The centennial season of the Boston Bruins has concluded with a 4-3 series loss to the Florida Panthers for the second season in a row.
From a fan’s perspective, I would call this a very successful season with many great moments even if it did not end as everyone would have hoped. Yet you can’t help being left with a bad taste in your mouth after another last-second loss to the Florida Panthers to end the season. The Bruins were in a position to send themselves to the Eastern Finals, but fell flat and let up two unanswered goals. The second goal was under two minutes to go in the game. Even if they had somehow pulled out the win, I’m not sure this team would survive another round with the way the offense was playing.
The season began with a lot to look forward to if you were a fan of the Bruins. It being the team’s centennial season along with the newly named captain Brad Marchand. The team had planned on having five “Era” nights throughout the season honoring different time periods in the team’s history. NESN did a great job covering these nights, with very well done video packages honoring all the Era’s. Some of the highlights of the season were the interviews the former players gave before the games and during the intermissions, telling stories from their playing days and reconnecting with old friends.
I was lucky enough to have gone to the first of these “Era” nights, “The Early Years”, on October 28th vs the Detroit Red Wings. It was very well done and seeing the surviving players from that Era was a really nice bonus as a fan in attendance. They really got the crowd into it before puck drop and gave the game great energy from the start. The game itself was great with the Bruins winning, capping off a great experience as a Bruins fan.
Although the roster that was returning from the previous season was almost completely the same there were two obvious differences. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí both retired, leaving both a gap in leadership and the center position on the top two lines. There was also the lingering question of which goalie was going to start or if the rotation would continue. Both of these issues did not lead fans or analysts to have much hope for this season.
The Bruins proceeded to win 17 of their first 25 games and had the most points in the NHL. The goalie rotation between Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark did indeed continue to great success as reflected in the team’s record. Players such as David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and the new Captain were all playing great and are the leaders behind the team’s hot start.
By the All-star break the Bruins stand at 31-9-9, with David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman representing them at this year’s All-Star game. Pasta is having another productive year with 33 goals and 39 assists. It felt fitting that one of the Bruins goalies be an All-Star, with Swayman making it as the teams default 1-A between him and Ullmark, although Ullmark was also having a great season himself.
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