GOLD STAR: Give Frank Vatrano credit. He probably didn’t like the way things ended with the Bruins this season when he was bypassed by rookies like Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen on the organizational depth chart, and that precipitated his trade to the Florida Panthers. So Vatrano scored in Florida’s win over the Bruins down in the Sunshine State last week, and then did it again in the regular season finale as the Panthers played the spoiler role. Vatrano stripped the puck from Matt Grzelcyk at the B’s defensive blue line and that play turned into Florida’s first goal of the game, and then Vatrano struck again later in the first period with his one big time shot and release from the high slot that beat Rask glove side high. Vatrano finished with a goal and two points along with a plus-2 rating in 11:53 of ice time, and effectively spoiled things for the Bruins just with a really strong first period.
BLACK EYE: Tough game for Matt Grzelcyk, who stumbled early with that turnover in the first period that led to Florida’s first goal on a really soft play. The rookie defenseman got his pocket picked by Frank Vatrano at the defensive blue line and that turned into the first NHL goal for Henrik Bergstrom on a hard wrist shot from the high slot. In all Grzelcyk finished with just 12:57 of ice time with zero shots on net, a minus-1 rating and really no other marks on the score sheet aside from a couple of missed shots on net as well. Grzelcyk at least stabilized as the game went on and the coaching staff used him a little more sparingly, but the bad puck management, bad defense and average goaltending on display early in the game wasn’t a good sign for Boston.
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TURNING POINT: The Bruins simply didn’t really show up in the first 40 minutes of the game. That was when it was lost when they managed only one goal and 17 shots on net, when they really didn’t play with much energy at all and they basically chased the game while not really doing much of note at either end of the ice. That made things all the more suspect in the third period of Sunday’s finale when they fired 26 shots on net in the third period while playing desperate hockey, and looking to find a way to get the two points they needed to claim the Atlantic Division title. That never came to be for the Black and Gold, so instead they’ll take second place in the Atlantic and the playoff matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs that goes along with it.
HONORABLE MENTION: Patrice Bergeron certainly put a full effort in trying to will the Bruins to a win with a divisional title on the line. Bergeron made a slick pass to David Pastrnak for the power play goal in the third period that nearly sparked the Bruins to a comeback, and had a team-high seven shots on net in his 22:48 of ice time. Bergeron was certainly in the middle of the third period flurry of shots on net, chances and full-scale pressure from the Black and Gold on a Florida group that eventually had to switch goalies due to an injury to James Reimer. He also won 21-of-33 face-offs while helping the Bruins control the puck in many possession situations, but the bottom line is that it wasn’t enough to take home the two points this time around.
BY THE NUMBERS: 35 – the number of goals for 21-year-old David Pastrnak after he scored his 35th on a power play goal in the third period to nearly close the gap on the Panthers’ successful attempt to be a spoiler.
Boston Bruins
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I believe [in the playoffs] we'll be the 50-win team we saw all year. We’re not going to allow one game to define us, yet we understand the meaning. We let one get away, an opportunity lost to have home-ice advantage. We’ll see if it haunts us down the road. It’s too early to tell that right now.” –Bruce Cassidy, on hitting the reset button for Thursday night’s Game 1 of the playoffs after watching his team scuffle over the last couple of weeks.