Bruce Cassidy seemed pretty mad Thursday night after the Bruins’ 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders.
And rightfully so.
Boston is 0-5 when its game has gone to a shootout. And while the B’s do pick up a point in those losses, it could come back to bite the, in the standings toward the end of the season. Sure, we’re still months away from that, but being able to lock up two points when given the chance is crucial, especially for a team looking to make another run at the Stanley Cup.
Thursday’s loss at TD Garden marked the fourth-straight defeat on home ice. And while some of the blame can be placed on Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, Cassidy knows it’s not always who’s between the pipes, but who’s in front of them who bear most responsibility.
“The first one is a goal we’ve given up too much lately. In Florida, from 58 feet, the other night against L.A., again (Thursday). Some of that isn’t the goalie working to find the puck, some of it’s boxing out, some of it’s on our forwards to get in the damn shooting lane,” Cassidy said, per a team-provided transcript. “I mean, this is part of our makeup of our team, and there’s certain players we expect that from. I don’t think there’s been enough of that, to be honest with you. You talk about urgency, to keep it out of our net. You can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to wait for May to do that.’ It’s who you are, it’s in your DNA. We’ve got to get back to being who we are — certain players are just good at that, and I think lately we’ve gotten away from it.”
Yikes.
The Bruins are atop the Atlantic Division standings with a 21-7-8 record and 50 points. They are just three points behind the Washington Capitals for best in the league and two ahead of the Islanders. But Boston will need to figure out ways to win in shootouts and lock up the two points when given the chance in order to reach the top.
