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Bruins DieHard: B's In Familiar Spot

BOSTON (CBS) -- So here we are again. Right back to the spring of 2011. The Bruins were making their way to the end of the season with so much doubt about what would happen once they got there.

After the disappointment of losing to the Flyers in Game 7 at home after leading 3-0 in the series as well as the game, how would they perform? There was tons of speculation that Coach Claude Julien would be fired should Boston not make it, at least, to the second round. And after dropping the first two playoff games of the year at home to hated rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, not only was the handwriting on the wall, Gentle Giant movers had already been scheduled to come to the TD Garden and have the coaching staff and maybe even the general manager shipped out immediately.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to the end of that year's tournament: The ship was righted. Michael Ryder made a glove save, scored an OT goal. A puck glanced off Zdeno Chara's skate, Nathan Horton scored an OT Goal, and lest we forget Tim Thomas.

The Bruins won the Stanley Cup and not only saved the coaching staff, but many of the on-ice jobs were rewarded with fantastic contracts -- for them -- not so good for the Bruins as they are now in cap jail.

Which brings us to 2015, and with single-digit games remaining, the home team finds themselves on the precipice of not making the playoffs and hoping they get help from others along the way. This was not the way this season was supposed to be played out. But if you've been paying attention all year, this team has been a Jekyll and Hyde masterpiece.

The Bruins began October with a mediocre 6-6 record and everyone thought, yeah, it's early. They'll be OK. But you just knew that losing one of the core players of that 2011 team, Johnny Boychuk (traded to the New York Islanders before the season) would come back to haunt them. It did when Captain Zdeno Chara was lost for a number games to a knee injury, likewise David Krejci.

November and January were Dr. Jekyll months as the Bruins had eight wins in 12 games in each of those months, while going 5-9 in December and a horrible Hyde-like 4-8 in February. It's been back to mediocre in March, coming in so far with a 6-7 record after beating the Rangers at the TD Garden on Saturday. That win has them back in that eighth and final playoff spot as both Florida and Ottawa lost their games in overtime Saturday night and face each other Sunday.

Still, no playoff spot is guaranteed as Boston is bunched up with the Senators and Panthers for the final berth. The Bruins still have two games to play against the Panthers, which could decided the fate of either and they have to hope that the Senators have a collapse.

Two weeks to get things on the right track and look like the good Dr. Jekyll, otherwise Mr. Hyde could rear his ugly head and that would not be a good thing for the team, and possibly the coach and management.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and on Twitter @bruins_diehard.

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