Midway through the first period of another pivotal Sunshine State showdown, the Bruins somehow looked less prepared than they did in their 4-0 loss on Tuesday. In an 0-1 hole, inside positioning on Zdeno Chara allowed Frank Vatrano to spin around in front of the Boston net and beat Tuukka Rask for the desperate Cats' second goal in 1:52.
Ryan Donato brought the B's within one before the end of the first period by way of a power-play finish, and Danton Heinen's 15th goal of the season, scored just over two minutes into the middle frame, brought the Bruins and Panthers even at 2-2.
But with Florida throwing everything they had on net -- and fueled by a playoff-clinching victory by the Devils and a win by the Flyers, meaning that the Panthers needed a win to simply survive -- a Jared McCann tip through Tuukka Rask with just under six minutes in a tied third period made the difference in a 3-2 loss for the Bruins.
It's the kind of end result that I'm admittedly still trying to wrap my head around, both in terms of how it should make you feel and how the Bruins should move on from, too.
The obvious takeaway is that the B's look just plain exhausted.
And they looked worse from game to game throughout this three-game road swing that saw them grab just one of a possible six points. They also played from behind for significant stretches of each contest. Given the fact that this was their 19th game in the last 36 games, and their 12th straight contest against a team vying for either a playoff spot or playoff positioning, that's almost to be expected. That's without factoring in what has been an almost daily juggling of healthy and injured bodies, too.
This fatigue played out to the Bruins losing two key battles in front of their own net (two losses that directly led to goals for the Panthers), and what felt like a 60-minute party in front of Rask, as the Bruins surrendered a season high in chances against.
Rask, mind you, was perhaps the only Boston skater that came to play Thursday night, with stops on 32 of 35 shots, including four potentially game-changing saves to keep it a one-goal deficit late.
"It's been a long year, it's been a long month," Brad Marchand, now without a goal in at least four straight games for just the third stretch this season, admitted after the loss. "We're in a good spot still. We want to go in [the playoffs] playing well."
"Mental [fatigue], I think, more than physical to be honest with you. I think knowing that this team has played well and put ourselves in a good position. Other teams are more amped up when the puck drops lately," Cassidy, whose team has dropped three games in a row for the first time since November, said of their recent struggles. "You know Philly and Florida are trying to get in [to the playoffs] and Tampa had something to prove. So, that's kind of where it's gone here the last three games and is that right or wrong? Of course, we want to match it. But, I'm just telling you, I think, why other teams have got the jump on us."
I think if we're being honest, Boston's best crack at a deep run comes with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. That now has to come with some form of help, though, as both the Lightning and Bruins winning out would give the Bolts the No. 1 spot. In fact, the only way both teams winning out benefits the Bruins is if one of Tampa Bay's wins comes in a shootout while the Bruins take care of business in both regulation and/or overtime, allowing them to either tie them in the tiebreaking ROW (the Bruins then win on head-to-heads) or surpass them in such a category. Alternatively, a loss of any sort from the Bolts coupled with two Boston wins of any sort would allow the Bruins to pass them.
Essentially, they need help of some sort.
The Lightning finish their year against the Sabres and Hurricanes, while the B's battle the Sens and Panthers. The odds, as they stand right now, appear to favor the Lightning.
That's not exactly what you want to hear if you're a Bruins fan, as securing the No. 1 seed would give the Bruins the benefit of home ice for at least the first three rounds of postseason play, and also allow them to avoid a first-round showdown with the Maple Leafs, a team they've beaten just once in their last eight tries dating back to 2016.
...But the No. 1 seed no longer seems loaded with free passes.
If the Bruins take care of business (which means the Panthers likely miss), get help from the woeful Canes and/or Sabres, their potential round one opponents include the Blue Jackets, Devils, or Flyers. Mercifully, the Penguins are not among the potential round-one options for Boston. But the Blue Jackets are among the hottest teams in the NHL in the last month (they were the only team to have a better March than the Bruins), the Devils have wins in four straight and are absolutely among the fastest teams in the National Hockey League, and the Flyers have wins in six of their last 10 (and played you extremely well in your last two head-to-head meetings).
The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, are just 9-6-0 since March, which ranks as the 17th-best record in the NHL since then, while their penalty kill ranks 23rd over that span.
Despite the recent head-to-head results, that could in fact prove to be a better matchup -- or closer thing to an opponent on even footing, at the very least -- for the Bruins if their struggles are to be taken as more reality than simple fatigue and injuries finally catching up to Boston.
So perhaps rest, not a mad (and now somewhat unlikely) dash for first, becomes key in the final weekend of a regular season the Bruins have largely skated slump-free.
Or maybe this is something that the Bruins actually have to battle through with their full assortment -- and with the potential of a return for some injured bodies, such as Riley Nash, Rick Nash, and Tommy Wingels -- to truly be ready for Game 1 next Thursday.
And with the added bonus of some sort of say in regards to who comes to Boston for such a date.
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