Finishing strong: A preview of the Bruins final game before the Sochi break

Boston Bruins (36-16-4) vs Ottawa Senators (26-21-11)
February 8th, 2014, 3:00PM
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Hockey is a grueling sport that takes a brutal toll on one’s body and yet, nobody likes stepping aside for a weird 2 week break from action. But nevertheless, with the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi already behind us, the nearing beginning of the men's hockey tournament can be shown most fairly via the geography of the NHL schedule at this point in the year. After Saturday afternoon's game with the Senators, the Bruins will not play again until the 26th of February. To state things plainly, that truth means that the Bruins want to finish strong by playing a great game this afternoon. 

56 games into their season, the Bruins have quietly assembled a 7 point lead on the Lightning for the Atlantic Division lead and have allowed fewer goals than any other team in hockey. Amidst a season that has sported injuries across the board for Boston, the Bruins remain the favorite to get out of the East come playoff time and frankly, these past few games as we lead into the Olympic Break have been a big reason for that. Since the middle of January, the Bruins have gone 7-1-2 and with the exception of their game against the Canadians have beaten all their opponents via an extraterrestrial scoreing attack and a revamped goaltending core. 

"Our guys have done a really good job," Julien said after the team's brief practice Friday at Ristuccia Arena. "Even yesterday, we should have been at eight wins. We really played well, and I thought we had as good an opportunity to win that game as any. There was a tremendous amount of effort and focus. From the back end, we're missing a lot of key elements there and it didn't seem to matter. I'm looking to see the same thing [Saturday], the same kind of effort from everybody.

"If we can finish with that type of a game, there's a pretty good chance we're going to win, and [it's] a pretty good opportunity for us to leave on a positive note. I always find those things are important to leave on a positive note and feel good about yourselves. No matter what, if we can give that kind of effort [Saturday], it will have been a successful segment." 

The Bruins could have had 1 more win in this stretch if it were not for what happened Thursday night in St Louis. After the Blues nabbed 2 timely goals in the first two periods, the Bruins came out ready for blood in the 3rd and scored twice to tie the game. It was the first time all season that they came back from a 2 goal deficit at any point in a game and managed to push the contest to overtime. 

But once there, things turned sour once again for Boston as before they could get to the shootout where the Bruins have been okay in this season, TJ Oshie stole the puck at the top of the crease and basically jammed it past Tuukka Rask to win the game. 

"It was a lucky bounce that it went there," Oshie said of the play. "I saw it laying there and kind of started jamming. It might have went under his arm or something. A lucky bounce and we'll take the point for sure."

Neither Oshie nor Rask really knew where the puck was. Such an ending made this stellar clash between two teams of such skill just a little bit worse for hockey fans. Rask echoed this frustration and as he skated off the ice he seemed obviously disappointed with that final play. 

"It hit Oshie's skate and it hit the back of the net and it was on his stick," Rask said. "Then he backed it off my pad, I guess." 

While that game was the first in which the Bruins came back from a 2-0 deficit, it was also the first time this season that they lost in the OT period.  But as they play the Senators today, they look to forget that. 

There remains just 1 more game before the NHL season  goes on hiatus and so the Bruins look to finish strong. As they make the trip to Sochi or wherever they will be spending their break, they know that for their fans, for themselves, a loss today would be tough to swallow and would stew so brutally for the entire duration of this week. A win however, well that would be like a sweet blast of a caramel candy that takes 2 weeks to fully melt away.