Saturday, the Bruins finally snapped a five-game losing streak that if it continued would have certainly cost them a spot in the playoffs. The B's defeated the Maple Leafs, 3-1. Now this doesn’t mean they are guaranteed a spot in playoffs, so the rest of the games that come up will be big factors coming up.
What started this losing streak was a very disappointing road trip out to the west coast. They couldn’t hold off against the Sharks and fell, 3-2. Then they went against the Ducks getting beat around in that 4-0 loss. Then came the Kings. The one thing fellow Bruins fans can take some solace in is that this game wasn’t as much as a beat down as the last time the King and Bruins met (Bruins lost 9-2 that game and it still gives me nightmares). This time it was only a 2-1 loss. Then they came back East and went against the Rangers and lost, 5-2. After that the Panthers came to visit and beat the Bruins, 4-1.
After all that, it turns out that the Bruins went on a five-game losing streak. Just before this losing streak, the Bruins were at the top of the division, but now they are in third place in the Atlantic, while being seventh in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins only have a total of 88 points. Bruins are still in the running for the wild card.
Let’s get to the core of the issue: Tuukka Rask. His goaltending skills have been subpar so far. His save percentage is 22nd in the league (there are only 30 teams, just let that stat sink in). He is seventh in losses as well. These stats are so terrible that is seems it may prove an answer to the question, which is if Rask should be the Bruins goaltender. Rask doesn’t seem to be able to be a consistent performer inside the net. It seems that he no longer has the reflexes to be an outstanding man inside the net. [caption id="attachment_5540" align="alignright" width="300"]
Rask is 29-21-7 this season in net.[/caption]
The defense is also a large problem for the Bruins. It seems that they are not able to stop teams from taking shots after shots after shots, which then open the other team up to a greater chance of scoring. The Bruins are going to need to be far more aggressive on the defensive side if they want to make it to the playoffs, or anywhere past the first round of playoffs for that matter.
The offense isn’t amazing but they are doing what they can. I still recall talking to a fan at a Bruins game and he said to me, “The game [of hockey] is changing but [Bruins’ coach] Claude Julien isn’t.”
As the games go on, it’s clear that the fan was right. The Bruins are always behind on shots on goal because they still use this play style of pass back and forth in the opponent's zone, and only shoot if you have the perfect shot available. They still even have this mindset when they are on the power play and then it disappears. As of now, the Bruins are ranked 15th overall in terms of their power play.
At this point of the season, the Bruins are reaching the end. They only have six more games remaining and each game will be very important in terms of their playoff chances.