The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins in overtime of game seven 2-1.
The 2011-2012 season has ended for the Boston Bruins after their 2-1 game seven overtime loss to the Washington Capitals. It’s unfortunate that the run to repeat ended this early, but I am not too surprised that it did. There is a reason that the last team to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions is the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 98; it is too difficult a task to complete. There were a few key reasons that the Bruins did not win this series. One was their inability to capitalize on scoring chances, another was Tim Thomas’ inconsistency, and third was their lack of physicality. All these factors led to the demise of the Bruins.
Lack of goal scoring plagued the Bruins from game one until game seven this series. The most goals they scored in a game was four, and even in those games they could have scored at least six. It was very frustrating watching them miss open nets, get shots blocked, and fail to score on many golden opportunities.
Tim Thomas did not help too much either. At times he was brilliant this series but at other times he looked lost. He gave up at least five bad goals this series, most notably Nicklas Backstrom’s overtime winner in game two and Troy Brouwer’s game winner in game 5. He was constantly beaten short side and was out of position way too often this series. I certainly am not blaming the entire series loss on him, but he did not play his best.
Lastly, the Bruins lack of physicality really hurt them this series. There were no fights this series and very few scrums. Many of the other series were terribly nasty, and that kind of play really would have helped the Bruins. There was plenty of hitting, but not big hits and not nearly enough nastiness between the two teams. Combine this with very little goal scoring and sketchy goaltending and you have a recipe for disaster.
Well, now the Bruins are out and we all have to find another team to root for. For me personally, I am rooting for the St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup. They are my favorite Western Conference team. They play great defensive hockey, have two great goaltenders in Brian Elliot and Jaroslav Halak, and they have a nasty edge to them. There is always next year for the Bruins, so for the rest of this year; let’s go St. Louis.
- Jonathan Duncan
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April 28, 2012
