3 takeaways as Bruins leave playoff seeding to final night of season

On Saturday night, the Bruins matched and ultimately beat a more desperate Pittsburgh Penguins team. The same cannot be said for Monday night, as Boston laid a dud and got shut out, 2-0, by a Washington Capitals team that is fighting for its playoff life.

The Bruins never got out of first gear, as they were sloppy with the puck and a step behind the Capitals pretty much all night. They landed just 16 shots on goal, their fewest in a game since 2013.

John Carlson opened the scoring 12:00 into the game when a miscommunication between Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk left him wide open to rip a one-timer from the point through traffic. The Capitals couldn't beat Jeremy Swayman (23 saves) again, but the Bruins' flat play ensured that one goal was enough. Nic Dowd added an empty-netter late.

"I didn't think we were willing enough to work hard enough to create offense against a team that protects the middle of the ice," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told NESN after the game.

With the loss, the Bruins failed to lock up first place in the Atlantic Division. That will now be decided on the final night of the season on Tuesday. The Bruins can still clinch first with a win of any kind over the Ottawa Senators, or with a Florida Panthers regulation loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins would also get first if they and the Panthers both lose in overtime or a shootout.

The Panthers would finish first if they win and the Bruins suffer a loss of any kind, or if the Bruins lose in regulation and the Panthers lose in overtime or a shootout.

If the Bruins finish first, they will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. If they finish second, they will face the Maple Leafs. The New York Rangers clinched the Presidents' Trophy on Monday, so the top seed in the Eastern Conference is now officially out of reach for the Bruins. The Bruins are expected to host Game 1 at TD Garden on Saturday.

Here are three more takeaways from the game:

Carlo leaves and doesn't return

The biggest negative from the game may not have been the result. Defenseman Brandon Carlo left early in the third period and did not return.

It's unclear what happened or how serious it might be. The Bruins did not issue an official update to rule him out of the game, and Montgomery was not asked about Carlo by reporters in Washington after the game.

So, we don't even have the vague upper-body or lower-body designation to go off. Heck, we don't even know if it was definitely an injury. It could've been an illness. The media's next chance to talk to Montgomery will be Tuesday pregame around 5:40 p.m.

I rewatched Carlo's last several shifts and didn't see anything that jumped out. He had a couple shot blocks in the second period, but nothing that appeared to leave him hobbling or anything.

If it ends up being something serious enough to keep Carlo out of playoff games, it would be a huge loss for the Bruins. Carlo is third among Boston defensemen in ice time this season (19:59 per game prior to Monday), but is clearly their top shutdown defender. Carlo gets more defensive-zone starts than any other D, he leads the team in penalty-kill ice time, and his plus-17 at 5-on-5 play is tops among Bruins blue-liners.

Andrew Peeke and Parker Wotherspoon would be tasked with picking up some of that work, but it would also likely mean some tougher defensive minutes for Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, which could detract from their offensive contributions.

Poor decisions with extra attacker

Even with as poorly as the Bruins played, they still had a chance at the end. Trailing 1-0, they pulled Swayman for the extra attacker with 2:42 remaining. It could've actually been good practice for them ahead of the playoffs, as they've had the third-fewest 6-on-5 minutes in the NHL this season.

They might need more practice time, because Monday night was a disaster. David Pastrnak turned the puck over twice for easy clears – once when he held onto the puck too long at the top of the offensive zone and then lost control, and the other when he tried making a pass back to the point into traffic. Morgan Geekie also turned the puck over on an errant low-to-high pass. And then Brad Marchand got his pocket picked by Dowd in his own zone to set up the empty-netter.

It would've been one thing if the Bruins had turned it over down low in the offensive zone or while trying to make plays towards the net. At least you're going in the right direction in that case. Turning it over by getting cute high in the zone or by passing backwards just shouldn't happen. Those aren't the kinds of plays you should be forcing when you have a numerical advantage.

The Bruins have scored just three extra-attacker goals all season, tied for the second-fewest in the NHL. Again, they also haven't had much time in such situations, so that shouldn't be a total surprise. They have the fewest regulation losses in the NHL, so naturally they're not trying to come from behind very often. Still, you might need an extra-attacker goal at some point in the playoffs, and the Bruins will need to be much better than they were Monday.

Swayman a silver lining

The only real positive Monday night was the play of Jeremy Swayman. He was very good, stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced, including all six high-danger shots that came his way. He was screened on the only goal he allowed.

"I thought he was very good. Gave us a chance," Montgomery said.

While the rest of the Bruins didn't seem to treat this as a particularly important game, it was actually pretty important for Swayman.

Swayman has had an up-and-down second half, posting a subpar .900 save percentage in his previous 16 starts post-All-Star break. In his most recent outing prior to Monday, he gave up four goals on 26 shots in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Swayman wouldn't have wanted to go into the playoffs with back-to-back starts like that. And if he had, you wonder if Montgomery and goalie coach Bob Essensa might've leaned more towards riding Linus Ullmark in the first round and not playing Swayman early in the series.

With Swayman stepping up Monday, though, everyone can feel a little better about where his game's at heading into the postseason. It remains to be seen exactly what Montgomery's goaltending plan is going to be, but it does seem likely that Ullmark and Swayman will both play fairly early in the series, possibly splitting the first two games.