Bruins Qualify For Playoffs + Season Wrap

The Bruins and Buffalo Sabres square off at the Boston Garden for the final time this season. Craig Smith gets the Bruins on the board right away at the 1:21 mark with a tip-in shot from Krecji and Hall, 1-0 Bruins. Sabres, even the score on a score after a breakaway chance right out of the box, tied 1-1. With a little more than four minutes left on the first, Sean Kuraly scores his first goal on 31 games on a feed from Nick Ritchie to put the Bruins ahead 2-1. Captain Patrice Bergeron makes it 3-1 on a deflected shot, five and a half minutes into the second, and then Nick Ritchie comes through with a tuck of his own, a tip-in shot from Matt Grezclyk, a little over 3 minutes into the third. About 2 minutes later, Craig Smith adds his second of the game, a wrist shot after a dish from Mike Riley to make the score 5-1 Bruins. Sabers attempt to mount their ill-fated comeback a minute and a half later, finding the back of the net cutting it to 5-2 Bruins. Craig Smith completes his hat trick with six minutes left in regulation, another tip-in shot. Smith's second career hat trick. Bruins win 6-2!

On Monday, May 3rd, the Bruins traveled to New Jersey to take on the Devil's at the Prudential Center. The Bruins dominated the pace of play, outshooting New Jersey 29-8 in the first period and 42-20 overall. The Bruins got offensive contributions from Nick Ritchie, Patrice Bergeron, and Matt Grezclyk, two snapshots, and a slapper resulting, Zorbil, Kuraly, Bergeron, and Marchand (x2), all with apples, in 3-0 shutout for Boston. The game saw its first penalty at the 13:18 mark of the third when A.J. Greer boards Jakub Zorbil and is forced to answer a bell, chucking knucks against Connor Clifton; Zorbil returned soon after, appearing unscathed. Tuukka Rask records his 52nd career shutouts, and with the win, the Bruins qualify for the playoffs for the 5th straight season.

In the second game of the series, The Bruins chose to keep Jaroslav Halak fresh with a look instead of riding the young hot hand of Jeremy Swayman in net. The devil's hit the back of the net first with a powerplay shot right off the face-off at 11:18 of the first period, 1-0 Devils. The Bruins find the equalizer in the second period with a powerplay goal of their own when Pastrnak stick-shattered pass to Bergeron that he finishes to knot it all at 1. Around ten minutes of play pass when Taylor Hall tips in his own pass from Matt Grezclyk as he is upended in a brilliant play, 2-1 Bruins. Five or so later, after a defensive breakdown in front of the net, the Devil's put it home to even the game at 2. A minute and a half later, the puck rolls around the left end board where Nick Ritchie throws it out to the front of the crease where puck battle ensues until Sean Kuraly deposits his second goal in three games and thrust the Bruins ahead 3-2. It would, unfortunately, be the last Bruins goal of the night as the Devils come screaming back, scoring the final two on the answered goals, including the game-winner in overtime at the 2:42 mark of the extra frame. Bruins drop an embarrassing effort 4-3. Quite possibly the last time we see Halak dress in a Bruins uniform.

The Bruins welcome an emotionally spent Rangers team into the Garden, a game after their highly contested series against Washington, which garnered many reactions from across the league. The Bruins turned back to their young, hot stud Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins start their assault about seven minutes into the first period when Marchand dekes out four Rangers defenders to find Bergeron out front, who deposits it in the top corner of the net for the 1-0 Bruins lead. Later on, while on the powerplay in the waning moments of the period, Charlie MacAvoy with a rocket beats Ranger goaltender Georgiev with the man advantage and again Marchand with the apple, 2-0 Bruins. Then about six minutes gone in the second, Jake DeBrusk skates in and, with a wicked wrister, makes it 3-0 Bruins, getting the monkey off his back. His first score in 13 games. Brandon Carlo, who has missed 28 games this season, kicks off the third period with his third goal of the season, skating around the boards and banking a shot of the back of the New York goaltender. Bruins win 4-0, Jeremy Swayman records his second career shutout.

In the second game of the series, the Bruins seemed to come out with good legs under them, but we're trying to do too much, whether it was one pass too many or an errant stick in the play that didn't need to be there. Tuukka Rask is back in net, Bruins with solid, grade-A chances in the first, but it's the Rangers who get on the board first six minutes into the second. Bruins find the equalizer at the 18:12 mark on a Nick Ritchie wrister evening, the score 1-1 heading to the third. Twenty-one seconds into hird, David Pastrnak makes it 2-1 Bruins with a tip-in shot from Marchand, but the Rangers seem up to the task, compiled with a crumbling Bruins defense scoring the next three unanswered goals on four shots, 4-2 Rangers. Brad Marchand comes through with a powerplay goal from Krecji with six minutes left in regulation to pull it close 4-3 Rangers. More defensive miscommunication leads to another Rangers goal. Thirty seconds later, Bergeron adds the last Bruins offensive output they can manage to muster up. Bruins lose 5-4.

Bruins welcomed Ondrej Kase back to the lineup and also welcomed an early-season bane of their existence, but a foe they have fared well against as of late. While the Bruins have gone 10-3 since the trade deadline, the Islanders have only gone 5-6. If there is anything dire to do against the Islanders, it is to score first, and that is precisely what the Bruins managed to do with 39 seconds left in the first period when Taylor Hall buries a 5-3 powerplay goal from Krecji, where on the same play Marchand is slashed, and Pastrnak received the butt end of a stick to the chest from Leo Komarov, 1-0 Bruins. The Islanders answer right back with a powerplay goal of their own with less than 2 minutes gone in the second period. Less than five minutes later, Brad Marchand adds his 29th goal of the season, a tip-in shot from David Krecji, 2-1 Bruins. Before the start of the third period, it is announced that Kase would not be returning to the game. Matt Barzal re-ties the game a little less than 2 minutes later at 2, roofing a wrist shot over Rask's head. The two teams extend the game to the extra frame. Taylor Hall grabs a pass from Krecji at the redline and powers his way into the zone from the left hash marks, skating through the Islanders defense, putting one past stick-side for the game-winning goal! With that win, the Bruins secured the third seed in the Atlantic division and are set to face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs.

In the final game of the season, a makeshift Bruins lineup squared off against the foe they are set to meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Washington capitals. The Bruins put out a lineup, resting most all of their regular starters, putting a lineup on the ice of fourth-liners, call-ups, and prospects of the future. Both teams played a heavy game with lots of promise of the future. The game remained a scoreless affair until a little past Midway point of the second period, when Jarred Tinordi skates to the back of the net and finds Curtis Lazar for the goal in front, 1-0 Bruins. About 6 minutes later, Washington answers back with the only way they know how to beat Jeremy Swayman, and that's with a dirty, grimy goal. This young inexperienced Bruins squad shows that they can hang with the everyday mainstays of the Caps, all the way down to the last 2 seconds of regulation. Washington's Raffl fires in a terrible angled shot that manages to go in and out high bar. Bruins lose a heartbreaker of a regular-season finale 2-1. The two teams are set to start their playoff series on Saturday, 5/15. The Bruins finish the regular season at 33-16-7 with 73 points, good for 3rd in the Mass Mutual Atlantic Division.