Living On The Edge: Bruins Have No Room For Error

The Bruins are still alive.

Their playoff hopes, despite having stabilized after the last two games, are still in the emergency room as fans intently watch the EKG monitor and wonder if they should go on and make arrangements at the local funeral home.

With a 2-1 victory over the ninth place New York Rangers on Sunday and a 4-0 shutout of the surging Atlanta Thrashers Tuesday night, the Bruins were able to put some vital points between them and the aforementioned teams and hold on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Though encouraging, Sunday’s victory was one of only a few peaks of the past two weeks that saw the Bruins lose a key offensive component in Marc Savard by way of a concussion courtesy of Pittsburgh Penguins goon Matt Cooke. They also suffered tough losses in Montreal and New Jersey that has left them fighting for their playoff lives. Even the much-hyped rematch with the Penguins turned into a 3-0 flop in which the Bruins looked dead on the ice, leading the home crowd to boo them off by game’s end.

“We just didn’t play with the type of passion that’s expected,” said team Vice President and Bruins legend Cam Neely during an interview for WEEI’s “The Big Show” last Friday. “That’s what was frustrating for a lot of people and I don’t blame them for being frustrated.”

And up until Sunday’s matinee Neely was right.

The Bruins have upped their physical play since that victory and are now skating with the kind of swagger they had promised fans since the beginning of the season.  That swagger will be the key if they hope to get themselves out of the emergency room, and it all starts with the defense.

Rookie goalie Tuukka Rask has shined for Boston since taking over as starting goaltender posting a 2.08 goals against average making him first in the league (ahead of Olympic hero Ryan Miller) and has propelled himself to third best in save percentage with .928. All that is without even mentioning that the Bruins are still tops in the league when it comes to penalty killing.

Trade deadline acquisition Dennis Seidenberg has also turned out to be better than advertised. The much-scrutinized acquisition has become a fixture in the top defensive pairing with team captain Zdeno Chara and has been averaging at least 23 minutes of ice time a game. He has also added a scoring touch to the defensive corps, contributing six assists in the past eight games. Assistant captain Patrice Bergreon has also stepped it up. Since Bergeron made the move to centering the top line in Savard’s absence he has racked up eight points in his last seven games including four goals.

The real key now is taking that momentum and doing something with it. At this point in the season, it’s obvious that the Bruins will not be leading the league in goals anytime soon, but when they play to their strengths they can be formidable. With a modest two game win streak in hand the boys on Causeway Street will have to make their own luck, but there is little margin for error now. From this point on, playoffs or not, every game will be game seven for the Bruins. And if they forget that, fans will quickly be writing up their obituary.