Bruins come up empty
Senators lead 3-1 in series
The Bruins are down to their final loss and, if they can’t figure out a way to make a big play at the right time, we will have seen them in Boston for the last time this season.
After having a goal called back in the second period on an offside challenge, the B’s gave up the go-ahead goal early in the third to Bobby Ryan and lost to the Ottawa Senators, 1-0, at the Garden, their third straight loss in the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Senators, up 3-1 in the series, have a chance to end it on home ice tomorrow night in Game 5.
“The effort was there, but we have to find ways to fight a little bit in front of the net and around the area to make it a little harder for their goalie,” Patrice Bergeron said.
The Senators scored at 5:49 of the third on a play set up by — who else? — Erik Karlsson. After the Bruins failed to clear their zone, Karlsson faked a slapper and sent a pass to Ryan, the overtime hero/villain of Game 3. Ryan was just able to tap the puck past Charlie McAvoy and, with Tuukka Rask (26 saves) having bitten on Karlsson’s fake, he was able to slip it past the outstretched stick of both the goalie and Zdeno Chara on his second try.
“(Karlsson) got the puck right in the middle there and he kind of looked at the net and shot one off,” McAvoy said. “He’s a great defenseman, so I guess you’ve got to expect plays like that. It was a bit broken. I don’t think it was clean by any means. It was kind of off a skate, off a stick. And it just hurts. It’s frustrating for sure.”
This time around, Ottawa, which coughed up a 3-0 lead in Game 3 before Ryan won it in overtime after a controversial roughing call on Riley Nash, was on its defensive game. The Senators packed it in in front of Craig Anderson (22 saves), denying the Bruins any decent scoring chances for much of the period. The B’s went 12:58 without a shot on net and had just five total for the final period.
It wasn’t until the B’s pulled Rask for the extra skater that they were able to muster any chances. Brad Marchand, who had six shots on net and at least half of those were prime scoring chances in the first period, had an opportunity to tie it but a bouncing puck hopped over his stick at the side of an open net.
Interim coach Bruce Cassidy was willing to tip his cap to the Senators for the defensive job that they did down the stretch. It is, after all, their specialty. But what was frustrating for Cassidy was the fact that when the Bruins had Ottawa on the ropes a bit in the first period, they couldn’t put one past Anderson. The B’s also missed the net 16 times, with David Pastrnak (no shots on net) sending four wide and Marchand missing the mark three times.
“The first period is when we did have our ice and did have opportunities and we weren’t able to bury them,” Cassidy said. “Sometimes with a team like Ottawa, or any team, if you get a lead, now the game opens up a bit and some of those opportunities are a little easier to get through. We’ve got to give Anderson credit. He made some real good saves on March, onnet chances . . . on the flip side of that, there’s some off-net chances that we’ve got to start hitting the net on. Plain and simple. There are some guys that are just missing the net too often and it doesn’t allow you to get the second chances and stay inside.
“You kind of know that’s what’s going to happen in the third when they had a lead. That’s why when we had our opportunities early, we’ve got to bear down on those.”
It appeared the B’s had taken the lead at 10:49 of the second period when Noel Acciari tipped home a McAvoy shot/pass. But Guy Boucher challenged that Acciari had gone offside on the chip-in and, though the goal came nearly 20 seconds after that, video review proved the Ottawa coach was correct.
That would be as close as the Bruins would get to scoring, and now they will be playing for their playoff lives tomorrow night.
“It’s all about the next game,” Bergeron said. “The mindset is: Chins up and keep fighting. I’ve been in it before up 3-1 and it’s always tough to get the fourth