“Huge point that we let by,’’ said Patrice Bergeron, who centered the only effective line. “We need them all.
“With 18 games left, we know we’re in the race. We can’t lose those points. We need to make sure that in the next game, those 2 points are huge. Especially with teams coming up, Philly and Montreal, they’re teams that are right there in the race as well.’’
Ryder and David Krejci, lifeless on offense (zero shots between them), were part of the decisive defensive breakdown. Dennis Wideman, pinching far up the right wing to create a chance, fell to the ice. Kulemin raced to the wall, dug the puck out from under Wideman, brushed off Krejci’s check, and turned the other way.
Ryder, seeing his linemate in trouble, floated over to the boards to seal off Kulemin. But before Ryder arrived, Kulemin shuttled the puck forward to Grabovski, who flew down the left wing with only Matt Hunwick back on defense.
As Kulemin pulled away to create a two-on-one with Grabovski, Ryder, having failed to contain the puck at the far blue line, hustled back. When Grabovski slid a cross-crease pass to Kulemin, Ryder dived to break up the dish. But an instant after he got a piece of the puck, he got all of Thomas, who had slid from right to left in anticipation of Kulemin’s attempt.
“I thought it was a two-on-two,’’ said Thomas (26 saves). “That’s what I thought at the time, anyways.
“I was just trying to follow the puck. It went over to the guy out front. Rydes slid and broke up the pass or blocked the shot, I’m not sure.
“Me and Rydes basically collided. He backchecked so hard that he slid in. I couldn’t get back to the other side of the net. Me and him got tangled up.’’
The Bruins, already missing Marc Savard because of his Grade 2 concussion, got word yesterday morning that Zdeno Chara would be unavailable because of a lower-body injury. Even against the lowly Leafs, such absences were sure to hurt.
But only one line was able to bring the good stuff last night.
