The Bruins' 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs run came to a disappointing end, to say the least.
Boston dropped a do-or-die Game 5 in double overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
The B's now will leave the Toronto bubble and head home, shifting their focus to the 2020-21 season.
But for Brad Marchand, he feels being in the bubble was "kind of a waste of time" because the ultimate goal was not met.
"It’s a very disappointing finish to what we – we had a great year," he said on his Zoom postgame press conference. "Obviously, it’s been a very different playoff schedule and it was a lot of time off. But we have a hell of a team and we expected better out of this year. Tampa has a great team, don’t get me wrong. Don’t want to take anything away from them, they have a great team. Just the way things were rolling throughout the season, we thought we were going to go all the way.
"It’s a huge sacrifice to come here and guys had to really dedicate a lot of time and effort to be here. And it’s kind of a waste of time now. We spent the last three months getting ready for this. Being here and we walk away without anything to show for it. It’s tough and you never know how many opportunities you’re going to have to win a cup. We never know if we’re going to be back in the finals again or in even in the playoffs again. Every opportunity missed, it hurts."
The B's, of course, were out for revenge after losing to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
And with the core group getting older and a lot of uncertainty facing the team, it's unclear how Boston will fare once the 2020-2021 season rolls around.
