A week ago today, the Boston Bruins clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Today, the Bruins decided to take it up a notch, clinching the league’s Presidents’ Trophy, beating the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-1 final en route to solidifying themselves the top team in the National Hockey League. But in the Bruins’ regular season home finale (and their 31st home win of the year), the first Presidents’ Trophy since 1989-90 came at a cost against a Buffalo squad waiting for it all to end.
The Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron, who scored his 30th goal of the year in the second period, giving him his first 30-goal season since his sophomore 2005-06 campaign, to an injury after two periods of play. And in the third, B’s forward Danny Paille was in another zone following a thunderous hit from Jake McCabe, a defender skating in his sixth career NHL contest.
GIF: Here's McCabe's hit that knocked out Paille http://t.co/Ace0BEmQVX
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2014
Following the game, head coach Claude Julien noted that Bergeron’s issue is one that’s ‘very minor’, but offered no update on the status of the 29-year-old Paille. And from the tone of the Boston room after today’s victory, the initial diagnosis doesn’t sound all that promising.
“It’s just sad. This time of the year in the third period it’s just sad. We need a guy like that,… David Krejci said of Paille. “He’s been a big part of the team. He brings so much speed on the fourth line and lots of energy. He’s good on the PK as well, so it’s just a sad day, not just for him but for us as his teammates, so we’re going to miss him. Hopefully he’ll come back soon, and it’s just sad.…
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first bout Paille’s had with concussions in 2013-14. He’s missed nine games in total this year due to concussion woes, with the latest coming in a two-game absence from action last month. And with the first concussion coming in December -- one that kept the Welland, Ont. native out of action for seven games -- that’s a suspected three concussions in just four months. I’m not a doctor, I know, but you’d think that that’s obviously far too many in a short period of time.
The 20-year-old McCabe’s hit, which was deemed worthy of a five-minute major and game misconduct, is going to be dissected from all angles, and probably reviewed by the NHL. But watching the replay, it’s hard to suggest that there was any real malicious intent on the part of McCabe. This was simply a player looking to make contact. The puck just wasn’t there anymore.
Obviously, the the rather unfortunate end result changes the perception of an otherwise OK hit.
The injuries didn’t end there though, as a collision between Torey Krug and Buffalo netminder Matt Hackett brought the stretcher out, and forced the 24-year-old goaltender out of action. Putting Connor Knapp, recalled from the AHL just yesterday, into the net, Knapp’s first moments of big league duty? Easy, just stop the Boston power play for three minutes.
No sweat, kid. And while the 23-year-old that’s bounced between three different ECHL teams this year started the penalty kill off with a strong save on Jarome Iginla, the Bruins found the back of the net when a David Krejci shot went off the endboards, bounced off Knapp’s skate, and into the back of the net for Boston’s fourth goal of the afternoon.
Like that, the Sabres were defeated for the 51st time in 81 games. Mercifully, their misery ends tomorrow. Like that, on the other side, the Black-and-Gold were crowned Presidents’ Trophy winners for the first time in 24 years, and though another year added to the black banner is nice, their run for more begins in less than a week. That, without question, means more to everyone in that room.
“It is a nice achievement, that’s for sure, but that wasn’t our goal going into the season,… Krejci admitted. “One thing good about it is as long as we’re in the playoffs we’ll be starting at home,, but we’re trying to accomplish something different so we have one more game tomorrow. We need to play a really strong game and feel good about our game going into the playoffs.…
You don’t have to look too far back to find the last team that won the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same year (the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks), and while the award has its fair share of being more of a curse than a blessing, the award is a recognition of what Boston’s done this year.
“The Presidents’ Trophy identifies a team who’s been good for the regular season. The other thing is, it also guarantees home ice as long as you’re in the playoffs,… Julien said after today’s victory. “Those are two things we’re really proud of, but that’s where it stops. The next step is we still got to do some work here in order to get the trophy that we all really want here.
“I think overall we’ve done a lot of good things. Power play has been better this year, our goals-against is still one of the better ones in the league, goals-for same thing,… continued Julien. “We’ve been pretty good in a lot of areas this year. That’s been a great regular season, but we’ve got one more game left and then we all know that what everybody calls the real season is right around the corner. I’m going to tell you that I’m really happy with the way we handled these 81 games and hopefully these 82 by tomorrow. But that’s all going to be pushed aside starting Monday.…
With the Presidents’ Trophy clinched, the B’s will rest a bunch of their players for their final game in New Jersey tomorrow, and take it from there.
No word yet on just who will get the call for the regular season finale.