The Boston Bruins' 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday served as an important reminder of what will happen in the postseason if they can't do this:
The Boston Bruins' 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday served as an important reminder of what will happen in the postseason if they can't do this:
Ever since the Boston Bruins clinched their playoff spot, coach Jim Montgomery and the players expressed excitement about facing “playoff-desperate” teams down the stretch in order to keep themselves sharp through the end of the regular season.
For the most part they’ve held up, going 5-2-0 in seven games since clinching, but Monday’s 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals proved to be a setback with just one game left to course-correct.
“They looked like a team that was fighting for a playoff spot, we looked like a team that was already in playoffs, and that wasn’t good,” Bruins forward Charlie Coyle told reporters in Washington. “We didn’t have our sense of urgency that we usually have.”
It marked the second time Boston was shut out this season – the first also coming against Washington on Feb. 10 (3-0) – and despite a strong performance from Jeremy Swayman to keep it close, it was an overall lackluster effort from start to finish.
The Bruins had just eight shots on goal through two periods, and they were outshot 15-4 in the second alone. Despite ramping it up in the third period, Boston couldn’t get past goalie Charlie Lindgren and the Capitals defense.
“They were simple in their D-zone,” Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk told reporters after the game. “Their first puck touches, they were just rimming pucks and getting them out of the danger areas really fast, not allowing us to really establish a forecheck. And then from there, they had a heavy forechecking game tonight, and I thought they were just very well-connected. They kind of established their game before we could really get to ours.”
With one more game on the docket before the postseason – a matchup with the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden on Tuesday – the Bruins are hoping lapses like they had against Washington will be the last they see this year. Pretty soon, it won’t just be about matching a desperate team’s intensity; it’ll be about setting the tone.
The Bruins failed to do so on Monday. Their response against Ottawa will go a long way in establishing how they start out in the postseason, either against the Tampa Bay Lightning or Toronto Maple Leafs.
Boston has won more than it’s lost since locking up their playoff spot, but games like Monday’s show how locked in this team will need to be if they want to improve upon last season’s playoff performance.
“I think the word ‘struggle’ is a compliment the way we played tonight,” Montgomery said on Monday. “I thought Washington, their desperation and how well they defended, how well they hung onto pucks in the offensive zone is the way we wanted to play.”
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