Kalman: Bruins' Half Effort Against Anaheim Typical Of Mediocre First Half
BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins had a chance to take second place in the Atlantic Division on Tuesday.
Instead they lost 6-2 to the Anaheim Ducks at TD Garden with an effort that defenseman Torey Krug estimated was strong for 30 minutes and lackluster for the other 30.
It was another lackluster performance from a mediocre team that at the All-Star break, which lasts until next Monday, is sitting third in the division with Tampa Bay trailing by a point with a game in hand. The Bruins are right where they belong and right where they were expected to be from these quarters, as Patrice Bergeron heads to Nashville as their lone All-Star representative.
Krug, though, seems to believe outside observers had lower expectations for the Bruins.
"I thought we've surprised a lot of people," he said after he didn't have a point, was minus-2 and picked up a fighting major by becoming Chris Stewart's punching bag in the loss. "We're not surprised in here where we're at. We had a goal to be in the top three by the All-Star break and we're sitting right there. We definitely know that we've left some points on the table in certain games throughout the season. But at the end of the year we don't want to look back and regret some of these games. We're going to take it game-by-game in the second half and see where it goes from there."
The Bruins have left points on the table and missed some opportunities that could have put them in better position. They've lost 12 times when tied or leading after two periods. They've been abysmal at home with an 11-13-2 record. In addition to their half-effort against the Ducks, the Bruins' prior home game featured them squandering a 2-0 lead and settling for a 3-2 shootout win against the 30th-ranked Columbus Blue Jackets. Those shootout wins don't count in the year-end tie-breakers that look extremely likely to play a part in playoff positioning come mid-April. There are nine points separating 10 teams vying for six playoff spots in the East. Some of those teams are bound to wind up with the same amount of points.
Coach Claude Julien, though, has mastered the art of getting his team to believe. That was evident again in his players' postgame attitude after the loss to Anaheim.
"I think we're happy we're top three right now," defenseman Zach Trotman said. "But the fact that we could've been in second maybe after tonight is a little disappointing. I think it's going to leave guys itching a little bit over the All-Star break. Now we've got to come back, we're in a good spot but we still have some work to do when we come back."
Krug and Trotman are two pieces in the eight-man puzzle that started the year as the Bruins' biggest question mark and remains the biggest area of weakness for the Bruins. The Bruins are in the top three in scoring and their goaltending has been elite since the third week of the season. The defense corps, on the other hand, always seems to be the reason they win or lose. Depending on which of two or three players that rotate in are and how they perform generally determines how the Bruins fare.
Most nights are an adventure, and it's not just the likes of Trotman and Colin Miller and the other less-experienced defensemen. Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg provide their share of thrills, spills and hiccups as well. On a nightly basis the six-man group for the game changes and the pairs are always a work in progress. This is not how teams go about competing for the Stanley Cup.
"I think there's definitely progress," Krug said. "A lot of it is just natural maturing. I think with inexperience and trying to figure out pairings and chemistry, I thought some guys definitely stepped up and helped our game. Obviously you saw the way our goalies have been playing of late and that's helped us out as a group collectively as well. I think we're growing and we're going to continue to grow and take on any challenges in front of us."
After the All-Star break is the best time for teams to really assess whether they're sellers or buyers in the four weeks before the trade deadline. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney probably won't be hanging a for-sale sign on his roster despite the obvious signs they're not ready to make anything resembling a postseason run. He also won't be shaking things up to make a run this year because he knows the Bruins are too far away and he can't mortgage his future.
The best thing for the organization would be to go one way or the other. Sweeney has a difficult decision to make about Loui Eriksson, who's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and about which of his young defensemen are actually going to be legitimate top-four NHL players. It'd be shocking if all of them were top-four worthy a year or two down the road.
The 30- and 40-minute efforts that dotted the pre-All-Star portion of the schedule will probably continue as long as the Bruins' roster continues to resemble the current one. The power play and goaltending will probably be good enough to get the Bruins in the playoffs. They might even squeeze out enough points to get home-ice advantage in the first round. Picturing them winning more than one round as currently constituted, though, is like picturing an elephant flying.
Krug and the Bruins might want to use their underdog tale as motivation. That's fine. But they're underdogs because they're not really a threat to anyone in the big picture and they're not surprising anyone with a realistic view. These are the Bruins, hanging on between wanting to compete and wanting to be a future power.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
