Kalman: Brain Breakdowns In Loss To Hurricanes Prove Bruins Still Learning
BOSTON (CBS) - Sometimes smarts are more important than any other element for a team trying to hang on to a playoff spot down the stretch.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, their heads were as dead as their legs in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday at TD Garden.
The game-winning play epitomized Bruins' lack of mental sharpness, as their smartest and best all-around player Patrice Bergeron got caught in between going for a change and staying on the ice to defend against a stretch pass by Carolina defenseman Noah Hanifin.
One stopped Jeff Skinner breakaway and Phillip Di Giuseppe follow-up shot later, the Hurricanes had the victory.
"Well, yeah, that's a play, we talked about it before overtime, too. We said, 'Be careful, when they give it back to the goaltender, they're making a change, it's a set play,' and Bergy wanted to come and change, but they used that stretch pass, their other two guys are up, so probably not a good change at that point," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "And you don't blame a guy that's done so much for you. So it was just one of those unfortunate plays there, and we got caught on it."
The Hurricanes made the slight adjustment to their play, with Hanifin making the long pass after an exchange with goaltender Cam Ward, and that was enough to confuse Bergeron and the frustrated Bruins.
"It wasn't the goalie that went up the ice, right, it was a D man. So he went to the D man. So as he moved the puck to someone else in their zone, I thought I had time to go," Bergeron said.
The brain freeze on the winning play was just the final proof that the Bruins, who are now in first place by virtue of the point they earned and Tampa Bay having a night off, still have a long way to go to be a true contending team. Coming off back-to-back overtime wins on the road against Florida and Tampa, the Bruins had a day to rest before welcoming the Hurricanes to the Garden. Despite their rocket ride up the standings, the Bruins couldn't afford to have a letdown because the Hurricanes are hockey's version of "The Producers." Despite trading their captain and two other key veterans before the NHL traded deadline, they remain within striking distance of a playoff spot. And the Hurricanes played like a hungry, under-talented team.
Instead the Bruins made sloppy passes, lost races to the puck and got pushed off the puck throughout most of the game. Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Lee Stempniak, the Bruins' perennial best line, was silenced and that reverberated through the rest of the lineup. Only a power-play goal by Loui Eriksson and a fancy goal by David Pastrnak helped the Bruins rally from two one-goal deficits and earn the loser's point in overtime.
The Hurricanes didn't land a 5-on-5 shot on goal for half the game, but still the Bruins didn't take advantage. Maybe it was a letdown after the drama they enjoyed in Florida or maybe they overlooked the Hurricanes a little. Whatever it was, it cost the Bruins an extra point and proved that there's still room to grow for a first-place team that's 4-0-2 in its past six games.
"You've just got to be mentally sharp with it," forward Landon Ferraro said. "You have games once in a while where things aren't going to go your way and you're not going to have your legs. That's where the good teams are able to push through it and just keep it simple and get the job done anyway."
Many of the Bruins know what it takes to win this time of year even when a team is not firing on all cylinders. The Bruins also know what happens when the grind of the stretch run gets the better of the team. Last season the Bruins boasted the most points of any team to not make the playoffs. They didn't accumulate those points by playing their best hockey down the stretch. A little smarter play here or there, one less needless giveaway or inaccurate shot would've made the difference between going home early and holding off Ottawa.
"Last year was proof of that," defenseman Torey Krug said. "You play in these emotional games every single night and it just wears on you and wears on you. We'll take the experience we had last year from these games and hopefully grow up from it and learn from it and make sure we're ready to go for Saturday."
The schedule only gets tougher for the Bruins from here. First place is great, but even a playoff spot isn't ensured right now. They'll all, even Bergeron, have to regroup and apply the lessons of their ugly loss to Carolina over the final 13 games.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
