Boston Sports Then and Now

Brian Gionta breaks Bruins fans hearts,

“We wound up in a shootout and we shouldn’t have gotten there.“ Boston coach Claude Julien told reporters after Boston’s loss.

The Bruins scored early and put up 47 shots but Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens left Boston with the victory as the Bruins lost their ninth straight game.

Once again Boston outplayed their opponent, getting the better scoring chances and at times dominating in the offensive end. But pucks are rarely crossing the goal line despite all their good chances.

“Well, that is what happened.” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron to Boston’s official site. “Is it hard to believe? We have to stay positive and do the same thing, you know?”

Mark Recchi opened the scoring, tipping in a Dennis Wideman shot with Andrei Markov in the box to put Boston up 1-0. The Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder line would finally get rewarded for all their hard work as Jaroslav Halak deflected a David Krejci shot to the stick of Blake Wheeler to put the Bruins up 2-0. Boston was flying high and limiting Montreal’s chances. There was hope on the bench that they would finally break their slump.

All it took was 39 seconds to shatter what the Bruins had built. With Matt Hunwick in the box for hooking, ex-Bruin player and current Bruin Slayer Glen Metropolit managed to slip a goal past Tuukka Rask to pull Montreal within one. And then just 39 seconds later Roman Hamrlik beat Rask top shelf to even the score. The period would end 2-2 as Boston returned to their locker room angry, frustrated and once again wondering what went wrong.

Boston outshot Montreal again in the third and had two power play chances they could not capitalize on. They had multiple defensive breakdowns as Rask repeatedly bailed them out but continued to pressure Halak. But as is the theme in Boston these days they just could not finish on any of their scoring chances. Halak robbed Boston shooters but even when he was down on the ice Boston couldn’t get the puck into the wide open net.

Overtime wasn’t enough to settle things between the two rivals as the game went to a shootout. Brian Gionta grabbed the victory for the Canadiens in the third round of the shootout, scoring the only goal and leaving the Bruins scratching their heads. Boston had almost double the shots and had so many great scoring chances.

“With the amount of chances that we are getting and the amount of shots that we have been throwing at the net, it is frustrating to say the least.” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “When you have three goals to show for 89 shots, I think it is, in two game. And you got three goals to show for it and that’s without talking about quality scoring chances.”

Jaroslav Halak withstood the Bruins onslaught and came out victorious.

Every Boston player repeats the same mantra. Keep working hard, get traffic in front and get the rebounds and the goals will come. “It is everybody, not even the coaching staff. It is us, when we talk we talk about those things” ,forward Steve Begin said. “It is all details and that is part of it. When we talk about it we have to execute. Lately I have seen better things, I have seen good things. We have been shooting more and now we need to start getting more traffic and more rebounds.”

There are no moral victories anymore. The Bruins are out playing their opponents but still cannot find ways to win. Their offense is struggling despite their improved play with players like Wheeler and Krejci stepping up their game. Grabbing one point when they desperately need two is not going to cut it. Boston needs a fix and it needs it now if they hope to climb back into the playoff picture in the weak Eastern Conference.