February 2, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Solid effort ends in frustration for B's

by Douglas Flynn/

Bruins celebrate their lone goal (photo: Getty)

Bruins celebrate their lone goal (photo: Getty)

BOSTON – The effort was straight out of last season’s memorable run to the top of the East.

The results were all too much like this season.

The Bruins turned in one of their best performances of the year against the best club in the conference, but it resulted in just another loss. Despite a 42-26 edge in shots and a similar advantage in scoring chances, the Bruins ended up on the short end of a 4-1 score to drop their eighth straight game.

It’s the Bruins’ longest losing streak since the 1955-56 campaign, while Washington won its franchise-record 11th game in a row.

“It felt like a blowout on our end. It felt like last year to be honest,” said Bruins forward Blake Wheeler. “It just felt like we had so much energy. … I guess we played a really good game, but that’s not good enough. The two points is all you’re judged on at the end of the day.”

The Bruins didn’t get any points out of this one. They’re now 1-9-2 in their last 12 games and continue to be on the outside looking in at a playoff spot. They’re just two points out, but must jump over four teams, and time is running out.

“That’s one of the things that we’ve got to keep hanging on to right now is the fact that we’re still in the mix,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “One of our goals is to try and win those games in hand, and those things are starting to slip away.”

The Bruins opportunities in this one slipped away early. Boston had four power plays in the first, but came away with just one goal when David Krejci converted a feed from Marc Savard on a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Capitals got that back 2:04 into the second when Tom Poti (Worcester, Mass.) went end to end and set up ex-Bruin Mike Knuble in front.

Still, it was nearly all Boston in the first 40 minutes. Washington goalie Jose Theodore flashed his pre-lockout form as he looked once again like the netminder who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP with Montreal in 2002. Theodore stoned Michael Ryder multiple times on point-blank bids and also denied Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Krejci on splendid scoring bids. Krejci also failed to get a second-period penalty shot on goal.

He left his best for Wheeler though with 4:35 left in the second. After stopping Ryder’s initial shot, Wheeler had the rebound on his stick at the right post with a wide open net seemingly in front of him, only to see Theodore somehow reach back across the crease to get his stick on the shot for a highlight-reel save.

“It’s one where I like to be able to honestly say that I wish I had been able to bear down and shot it higher into the net, but I looked around and the puck was just sitting there and I kind of whacked at it,” said Wheeler. “It’s going into an open net and the guy throws it right into Krejci’s skate. It’s going into an open net again and he saves it. I don’t know what to call it anymore. I’d like to be able to say I put it in the net. It would have been a big goal for us. But there was maybe 15 other ones where we had Grade A opportunities. We’ve been making some goalies look really good here and it’s really frustrating for us.”

When asked about the run of hot goaltenders the Bruins have faced of late, Wheeler wondered if those goalies really deserve so much praise, or were the struggling Bruins just making them look good.

“Is it that? There’s one constant here and it’s the guys shooting the puck on those goalies,” said Wheeler. “Every night it seems to be another guy standing on his head against us. We can try to jump around the truth here and try to pretend this isn’t a problem, but it is.”

Defensive breakdowns were also a problem for the Bruins. They shut down star Alex Ovechkin for virtually the whole night, with the Caps sniper managing just one shot on goal until he capped the win with an empty-net goal with 32 seconds left. But Washington showed its depth as Brooks Laich and Boyd Gordon came through with key third period goals.

Laich’s came off a Bruin miscue, as defenseman Matt Hunwick attempted an ill-advised blind backhand pass behind his own net after a blocking a shot. Alexander Semin intercepted it along the left boards and sent it out to Laich in front, where he slipped it between Tim Thomas’ pads for a 2-1 lead at 5:04 of the third.

“I’ve replayed that about a hundred times in my head, and if I could redo it, I’d just shoot it off the glass, let the forwards go chase it and not go back with it there,” said Hunwick. “I wanted to keep possession and not just fire it off the glass, but obviously in the third period that’s the safer play.”

Poti wasn’t worried about the safe play when he launched another of his end-to-end rushes down the right side, feeding it out to Gordon for a 3-1 lead at 7:51.

The Bruins, meanwhile, kept throwing pucks at Theodore without success, continuing an ongoing trend. The Bruins, the lowest scoring team in the league, have managed just 19 non-shootout goals in their last 12 games.  

“I don’t know what to say,” said Savard. “It’s not like guys don’t want to score on this team. Guys want to put the puck in the net. It’s just a matter of … I don’t know, maybe we have to sacrifice a chicken or a rooster or something like that and try to change our luck.”

Douglas Flynn can be reached at dflynn@hockeyjournal.com.

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