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After painfully dropping their first two games of a three-game California tour, the Boston Bruins knew that they needed a quick start against Antti Niemi and the San Jose Sharks. Reilly Smith got it started 29 seconds into the first, and Gregory Campbell followed his lead with his third goal of the year just two minutes and six seconds later. But the start the Black and Gold desperately needed (and got) was all for naught. It was a complete defensive meltdown that started late in the first and didn’t end until the final horn mercifully sounded that did the Bruins in, as they fell in San Jose by a 7-4 final.
It was a loss that was closer than the final score would indicate, but not by much.
And it was a loss where goaltender Tuukka Rask kept the Bruins in it way longer than most goalies in this league. The closest comparison to Rask’s performance in this one is that scene in Jurassic Park (1993) where Dr. Alan Grant is trying to keep the raptor from breaking through the door. In this version, Bruins fans sacrificing a good night’s sleep for this game played the role of Dr. John Hammond, screaming through the phone (their television or the internet in this case) out of pure horror/disbelief.
Through 40 minutes of play, the Sharks had over 60 shot attempts, and 24 shots in the second period alone (Rask stopped 20 of ‘em). They kept the puck far from the desperate grabs of a pulverized Boston defensive unit, and scored the ‘dirty goals’ the Bruins have dreamt of this season. Two came on net-front deflections from Tommy Wingels, one took a bizarre hop off the stick of Tyler Kennedy and into the back of the net, and Sharks’ fourth goal of the middle frame came on a Joe Pavelski power-play strike.
But even with that, the Bruins found themselves in a 4-4 tie thanks to second period goals from Smith and Torey Krug. They were lucky. And as you would expect, that luck didn’t last.
Kennedy made it 5-4 just three minutes into the third. Pavelski banked his second of the night in off Milan Lucic’s skate, and Tomas Hertl took advantage of a wandering Rask, and it was over.
It doesn’t help to realize that the Bruins took a 2-0 lead to the room after 20 minutes of play. Or that they were tied with the Sharks in shots at 10-10 after the first, either. It doesn’t help to look at the stat line and realize that the B’s were outshot 34 to 14 in the final 40 minutes of play, and again, not surprisingly, outscored 7-2. If anything, that’s to be expected when you simply crumble against a high-skilled team like San Jose.
There’s silver lining though, right? The Bruins scored four goals on the road. They haven’t done that Oct. 25. Forget about doing it on the road, they haven’t even scored four goals in a game since Nov. 10. The offense, namely Reilly Smith and the fourth line, showed signs of life.
But let’s be honest, the Bruins are beyond the point of moral victories. They need, you know, real victories.
When you looked at this four-game road swing that’ll end in Arizona on Sat. night, you saw the schedule and thought, best case scenario-- six to seven points. A clean sweep seemed unlikely, but a 3-0-1 mark would’ve been a great success. You’d even accept a loss in Los Angeles because, well, it’s Los Angeles and Jonathan Quick doesn’t know how to lose at home. You thought worst case scenario-- three to four points. So, with the chance to head back to Boston grabbing two of a possible eight points, what’s this? A doomsday scenario?
Things are not blowing up for the Black and Gold, but their inability to find any sort of rhythm or a balance in their game has become downright maddening. In Anaheim (and LA), they played well enough to win and lost. In San Jose, they played absolutely awful, but hung around. In LA, they were too defensive, and failed to generate anything the other way. In San Jose, they were anything but defensive, and left Rask on an island. It’s just ugly. And it’s starting to add up.
With Thursday night’s loss, the Bruins dropped to 14-12-1 and sit in fifth in the Atlantic Division. They’re still hanging on to the final wild card spot in the East with 29 points, too, but have Florida (27), Washington (26), and Ottawa (25) right on their heels. All of those teams have at least two games in hand on Boston, as well. There’s reason to worry at what’s coming up behind you, no doubt, but with each loss the Bruins are falling deeper into a hole within their own division. After Thursday, the Bruins trail third-place Detroit by six points (the Wings have a game in hand), and first-place Tampa Bay by 10 points. It’s also no secret that a six-point cushion is tough to erase from here on out, let alone a 10-point one. The Bruins are in trouble.
Reinforcements are on the way with Zdeno Chara and David Krejci -- both of whom continue to skate in Boston -- expected to return at some point in the near future, but this just feels… off?
With general manager Peter Chiarelli scouting throughout the league -- Chiarelli has taken in a Lightning/Sabres game and Blues/Blackhawks game this week -- and rumors of the Bruins and Edmonton Oilers talking about a trade, you have a feeling that a move is on the way a lot sooner than later. Read as: the Bruins could be on the verge of making a panic move that sees them pay through the nose for a mid-level talent like a Chris Stewart (Buffalo) or Patrick Berglund (St. Louis). That’s not how you want to see the Bruins utilize their extremely limited cap space, but at a certain point, this front office is going to hit a point where they come to terms with the fact that their issues cannot be solved internally or with Providence callups.
And with the Bruins paced for an 88-point season (the lowest total by any Julien-coached Bruins squad), doesn’t it just feel like you’re counting the days ‘til that realization gets put into action by way of a trade?
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