If the Boston Bruins miss the playoffs - a far stronger possibility after tonight - they may pin it to their troubles against one team (the Washington Capitals) and one goalie (Braden Holtby).
Holtby and the Capitals blanked them 3-0 on Wednesday night, sweeping the season series and greatly improving the playoff odds for the Ottawa Senators and the Bruins’ other East bubble opponents.
A game like this can make it easy for people to forget that Boston came into this contest on a five-game winning streak. That’s especially true since the Bruins went out with a whimper, only firing five shots on goal in the third period.
It seemed like Marcus Johansson’s 3-0 goal really deflated Boston, as the B’s had some nice chances before that dagger:
One wouldn’t be surprised if the Bruins thought “there’s no way we can get three or more goals against Holtby,” even if it was subconscious. The 25-year-old goalie stopped all 88 shots he faced from Boston in 2014-15 as Washington beat Boston by a combined score of 9-0.
Holtby’s dominance of Boston is rare, to say the least:
Here’s a simplified version of what the East postseason race looks like right now:
One of these teams will miss the playoffs. Two games left:
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 9, 2015
NYI (98 points)
DET (97 points)
PIT (96 points)
BOS (95 points)
OTT (95 points)
This Claude Julien GIF might just capture how the entire Bruins team (and fan base) feels at the moment:
.@NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/4wnRsjVddN
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 9, 2015
The Bruins turn around to face the Panthers in Florida tomorrow before closing out their season with a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Those games are that much bigger after this humbling loss ... but at least they won’t face Holtby.
Julien on Holtby: "He’s had a good year, he’s a good goaltender. But he’s not that good that we should be shut out three times by him."
— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) April 9, 2015