Bruins Eliminated From Playoff Contention
BOSTON (CBS) --The Boston Bruins' season is officially over.
A Boston loss on home ice, combined with a Flyers win against Pittsburgh, sealed Boston's fate, leaving them outside of the playoff picture for the second straight season.
Saturday's game started off on a promising note for the Bruins, when David Pastrnak scored on a partial breakaway just 5:04 into the game. But with Jonas Gustavsson filling in for a sick Tuukka Rask, Senators forward Chris Neil buried a goal 1:42 into the second period to tie the game. That opened the floodgates, as Zack Smith, Matt Puempel and Mika Zibanejad all scored in a span of just over four minutes, and the Senators carried the 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
Rask missed Sunday's game due to an illness that was colorfully described by The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa as "coming out of both ends."
With Saturday's loss to the Senators, the Bruins finished the year with 93 points. Last year, the Bruins finished with 96 points but also came up short of making the postseason.