NHL
BRUINS: LOST THE BATTLE
By TERRY LYONS
(Special to the DigitalSportsDesk)
BOSTON - APRIL 14, 2012 -- The Boston Bruins of recent years like to roll the hard way and we're not talking a Vegas craps game, although tonight's final score reflects the very name of the game. The Bruins' 2-1 double-overtime loss to the Washington Capitals was a devastating defeat that cost the Bruins home-ice advantage in their best of seven NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series while further proving the Bruins thrive on taking the toughest route towards success.
Certainly, the defending Stanley Cup champions know how to win, but the Boston Bruins of 2010-11-12 seem to know how to lose on the way to a win.
Despite brilliant goalkeeping by G Tim Thomas, once again, the Bruins fell to a Nicklas Backstrom 34-foot snap shot that came after he lost a face-off to Patrice Bergeron in the Bruins defensive zone. Backstrom battled through the pile of skaters and won position with enough force and strength to get off a shot that beat Thomas and sent the capacity crowd packing. The best-of-seven game series will continue on Monday night, April 16 and Thursday evening, April 19th in the District of Columbia. The series will return to Boston for Game 5 on April 21.
"It was a defensive battle out there," said Capitals coach Dale Hunter. "Both teams battled and it's whoever could put it in and end the game. I thought our defense played solid. The forwards came back hard. We know Tim Thomas is a special goaltender. If he sees it, he's going to get to it. We have to get bodies in front. The more bodies you get there, the better you are."
Bruins coach Claude Julien agreed with his coaching rival. "We've got guys who are expected to be better in the battles and right now, they are not good enough," said Julien who openly criticized his team's effort in the trenches. "t took us two periods to get ourselves going. Instead of using our outside speed, we made it easier on them. This time of year, you like to see net-front action and you would like to see the puck going to the net a little bit more with guys heading in that direction. We don't have a good enough commitment in that area right now to win hockey games."
"They are putting pucks to the net and they're going to the net. We need to be a bit more of a gritty team. It's a matter of winning battles. We need to be better. The proof is the OT goal. We win the drop, they out-muscle us to the puck, and they get a second effort to make a pass in the right area and they score a goal.
"So we lost the battle and we lost the game."
Much of the post-game focus was on the "battle," but the brilliant goaltending play by both Thomas and Washington goalkeeper Braden Holtby was what playoff hockey is all about. The phrase, "If they see it, they're going to stop it," was uttered by both coaches.
"Braden is a battler.," said Hunter. "He's got confidence. He's out there battling like the rest of the team. Playoff hockey -- that's what you have to do. Battle."
"He is seeing a lot of pucks," noted Julien of Holtby, choosing another avenue of critiquing his team's lack of effort in front of their opponent's net. "We haven't made his life as miserable as we can when we're at the top of our game."
"Holtby is unbelievable right now," said Capitals F Marcus Johansson. "There is nothing you can complain about in his game. The good thing is everybody is doing everything they can to help him stop the puck and when we do that, they don't get as many (scoring) chances as they do in the regular season. I think that's something we have to do every game in the series."
Holtby stopped 43 of the 44 Bruins shots on goal, allowing only a Benoit Pouliot 16-foot backhander to get past him in the third period of play. "I tried to shake it off," said Holtby of the game-tying goal. "It's not the time in the game (12:13 in the third) you want to give up a goal, but it happened. We knew it happened in Game 1 in overtime and we wanted to change it and come out on top."
Pouliot's play in both Game 1 and 2 is about the only bright spot that the Bruins could speak of after hosting the opening pair of games in the first round series.
"Ben's been playing his best hockey since he's been here," said Julien of his lone goal-scorer. " He's working hard, going to the net. He had a great pass last game to get the winning goal and a great effort today to get to the puck and tie the game."
The split in Boston forecasts a lengthy opening round conference quarterfinal series, as predicted by Washington's all-star F Alex Ovechkin, "I would say, it's going to be a long series," he said. "For us, it was very important to win this game and get the series tied, then we go back home and have home advantage to play against the Bruins. It was a long game and everybody is tired and we need some rest."
