Kalman: Bruins Hold Their Own But Can't Earn An 'A' In Battle With Blues
BOSTON (CBS) - Before they lost to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday the Bruins were throwing verbal bouquets at one of the elite teams from the Central Division.
After St. Louis prevailed in a 2-0, knockout, drag-out affair, the compliments just kept on flowing.
Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg was asked if the Blues were the most structured team and the best at playing physical within the rules that Boston faced this season.
"Definitely, they were the best structured team," Seidenberg said. "I think they've just been playing like this the last few years and they're always tough to play against. They're in the right spot, they're quick in transition and they just use their opportunities to score goals."
If the Bruins, who were 11-1-3 in their prior 15 games before their showdown with St. Louis, were looking to be graded against the type of opponent they could conceivably face in the playoffs, Boston earned a solid B. Only winners get A's, even losers that play to a 0-0 tie for two periods.
But there were positives to take from the loss that could payoff come spring. Most important the Bruins were easily able to identity where they came up short.
"I thought for two periods we were fine. But at the end of the night I think the biggest thing is that I didn't think we worked hard enough to get on the inside," coach Claude Julien said. "They did a good job of keeping us on the outside. There was a lot of times we were shooting and we had no net-front presence. They were boxing us out and we weren't working hard enough to get on the inside. Same thing on some of those rushes. I thought we tried to be too cute, whereas just getting pucks at the net and not forcing plays and being a little bit hungrier with that middle drive [would've been better]."
"We definitely have to fight more to get to the front of the net and get the rebounds and loose pucks and stuff like that," alternate captain Patrice Bergeron echoed.
Although the Bruins are still built around Bergeron and several veterans who've been in postseason battles for years, there are more newcomers with little experience in those situations than the Bruins have had in years. That might be why it took until the third period for Tyler Randell to challenge St. Louis tough guy Ryan Reaves, who had had several run-ins with Bruins players throughout the first two periods. When Reaves got entangled with Torey Krug and then exchanged shoves with Zac Rinaldo, Randell finally stepped up. He got his bell rung but showed some guts.
The playoff feel to the game might've also affected the Bruins' focus. The Bruins had several scoring chances early that could've turned the game in their favor. Right off the hop Matt Beleskey, the Bruins' king of being snake-bitten, missed the net with an open chance at the right hash mark. He and fellow wing Jimmy Hayes were around the net all night but their shots never made it into the net.
The Bruins also weren't able to draw a power play. They've earned the second fewest power plays in the NHL this season, but with a little more gumption like Julien wanted to see they might've gotten to use their top-ranked power play. That's another little thing that will come in handy when the playoffs role around.
The type of defensive breakdown that just can't happen in the postseason also undid the Bruins in this regular-season tilt. Defenseman Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid were bright spots all night with the way they played red-hot Vladimir Tarasenko to a stalemate most of the night. However, the one time they weren't able to get on the ice, Tarasenko made the Bruins. Dennis Seidenberg and Colin Miller got caught on the ice against Tarasenko and then they were too spread apart when he split them and then beat Tuukka Rask for the first goal of the game at 7:35 of the third period.
Miller won't forget his first almost-playoff NHL game.
"It was a close-checking, 0-0 game the whole game. You got to bear down, you can't take a shift off because the little bounces are going to be key," Miller said. "And like it was, it was one power play the whole game, for them. So it was a good game."'
The past several weeks aside, we all know the Bruins are going to be in a dog fight from here until mid-April. With the Eastern Conference as wide-open as it is, Boston could win the Atlantic Division or it could finish anywhere else in the playoff structure or out. You'd like to think, though, that games like the St. Louis defeat will harden the Bruins for the battle and down the road they'll win a few of these difficult contests.
"I think we've taken a lot of strides forward and we definitely have to build on that and realize what we've done," Bergeron said. "But at the same time I think we can't be satisfied and ... it's games like tonight that we have to keep getting better and finding ways to win those type of games because that's the type of hockey you play in the playoffs."
For a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years last season, Tuesday night was a valuable reminder. Expect more Bruins in the trenches the next time one of these types of games roll around.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
