Very rarely do the fans of this Bruins team that has spent each of these last few years refusing to be knocked out of a game give up and express their displeasure with that team like they did Tuesday night. After the Bruins twice surrendered 1 goal leads in the 2nd period, they fell behind in the 3rd and so the boos rained down. But not because of the score, Bruins fans have learned in these past few years not to cast a second glance.
When for the majority of the 2nd period of Tuesday's game, the Boston faithful booed and sarcastically cheered every mistake or minor success the team they were calling out their team and condemning a lack of desperation that has become a theme in these last few games.
"I think it’s hard to win in this league when you’ve got to play from behind all the time," said Bruins Coach, Claude Julien. "I think that’s the biggest thing for me right now. We’re not great at playing catch-up hockey. We’re a team that’s pretty good playing with the lead, and we didn’t do a good enough job of that."
The team has gone into the 3rd period of games with the lead just twice in their 6 games this month and while they have posted an even 3-3 record they have spent far too much time playing from behind. By extension they have relied far too much on lucky bounces and costly mistakes on the part of their opponents rather than actually making plays and relying on the pure execution we were treated to early in the season. While such a mantra of play can carve a few wins out of games that you deserved to loose when you run into a team and a goaltender like they did Tuesday night you just are not going to win the game. Even on a night where they drilled 44 shots on Jonathan Bernier the Bruins struggled in the 2nd and 3rd periods and just could not make those tic-tac-tow passes that scored those 2 goals in the 1st period. But even that was not what these Bruins fans were booing. What they were booing was the defense or lack of it for that matter.
In 8 games since Dennis Sidenberg tore his ACL, the Bruins have allowed 10 goals on the penalty kill and have slipped from 2nd to 12th in the league in the category now killing just 82% of penalties called against them. For this team whose penalty kill has been one of the best in the league these past two years it was uncharacteristic for even in a situation without Dennis Sidenberg in the lineup the Bruins to be suffering from such mediocrity on special teams. As they were hemmed in at the blue line, and forced into choppy passes, TD Garden showered those who they came to see in verbal embodiment of their displeasure.
Finally, these Bruins got the message. They were the power team, they were the guys who should be bashing bodies and winning puck battles an though they had spent the majority of the night not doing that, when the realization that they were by then 2 goals down with under a period to go in the game kicked in their effort alone changed those boos back to the cheers that have such a more fitting place in Boston. We saw Kevin Miller bash into Morgan Rielly early in the 3rd period and then Johnny Boychuck wreck James Van Reimsdyk with such force that the Leaf winger's glove was catapulted into the stands. We saw Boston load on even more shots in the 3rd as well as finally locking down on defense and limiting the Leafs to 6 shots on goal in the final frame.
The desperation was there, the execution and will to be that first guy to get to the puck was there and as assured, so were the goals. With just under 10 and a half minutes to go in the game, Gregory Campbell scored to bring the Bruins within 1. But in the end, the Bruins fell short. They simply ran out of time and so the score was settled as a 4-3 Toronto win.
Now as we return to the subject of the booing, those who took part last night were not fair weather fans. They did not call for drastic change they did not hurl offensive language at the ears of the Bruins and yet, their boos sent a message. These are the Bruins, the Bruins who win the Stanley Cup and beat up on their way to it. But for 2 hours Tuesday night, they were not being those Bruins and so, there was discontempt in Boston.
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