With it being the last game of the regular season for the Boston Bruins, two points have never been more important. With a win, the Bruins will win the Northeast division and the second seed in the Eastern Conference. With a loss, the Bruins will be the fourth seed in the division, but will have home ice edge. Basically TWO points decide the first round of playoffs for three different Eastern Conference pairings.
Since it’s a “need to win” kind of the night, the Bruins kept the same lineup as last night and Tuukka Rask would get the start opposite Robin Lehner.
Peverley (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)
The “need to win” vibe was definitely filling the TD Garden right from the start. Most notably I want to point out former Senator Kaspars Daugavins who would end up leading the team with 3 shots on net (of 13 for the B’s) after the first. He’s been very good the past few games and hopefully will pick up his first B’s goal soon. With 3:01 left in the first, the Senators would get the first goal of the night. Erik Condra would get his fourth goal of the season. Soon after, Milan Lucic would drop gloves with Chris Neil. Two fights in the last three for Looch, it’s safe to say he’s back! The Bruins would end the first on the PK with Brad Marchand getting a late slashing call. Despite being down, the B’s would be leading the Senators in shots on net 13-9.
Depite being on their supposed “A-Game” the Bruins haven’t been registering any goals on Lehner. It’s clear that they are trying to pick up the two points as much as the B’s. The Bergeron line once again brings pressure and gets several good shots on net but no goals past Lehner. With under 10 minutes to go in the second, Jared Cowen would make this a 2-0 game for the Senators. This is not the time for the B’s to be letting high point goals…or any kind of goals in. With exactly two minutes remaining in the game, the Bruins would go on the power play. Usually, that really doesn’t do much for the B’s scoring wise but apparently it woke the B’s up. With just 3.4 seconds to go Wade Redden would chip the puck to Rich Peverley for the Bruins to get a power play goal and make it a 2-1 game. Boston is still out shooting Ottawa 28-19 after two periods. Now the third period is more important than ever!
It took 14 seconds into the third but Dennis Seidenberg and the Bruins would tie the game. Looch and the Daug Man would both get assists on the goal. That would be Daugavins first point as a Bruin and like I said earlier this was overdue. Just so we’re keeping track that would technically be two goals in 18 seconds for the Bruins. With 3 and a half to go, Ottawa would once again get the lead. Plain and simple, they caught the Bruins standing still. Jean-Gabriel Peageau would get that goal for the Senators. The Senators would seal the deal with an empty net goal.
With the loss, this means the Bruins are now the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. That series is set to start Wednesday!
A Cup A Bruin 