After winning their previous two games, including a 2-1 edging of the Islanders Saturday on Causeway Street, the Bruins spent too much time here at the wrong end of the Igloo. They have been fighting the transition game of late, finding it hard to generate play out of their end. That task was especially hard yesterday with the Penguins constantly in control of the puck and moving it with ease in the Bruins' end. Constant infractions (some calls were questionable) led in large part to the wrong-ended approach.
Pittsburgh's lopsided advantage in power-play time (12:21 vs. Boston's 5:23) was just one measure of how the day went, and how the Penguins were able to keep building on their late-season charge up the standings. They are 8-0-0-2 in their last 10 games and 10-1-0-2 in their last 13. Anyone out there questioning whether it was correct for the Penguins to show coach Michel Therrien the door Feb. 15? With Dan Bylsma behind their bench and trade acquisitions Chris Kunitz (2-1 -3 yesterday) and Bill Guerin (1-2 -3) spicing the brew, the Penguins suddenly look poised to repeat as Cup finalists.
The Bruins, meanwhile, look like a team that flamed out in February, after putting together a sensational three-month run that had them bolt to what was once a comfortable lead in the East. They are 6-9-2-1 in their last 18 games dating to Feb. 7. Not horrible, but just not what it takes to corner prey successfully in a best-of-seven playoff series. Perhaps the only good thing that happened here for Boston was that a higher placement for Pittsburgh in the end-of-season standings could keep the Bruins from facing the Penguins in the first round.
"The last seven games, there has been a lot of traffic by the teams we are playing," said Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, beaten five times before Jordan Staal steered in an empty-netter with 57 seconds to go. "They have a lot of speed. They finish their checks. Right now, they're doing all the things they're supposed to do."
