career games against the Bruins.
Other news and notes
The season’s on the line, obviously, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets scratched for the B’s tonight.
Forward Danny Paille has been a scratch for eight consecutive contests, while Gregory Campbell has sat for two of the last three, while Max Talbot has even taken a seat of late. If you left the decision up to me, tonight would be a night where I put Paille back into the lineup. You’ll need some speed in there, and it’s not as if you’ve been blown away by the play of your wingers.
Although this is far from a shock, Boston defender Dougie Hamilton (undisclosed) will not play in this game. Hamilton has missed the last nine games, and in spite of their 5-3-1 record over that stretch, the Black and Gold have without question missed his presence back there. Rugged blue-liner Kevan Miller (shoulder, done for the year) remains out of action for the Bruins as well.
On a roster move front, the B’s sent Joe Morrow back to Providence this morning. Morrow was up with the B’s on an emergency recall, and will be with the P-Bruins for their game tonight.
The Bolts will be without forward Alex Killorn, while defensemen Andrej Sustr, Jason Garrison, and Braydon Coburn remain on the shelf as well.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com