By Andrew Hoenig | Assistant Editor
Boston, Mass. – The 2015-2016 Boston Bruins season ended rather abruptly Saturday, April 9th. For the second straight year the Bruins just missed out on competing even further for the Stanley Cup, failing to make the playoffs after finishing the season with 42 wins, 31 losses, and 9 overtime/shootout losses. The Bruins finished with 93 points tying the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings were the final team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff berth after squeaking by Boston with a record of 41 wins, 30 losses, and 11 overtime/shootout losses. The teams that clinched playoff spots in the Eastern Conference were the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, NY Rangers, NY Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, and Detroit.
Bruins fans will not get their opportunity to bleed “black and gold” as they saw their team get demolished in the final game of the season, losing to the Ottawa Senators 6-1. In a game where the Bruins had a chance to clinch a playoff spot, the team’s play just further emphasized all the problems that had occurred all season long. The Bruins’ defense once again came up lax and couldn’t protect the net to help out backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson. The Bruins’ troubles on the back end ultimately was the team’s undoing as the offense only scored 1 point in a losing effort. Gustavsson had to play the last game of the season in place of starting goalie Tuuka Rask due to a strange illness. Rask ended the season with his .915 save percentage proving once again he’s one of the best goalies in the league after winning the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the NHL goaltender who is judged as the best at this position, in 2014. The team’s chances of making the playoffs had certainly taken a blow before the final game began.
The Bruins offense was 5th in the league this year in points scored at 2.93 but defensively they were below the league average of 2.71 points allowed at 2.80, coming in at a ranking of 20th in a league of 30 teams. Too many times the Bruins defense came up short and it showed once again this season in their last game collapse. “I don’t know if we thought it was going to be easy or what”, said Bruins defenseman Torey Krug after the game against the Senators. “We could have controlled our own fate,” said head coach Claude Julien also after the loss. Fans aren’t sure what to make of the head coach at this point. The team did announce on Thursday, April 14th, shortly after the season ended that Claude Julien would remain the Bruins coach next season. But after going 17-18-6 on home ice at TD Garden, fans have started to wonder if the head coach should be let go. Former MWCC student and Bruins fan Jon Kaminsky believes it could be “time to clean house”. “Something needs to change man,” said Kaminsky. He’s right and plenty of other fans agree. Even the Bruins know they must do better with team captain Zdeno Chara admitting after the game that their play was “not very good”. He continued saying, “I don’t think anybody can say they had a good game.” But now the wait is on for the offseason and the future of such free agents as veteran forward Loui Eriksson. Changes are coming but it’s a matter of when. Fans will eagerly await the offseason in hopes of ending the team’s streak of now two straight missed playoff appearances after making seven straight times before that. For now Bruins players can enjoy the playoffs like their fans…from a seat on the couch.
Some stats of note: Brad Marchand led all goal scorers on the team with 37 this season. Patrice Bergeron was second with 32 goals and the aforementioned Eriksson third with 30 goals. If Eriksson was to leave, his offensive production would be missed. David Krejci was the teams assist leader with 46 assists on the season. Krug was second with 40 and Bergeron third with 36. Also Rask posted 31 shutouts this season as well.
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