Bruins Drop Round-Robin Finale to Washington

BostonBruins.com - The return of hockey has not been kind to the Bruins.

The Black & Gold remain winless since the NHL's restart after a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon in Toronto. Boston posted an 0-3 record during round-robin play and have fallen from the top spot in the Eastern Conference to the No. 4 seed.

The Presidents' Trophy winners will now play the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We got better defensively against good offensive teams in Tampa and Washington. We tightened up there structurally," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said as he recapped the team's play during the round-robin. "I thought we got through the neutral zone well the last few games, better offensively so that's starting to come. Guys that have been there, obviously those stakes are still in the ground.

"You look at our top line, they've been held off the scoresheet. And I believe that it's going to be a tough task for Carolina to do that on a consistent basis. I think that those guys will be able to get their game going. But we're going to need that primary scoring, for one. Maybe some of that will come to life on the power play.

"I liked our compete today. That's the other thing - you're not going to win in the playoffs if you're not competitive. That part, we're generally healthy through these four games. Got some guys some much needed work that missed camp. Those are the positives."

The Bruins, who fell behind 2-0 in all four games including last week's exhibition, have yet to regain the momentum that made them the top team in the league during a 100-point regular season, but appear anxious to begin the postseason knowing that the stakes are about to become far higher.

"I think these first round-robin games or whatever they were, you just try to shake the rust off and get your team game in a place you want it to be," said Tuukka Rask, who made 23 saves on 25 shots. "I think we kind of improved over these three games. We worked very hard for our goals, just didn't get rewarded. But I think that's going to come, you find a way. It doesn't matter what seed you are; you have to beat every team anyways if you want to advance. I think we feel good. It's over now and we start real hockey."

Now the four seed, Boston will begin its quest toward a return to the Stanley Cup Final with a best-of-seven series against the Hurricanes, the team they swept in the Eastern Conference Final last May.

"It's exciting…this is the dance and this is what we worked all year for," said Jake DeBrusk. "Obviously, we'd like it to be different circumstances, playing home at the Garden, but I think it's exciting. It's a different kind of game. Obviously, we didn't like how these games went but we got better as we went along. It's just a matter of taking it out in Game 1 here, going up against a really good Carolina team. We saw them last year, we know they're going to be ready, it's just a matter of playing better."

Getting a Bump

The Bruins' best line on Sunday was its second trio of DeBrusk, David Krejci, and Ondrej Kase, who was playing his first game since the restart. They combined for six shots on goal and generated a number of chances, including DeBrusk's tally at 10:30 of the third period that pulled the Bruins within 2-1.

"To be honest with you, I didn't feel good about my game," said DeBrusk, who swapped between the second and third lines during the round-robin. "It's one of those things that's kind of hard to judge. For me, it's battles and winning board battles as well. I didn't really love being moved around I guess, just trying to feel more comfortable each game. I think we played a better game overall today, just wasn't the result."

DeBrusk's marker was the first goal for a Bruins forward other than Chris Wagner during round-robin play.

"It wasn't perfect, but I thought last two games we're taking steps in the right direction," said Krejci. "There needs to be a little more urgency around the net. That playoff mentality - shoot the puck, crash the net - I felt like that's what was missing from our game today."

Kase picked up an assist on DeBrusk's marker and played 12:21 in his first game action since March.

"I thought he had some jump in his game," said Krejci. "He created a couple scoring chances for himself. He's a really smart player so it's fun to play with him. This was his first game in five months so I'm sure he'll just be better each game."

Making His Case

In an effort to get every one of his regular skaters into the lineup during round-robin play, Cassidy opted to dress Connor Clifton in place of Matt Grzelcyk (maintenance) alongside Jeremy Lauzon. The blue liner brought plenty of his patented jump, landing five hits and two shots on goal in 15:39, and may have earned another look as the postseason begins.

"We'll look at it closer, but yeah, Cliffy is a guy that is not afraid of the moment," said Cassidy. "It keeps lefty, righty. It's a smaller pair with him and Grizz but we saw it last year. It played well at times against good teams, so we are certainly not afraid of that look. We can certainly move people around to balance the size aspect."