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Once again, undersized Bruins skate into a playoff dead end

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Sep 2, 2020

The end came swiftly and suddenly on Monday night, with Tampa Bay’s game winning double overtime goal.

What’s next, Boston Bruins fans?

Hopefully a more normal season, whenever and however that would begin (December?).

Let’s face it, this was a surreal experience, watching Bruins Stanley Cup Playoff games in August. The B’s appeared to sleepwalk through the round-robin, woke up in time to dispatch Carolina in five games, and then, well, Tuukka took off and that was that.

These aren’t normal times so goalie Tuukka Rask’s sudden opt-out departure can’t be scrutinized too much. There is some apprehension as he also needed a leave a couple of years ago, but we’ll see down the road what Rask wants to do. The Bruins, we don’t think, would be the ones to initiate a change.

That’s because clearly they weren’t the same without him. Yet clearly, this wasn’t the same type of atmosphere.

“Clearly we didn’t reach our goal,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said following Monday night’s loss. “I also believe with the turn of events with the pause and stuff going on in the world bigger than hockey … once we got back here it wasn’t the same as a normal season. It just wasn’t.”

No, it wasn’t. But it wasn’t the same for Tampa, either, but the Lightning are a team that is 5-0 in overtime games, including a grueling five OT affair vs. Columbus in the first round. The surroundings, without fans, living and playing in the now-shrinking bubble, were the same for everyone.

Now, of course, the key focus after Monday night’s game was on the future of 43-year-old Zdeno Chara, whose contract is up. Heck, even NBC’s Doc Emrick did a diatribe on it. Chara, who is one of six in Bruins history to play in over 1,000 games, after Monday’s ouster said it wasn’t the time to delve into his future.

“He’s an icon in Boston and who knows what’s going to happen,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand told the media, “but it’s a pleasure to go to the rink with him every day and see the dedication he has to the game and has had to the game for so long. … He’s one of the best defensemen, best players to ever play the game.”

The Bruins need size, but do they need the size of a player approaching his mid-40s? Boston got beaten up by St. Louis in the 2019 Cup Finals and couldn’t beat a Lightning team that was without a couple of key players when the series ended. They are sorely missing an elite two-way power forward who could make teams hesitate before delivering that key hit.

The core group of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, etc. has a window that is almost shut. Boston has proven to be an outstanding regular season team. You wonder what the playoffs would have been like if under normal circumstances. Hopefully next spring we’ll find out.

Defenseman Torey Krug, like Chara, also has reached the end of his deal. Krug’s lack of size has been a problem, as good a player as he can be.

“I don’t want to speculate if it will be their last game,” Cassidy said of the pair. . “Those are decisions that will be made by the players and management. … Both are great Boston Bruins, and we’ll see what happens down the line.”

The Bruins will skate along that line into 2021. But if a few key changes aren’t made, that line could lead to another disappointing dead end.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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