Image result for bruins blue jackets game 3(Photo Credit: NBC Sports)

By: Evan Michael | Follow me on Twitter @00EvanMichael
The score was 2-1. The series is now 2-1. But the Bruins’ chances of erasing that deficit to the stingy (and sting-y) Columbus Blue Jackets are more like 100-1. Maybe even higher barring some miracle of health, happenstance or holy intervention for the “top line” of Patrice “we all know he’s injured” Bergeron; Brad “shoot the fricken puck” Marchand; and David “just bench him already” Pastrnak.

I think Lynne from Methuen hit the nail on the [exploding] head with the above tweet: the beaten Bruins are truly beating themselves so far in this series, which–if they don’t turn things around immediately in game four ala the Toronto matchup–will amount to nothing more than cannon fodder for a fanbase already sick of cannons, fodder & forwards who refuse to score.
One thing they can do, right along with their intrepid dinged-up D-men is ding pucks off posts at a rate more consistent & expected than a Bruce Cassidy lineup shuffle. To say the Bruins missed the mark on most of their scoring opportunities would be akin to Hans telling a young Gordon Bombay that clinking one off the iron is only “an inch” away from missing the net altogether. Which, to be honest, has also happened at an alarming rate both in this game and the previous two at TD Garden.

Oh, did I mention the B’s also took turns ringing the crossbar as well? All of this, of course, being sandwiched between Sergei Bobrovsky serving the Black N’ Gold a nice helping of glove, blocker, stick, pad & mask. I mean… I know the guy’s good, but is he really THIS good? Or are Boston’s best squeezing their collective sticks so hard they’re making it look a lot worse than it really is?

I think it’s a combination of both. Especially when you consider for the FIRST time in NHL history the B’s actually got a bit of proverbial puck luck when “the call on the ice” was overturned and Jake DeBrusk was rightfully credited with Boston’s lone goal of the game at the end of the second period — a goal that should have energized the bungled Bruins and led to a third period comeback of memorable praise & momentum-shifting glory.

Alas, it all was for naught. And so too will this entire series, second season & playoff run be unless the Bruins actually show up and play like we all know this team is capable of. After all, aren’t the playoffs all about playing through injuries, manning up or having “the next man up,” and most poignant & prominent of all — making your own puck luck?
Maybe that’s what the B’s should start doing. Or else, they’re all pucked.