The Boston Bruins went through a slew of injuries and had players land on the NHL's COVID-19 list, but they had the "next-man-up" mentality no matter the what was thrown their way.
The result? The No. 3 seed in the East Division and a ticket to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the Washington Capitals in five games.
Despite injuries to Ondrej Kase, Kevan Miller, Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon, not to mention beginning the year without David Pastrnak, the Bruins held on and overcame any challenge thrown their way.
An injury to Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak spending time in COVID-19 protocols paved the way for Jeremy Swayman and Dan Vladar to get a few looks, and even resulted in Swayman being named the backup goalie for the playoffs.
Through it all, general manager Don Sweeney is pretty proud of his group.
"I'm proud of the group for fighting through all adversity during the course of the season and trying to play their best hockey as we went down the stretch in some challenging situations," he said Monday over Zoom. "The amount of games that we were playing and the amount of injuries we were facing -- we were fortunate that we added some players and some depth. They integrated very well and the leadership group and everyone was on the same page.
"You could tell right from the start of the playoffs that we were ready to play. I mean, we lose Game 1, you go to overtime in Game 2, Game 3. You know the emotional rollercoasters that exist when one shot can make it or break. Then you see the performances (Sunday) night of Tuukka (Rask) and (Patrice Bergeron) in particular, (David Pastrnak) scores an incredible goal. We didn't play our best hockey game last night, but boy oh boy, the guys that were penalty killing -- everybody played their roles last night and did what they needed to do to get a win.
"We were led by some great individual performances, but I think the team overall has trended in the right direction. You have to be healthy, you have to stay healthy through the whole process and get some bounces to go your way and make some luck. Obviously, we have to be more disciplined with our minor penalties and not taking those. Our power play got a little better as the series went along and scored timely goals. I think the depth of our club we addressed at the deadline, and hopefully if we get rid of the injuries we'll have some other players that can step in and play some roles. But overall, the team has played well and the players deserve an awful lot of credit, and the staff for getting them ready."
The Bruins now enjoy some rest as they await the winner of the Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Islanders series. The Islanders are up 3-2 and look to wrap things up Wednesday night.
