On Monday night, the Boston Bruins survived an unusually weak showing against the Pittsburgh Penguins relatively unscathed.
Escaping what would've been a soul-crushing loss headlined by Sidney Crosby's buzzer-beating goal that forced overtime when Torey Krug's overtime bullet beat Marc-Andre Fleury, the B's, all things considered, looked pretty awful. It was one of the Bruins' more lackluster efforts in what's become a highly successful month of November, and it was fairly obvious that such an ugly system certainly wasn't sustainable.
But against a sans Pavel Datsyuk Detroit squad, though, the B's attempted to once again defy the odds with an effort that was questionable at best. At best.
Naturally, there are some things you can't necessarily avoid (such as goals -- this is the National Hockey League after all), and things you can manage, but the Black-and-Gold were simply disastrous all over the ice tonight.
It was the club's nightmare in Motown.
At the end of the day, you should be able to survive the Wings' first period goal from Justin Abdelkader. Striking with 11:49 gone in the first, that's a goal that the Bruins, as resilient a club as there is, should simply move on from in the middle frame.
Tomas Tatar's second period wraparound? Tuukka Rask's seen better days. Captain Henrik Zetterberg's goal just one shot later? Here we go. And then the third goal of the period -- and on the Wings' third shot of the period -- Niklas Kronwall's power-play tally with Zdeno Chara in no man's land? Oh, boy.
At 4-0, it was over. And after 40 minutes, forget about it.
The Wings would add two more with goals from Drew Miller (his second of the season) and Gustav Nyquist's third of the year, and the Bruins would avoid the shutout by way of Jarome Iginla's fifth of the year scored with just 2:25 to go, but the sting of this one was there.
There's no doubt that coach Claude Julien prides himself in his club's status as one of, if not thee, superpower of the Atlantic Division. And with that, he puts a ton of stock into the club's ability to hang with the division's newest friend, the Red Wings. Clearly, this was not the effort he expected given the team's recent play (and the Wings' recent home struggles), and was visibly livid with his squad. Rightfully so.
But when a game like this happens what should you do? Burn the tape. Move on.
For better or worse, the B's have always been a 'never too high, never too low' type of club. That's due in large to just what the club has been through over the past three to four years -- from the Choke in '10 to the Cup in '11 to the run in '13 -- the B's are well equipped upstairs when slapped in the face. It's a true testament to this club's coaching staff, and that's simply all you can focus on in a game as ugly as tonight's.
You'd have to think -- or pray, maybe -- that you won't see these bad behaviors show up on Friday when the Bruins square off with the New York Rangers.
Adam McQuaid returns
The silver lining in such a gross game? The return of defensemen Adam McQuaid.
One of the few stay-at-home blue-liners on Julien's evolving defensive unit, the 27-year-old defensemen skated 18:21 tonight, finishing the night with three hits and four minutes in penalties after an eight-game layoff due to a groin injury suffered against Toronto.
When the defense is at full health, there's no way of denying the importance of the 6-foot-5 bruiser's presence on the Bruins' third defensive pairing, as he provides a definite safety net for noted puck-mover Torey Krug, stabilizing the pairing's skill-set in its end.
Jordan Caron plays
From a pure emotional standpoint, I hate when Shawn Thornton is scratched. It's especially tough when you see him scratched for Jordan Caron. That's not a knock on Caron, who's served as the extra skater on most nights, but rather what the loss of Thornton from a pure energy and leadership standpoint can do to the club's bottom six.
But after watching Caron tonight, you have to simply assume that he's being showcased.
Given how well the Bruins' fourth line has played as of late, it's tough to find legitimate reasoning for benching Thornton, and point to Caron's insertion as being anything more than team-x and team-y asking to get a look at him in game action.
Caron has a one-way deal this season, and has one goal in 11 games this season.
Up next
After a rare Thursday off in celebration of Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the Bruins will return to the Garden on Friday afternoon for a Black Friday matinee with the New York Rangers. The B's won their previous meeting with the Rangers by a 2-1 final last week in New York City, and will ride into the Hub with a 10-3-2 record at home this season.