'Character Challenge' Awaiting Bruins Over Season's Final Weeks
BOSTON (CBS) -- With five straight regulation losses, the Boston Bruins have put themselves in a tight spot, and there's no reason to sugarcoat just how bad it's been over the past week-plus.
But head coach Claude Julien has chosen not to dwell on the negatives but instead to look ahead at the challenge that awaits his team.
"We've got to make our own breaks. Sometimes things are a little tough, but you find ways to get yourself out of it," Julien said Friday, a day after his team's loss at home to Florida. "So I think by staying positive, by staying determined, and being willing to do what it takes to win those hockey games. It's a character challenge for us, and this is where we have to show our character."
That challenge begins Saturday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs, followed by a Tuesday trip to New Jersey. After that, it's a challenging two-game trip to St. Louis and Chicago, before returning home to face Carolina, Detroit and Ottawa to end the season.
As things currently stand, the Bruins are holding on to a playoff spot, but the charging Flyers have played two fewer games, and the Red Wings have a game in hand on the Bruins.
Still, the Bruins can win their own games and likely make the postseason, which is Julien's focus.
"It's about dealing with the present, and the present is we still have our destiny in our own hands," Julien said. "It's up to us to take care of it."
Given the losing streak, it's only natural for comparisons to last year's six-game skid around this same time of year to be drawn. But that's something that Zdeno Chara said is not on the mind of the players in the locker room.
"We're really focusing on what's happening now this season," Chara said. "I know it's easy to point to similarities to last season. But I feel like we knew all along that this is going to be a very tight race. It's never easy to make the playoffs. I think that this team is good enough to make the playoffs. I believe we will make the playoffs. It's going to be a fight to the end."
From getting no luck on replay reviews, to having battles with referees, there's no doubt that the Bruins haven't caught too many breaks lately. But it's clear that Julien is directing his team to look forward, not backward.
"We should be excited about the opportunity to get ourselves into the playoffs, and that's what we should be looking at," he said. "You could look at the losses and drag yourself down, or you can say listen, we've got seven games here to decide whether we want to be in the playoffs or not and it's up to us. That's the good part about it -- you control your own destiny. And that's all you can ask. I'd hate to be sitting here at this moment just hoping that certain teams lose certain games just to get into it. We have to take care of our own business."
