Image result for bruins panthers power outage

(Photo Credit: NHL.com)

By: Evan Michael | Follow me on Twitter @00EvanMichael
On Military Appreciation night at TD Garden, all the accolades went to those who were suited up in the stands. And rightfully so.
Because what happened to those in Black N’ Gold who suited up on the ice, especially from the 3rd period onward… well, it was woefully void of anything appreciatory, celebratory or congratulatory.
In short, the lights literally and figuratively went out on the Boston Bruins.

On a night everyone was supposed to remember for all the right reasons — sacrifice, duty, service — the Bruins gave us a performance we’ll remember for all the wrong ones. Ironically, it involved the team lacking all of the aforementioned qualities during a stretch of hockey that was easily the worst I’ve ever seen in my *lifetime.
*(I’m not counting the forgettable fiasco YouTube’d below since I only heard the expletives shouted from the other room by family members and was told later that everyone was seeing “Stars” — and not the kind I should be dreaming about. Then again, how can you dream when nightmare scenarios like this happen as a hockey-loving kid…)

 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIt2yJ9922E]

Speaking of things that will keep you up all night… up 4-0 with twenty minutes of hockey left to play on home ice — and in major need of a win after losing three uninspired games in a row — the B’s treated all their fans, and those in uniform let’s not forget, to one mistake and mishap after another.
This led to four unanswered goals from a truly powerless Panthers club and pulled the plug on any electricity Boston originally brought to the game, TD Garden grids aside (not to be confused with the ol’ Boston Garden grid that flexed some series outage awesomeness during the ’88 Stanley Cup Finals against Edmonton).

 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ZA0wPprjI]

You know who also had an outage of epic proportion in this grotesque game? Tuukka Rask. The “Big O” we were all hoping for was supposed to be on the scoreboard, not the switch board. And after the first two periods, it looked pretty pretty pretty good. Talk about enthusiasm being curbed shortly thereafter.

From everyone rooting for a shutout, the B’s were soon heading for a SHOOTOUT — Rask letting in at least two soft goals in the interim. And since it’s an NHL rule that Boston can never win after OT, you could see the extra point evaporating as quickly as Coach Cassidy’s lackluster line-up of would-be scorers (who are all bereft of breakaway abilities, never mind shootout sureness).

Thank goodness it’s only November. If there is such a thing as a “Stanley Cup Hangover,” then it may be cured for the B’s by the holidays as opposed to February or March when it could be too late to recover. But unlike simply flipping a switch to restore power, these beleaguered Bruins will now have to work harder than they have since the postseason to get all the energy back from their hot start.
After four consecutive losses, with the fourth coming as a result of blowing a four-goal lead to a team from Florida, things are indeed looking dark in Bruins Nations right now. Maybe it’ll LIGHT a fire for a team in desperate need of a spark!

Check out the new Black N’ Gold Hockey Podcast episode 153 that we recorded below! You can find our show on many worldwide platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher.

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