Bruins Step Up And Beat Red Wings
The Bruins finally showed some fight Thursday night against the Red Wings at the Garden. It’s been a rare occurrence this year, but the B’s dominated this one.
They pulled out a 5-2 victory thanks to some surprisingly solid defense and goals from David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Torey Krug, Lee Stempniak, and Loui Eriksson.
Detroit only had 15 shots on goal, which means Tuukka Rask only had to make 13 saves to get the W. That’s the kind of defense that has been missing all season.
There was hope that the Flyers would lose to the Maple Leafs, in which case the Bruins would have an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot if they could grab a win against Ottawa on Saturday. Unfortunately Philadelphia was able to push Toronto to overtime in their 4-3 loss, making the formula for Boston’s playoff berth an extremely confusing one.
Via NESN.com, here are the scenarios that would advance the B’s to the postseason:
The Bruins would advance to playoffs if any of the following scenarios play out, with a note that regulation/overtime wins (ROW) serves as the first tiebreaker for teams that finish with identical point totals:
— Bruins win in any fashion, Red Wings lose or win in a shootout. In this scenario, the Bruins would finish third in the Atlantic Division and play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round regardless of how the Flyers fare.
— Bruins win in any fashion, Red Wings win in regulation or overtime, Flyers lose either one of their remaining games in any fashion. In this scenario, the Bruins would earn the second wild-card spot and play the Washington Capitals in the first round.
— Bruins lose in overtime/shootout, Red Wings lose in regulation. In this scenario, the Bruins would finish third in the Atlantic Division and play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round regardless of how the Flyers fare.
— Bruins lose in overtime/shootout, Red Wings win or lose in overtime/shootout, Flyers earn two or fewer points from their final two games (one regulation loss or two overtime losses). In this scenario, the Bruins would earn the second wild-card spot and play the Washington Capitals in the first round.
— Bruins lose in regulation, Flyers earn one or zero points from their final two games (two regulation losses or one regulation loss and one overtime loss). In this scenario, the Bruins would earn the second wild-card spot and play the Washington Capitals in the first round regardless of how the Red Wings fare.
I would say it’s a good thing that their last game is in Boston, but the Bruins have been for better on the road this year (25-13-3) than they have at TD (17-17-6). There is absolutely no logical explanation for this considering Boston has one of the best fan bases in hockey, but I’m hopeful that they can bring their A game in the season finale just like they did on Thursday. For the first time in a while they played with the hunger of a team that’s fighting for a playoff spot.
Follow Jack Bardsley on Twitter @BostonsBigFour
Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images via ESPN.com