Kalman: Comeback In Detroit Inspired False Faith In Bruins
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins were outshot by the Detroit Red Wings 26-15 through two periods April 2 and they fell behind 2-0 on the scoreboard 2:52 into the third period.
It's hard to believe in retrospect, but the Bruins won that game. They scored three times in 12:47 and emerged with a regulation victory capped by defenseman Zach Trotman's first NHL goal.
The victory was Boston's fourth in a row and second straight that required a third-period comeback, as they had rallied from behind to beat the Florida Panthers two nights earlier.
Although they weren't playing their best hockey, the Bruins seemed to have found that magic touch that carried them through much of the past few seasons. Even when not playing their best, the Bruins were often able to grind out victories with stifling defense and goaltending, and timely scoring. Whenever they needed a clutch goal or a momentum-altering hit, they got it.
The win against the Red Wings convinced me that the veteran-laden Bruins, who had made the playoffs seven straight seasons, were going to head back to the postseason regardless of how dominant the Ottawa Senators were down the stretch. I was wrong, as the Bruins followed up their five-game winning streak by losing their next two. When the Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins won their games Saturday, the Bruins were eliminated from postseason contention even before their game in Tampa Bay ended with a loss in a shootout.
Their elimination means I never get to write the column I sketched out after the Bruins shocked the Red Wings and took a three-point lead on Ottawa with four games to play. The Senators held a game in hand, but the Bruins controlled their own destiny. They even controlled their own destiny after beating Toronto in a shootout to run their winning streak to five. There was no way they were going to be the victim of the Senators' miracle (23-4-4 in their last seven) ending.
Of course, regardless of how they played in those games against Detroit and Florida, the Bruins weren't going to make a long playoff run. But making the playoffs would've been vindication for a system that seemed fail-proof for so long and reward for battling through a little injury adversity this season. It would have been useful to get some postseason experience for young players like David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner and Zach Trotman. A productive playoff run would've boosted the trade value for Reilly Smith, Milan Lucic and others that might have to be moved this summer when the Bruins are again trying to construct a roster and be cap-compliant.
However, with so many young players trying to learn the NHL game on the job and veterans underachieving, the Bruins weren't equipped to knock off a team like the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning or Montreal Canadiens. So when it came down to it, the Bruins only lost out on experience and revenue by not making the playoffs. Their existence in the postseason wasn't going to last long barring a major injury to one of the powers of the Eastern Conference.
In his bizarre postmortem (that he insisted wasn't a postmortem with his team still mathematically alive) general manager Peter Chiarelli scoffed Friday at a question about 2014-15 being a transition season. He said he didn't believe in that sort of thing. Well just like Chiarelli bristles at the notion that his players "flip the switch" even when that's what they've often done the past three years, this was a transition year, or a bridge year or a reboot year ... whatever you want to call it.
Teams determined to win the Stanley Cup don't trade a top-four defenseman for draft picks days before the start of the season and then choose not to replace him throughout the whole season. Johnny Boychuk is now headed to the playoffs with the New York Islanders and Matt Bartkowski somehow played every game from Feb. 16 through the bitter end of the season.
Teams with championship dreams don't start the year by giving a gift roster spot to a 32-year-old rookie or throw a rookie who's playing mediocre in the AHL into the net for a midseason game on the road against the St. Louis Blues. But this season featured Bobby Robins and Malcolm Subban each making his NHL debut to lackluster results.
Those moves were only a small sampling of Chiarelli's gaffes this season. And there were plenty of odd-ball moves by coach Claude Julien and terrible play from the men in the skates and sweaters to grab share of the blame as well. Even the trade deadline featured two moves that sent mixed signals. One trade was made for a young talent in Brett Connolly, who'll command a decent salary as a restricted free agent but could be a key supporting piece of a revitalized lineup. The Bruins also, though, traded for Max Talbot and chose to play him on the fourth line instead of Brian Ferlin or Seth Griffith, two young players that could've used the experience.
There'll be way too much time to turn over every rock, examine every misstep and solve the Bruins' problems this offseason before training camp 2015. For now we can just agree that maybe that win in Detroit was a turning point in the wrong direction. A team that played as though it was entitled to make the playoffs for most of the season might've been as convinced of its inevitable spot in the postseason as I was by that victory. And then the Bruins won just one more game and found out the hard way that there are no automatic bids to the NHL tournament.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
