No Excuses: Bruins Simply Lay Dud In Winter Classic
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
FOXBORO (CBS) -- For the better part of 12 months, the date was circled: Jan. 1, 2016. That date was circled for the players and coaches, as well as the tens of thousands of fans who would be in attendance and the countless more who would be watching at home.
The Boston Bruins were going to host the Montreal Canadiens in the Winter Classic. Hockey's greatest rivalry, outdoors, in the NHL's marquee event on New Year's Day.
The stage was set. But when the moment finally came, the Bruins didn't show up.
After all of the build-up -- which included a behind-the-scenes television series, a family skate, an outdoor practice and a steady stream of questions over a series of weeks -- the Bruins finally took the ice. But over the bulk of the first 20 minutes, that's about all they did.
Just 1:14 into the game, David Desharnais got between Joe Morrow and the net, and the undersized Montreal forward was able to bat a rebound out of mid-air. He got enough on it to cross the goal line, and the Canadiens held an early 1-0 lead.
Roughly two minutes later, Patrice Bergeron sent a shot on net from 40 feet. The Bruins would not register another shot on net for the 14:50 that followed.
Twenty minutes, three shots on goal. None came from closer than 35 feet.
How that happens on such a grand stage was difficult even for the head coach to explain.
"The unfortunate part is that I think we played probably our worst game at the worst time," Claude Julien said after what turned out to be a 5-1 Canadiens win. "It just seemed like one of those nights where we couldn't get anything going. The first period, they were all over us. And we just, it didn't matter what we tried to do here, we just couldn't get it going. We didn't obviously deserve to win. … It's unfortunate that it was on a big stage like this."
Yet after the dreadful first period, the Bruins were still in the game, trailing by just a goal. And they knew that it would only take one shot to tie the game and start from scratch.
Instead, Montreal scored two minutes into the second period.
And though the Bruins worked to outshoot the Canadiens for the remainder of the period, it was Montreal that was able to bury another goal with under three minutes remaining in the frame. In the final seconds, Ryan Spooner was robbed by Massachusetts native Mike Condon, who made a glove save that kept the score 3-0 after two periods.
An early third-period goal from Matt Beleskey briefly breathed life into the Bruins, but Montreal would tack on two more before the final seconds expired -- long after thousands of the 67,246 fans had already made their way out of the stadium.
Though the Bruins had a fair share of excuses at the ready -- namely, missing its top two offensive contributors in David Krejci (injury) and Brad Marchand (suspension) -- there is no absence that could explain the overall performance on the ice on Friday.
"We didn't represent the Bruins or the city of Boston very well today," Torey Krug said flatly in the losing locker room. "It's always what ifs. I mean, forever now, it's going to be a game that we're not very proud of, and we're going to look back and be embarrassed about it."
Somehow, Krug said, the Bruins simply weren't able to match their counterpart's energy and emotion.
"We just didn't do a good job of responding," Krug said. "I thought emotionally, it was there for them and it wasn't for us. When the other team scores a goal or a big play happens, we need our best players to step up and make something happen for us. Unfortunately we were just waiting around tonight, and it's unacceptable."
Tuukka Rask, who stopped 25 of 30 shots and suffered a brief injury which delayed the game in the third period, said he saw a lack of mental focus, which led to the team straying from the game plan.
"I'd say embarrassing, more than disappointing. Embarrassing loss, I think," Rask said. "I think we were just mentally not there, I guess, and weren't executing the game plan like we wanted to. We didn't skate. When a couple little things go wrong like that, it becomes big. Tough to say [why the mental focus waned], but when things go wrong, you have to stick with the game plan and play your system, and we didn't do that. It just snowballs and it becomes 5-1."
For the Bruins, the loss hurts on its surface. But the sting is doubled, as the Bruins let yet another chance to jump into first place in the division slip by the boards. Instead, Montreal was able to jump atop the Atlantic, now holding a one-point lead over Florida and a three-point lead over Boston.
Yet the fans in attendance likely weren't focused on the standings as they made their way out of Gillette Stadium, instead merely feeling discouraged by the Bruins' performance. Though the players weren't able to explain how that happened, they shared the fans' frustrations.
"Great event. Yeah, great event. But you lose like that, so it takes the fun out of it," Rask said. "Too bad we couldn't give the fans a little bit more to cheer for."
Krug added: "It's extremely disappointing, the stage that we were on. We're trying to represent a great organization, a lot of great fans, and we blew it for sure."
By the end of the season, Friday's game will only count as a lost opportunity at two points in the standings. Maybe it'll make the difference in terms of playoff seeding, or maybe it'll help make the difference between making the playoffs and having another early start to summer vacation.
But for now, the situation is simply this: On the biggest scheduled day of the Bruins' calendar year, 67,000 fans showed up, but the Bruins never really made it to Gillette Stadium.
Of course, if the Bruins manage to find a way to actually accomplish something in the playoffs, this loss will become a mere footnote on the season. But for now, in the words of the man who's usually in charge in this building, the loss can be summed up succinctly.
It is what it is: one big disappointment.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
