The last time the Boston Bruins lost as badly in the playoffs as they did on Wednesday night, it was in the year 1992. That was 28 years ago.
So, for fans who are calling out the Bruins for an embarrassing effort against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the good news is, it’s been a long time since the team has played such ineffective postseason hockey.
Perhaps winning the Presidents’ Trophy and then proceeding to have a run of less-than-stellar performances in the round-robin seeding games might have been a sign that the Bruins weren’t going to waltz their way through the Stanley Cup Playoff picture. Still, just as Bruins Nation started to worry, the Bruins bounced back and easily removed the Carolina Hurricanes in round one. Even with few injury questions and some inconsistent play from roster members not on the top line, things hadn’t gone off the rails.
Then the Bruins lost their starting goaltender in Tuukka Rask.
This Might Have Little to Do With Rask
Perhaps Jaroslav Halak’s performance on Wednesday night was not something that should concern the Bruins going forward. Like any team that suffers a loss as bad as the Bruins did, it’s a matter of simply shaking off a bad performance and seeing the game as a wakeup call.
As part of the 7-1 loss, Halak made only 12 saves on 16 shots. The Lighting scored four against him and he was pulled with a .750 save percentage midway through the second period. In Halak’s defense, this was his first really bad game since taking the reigns from Rask after the Vezina Trophy candidate left the team to be with his family. He also didn’t get a lot of help when the Lighting scored the two fastest playoff goals in club history.
Still, Halak’s off night forced the Bruins to put Daniel Vladar in net — a goaltender who now has just one game’s worth of experience in the NHL. He didn’t fare much better, letting in three goals on 15 shots.
Having to play Vladar was probably also an eye-opener. If the Bruins are forced to call on him again, this could be a quick series.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy said of his decision to put Vladar in:
“Listen, it was a point where we felt that if we need Dan Vladar maybe this is a better way to get him some work, less a reflection of (Jaroslav Halak), give him a break, get a look at (Vladar). It was 4-1, I believe. And Tampa got energized from that second period and I think we were deflated. I don’t know, I just had a gut feeling our guys were going to have a tough time pushing back from three goals down, so let’s look at Vladdy.
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These comments from the coach say a few things. First, the coach didn’t have much confidence in Vladar to help the team out in their attempts to make a comeback. Second, he wanted to get Vladar some action in case he needed to call on him again. If we’re reading between the lines and assume Cassidy has lost some confidence in Halak, it would make sense to say what Cassidy did, which is “… I’m glad he got an opportunity to play.”
The concerning part is that the Bruins are testing out a goaltender in the second round of the playoffs.
The Lightning Found Another Gear
Perhaps the biggest worry for the Bruins will be if they just opened the door and let the Lightning build confidence. A power play that started 0-15 went 3-6. Nikita Kucherov found another gear and had one goal and three assists. The Lightning dominated right from the start and simply routed the Bruins on their way to a 7-1 victory.
There were almost no bright spots for the Bruins and a lot for the Lightning. So, maybe the Bruins are already missing Rask.
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