(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

By: Evan Michael | Follow me on Twitter @00EvanMichael

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the thousand-plus words Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy uttered following his team’s head-pounding (if not at times head-scratching) 5-4 loss to the Islanders in Game Five may paint quite an ugly picture.

Here are a few of them, just so YOU can picture it: “frustrating… sucks… needs to be better.”

Now, in all fairness, you could apply some of the virulent verbiage above to BOTH the Bruins’ play at times and the officiating in this game (and entire series). But let’s be honest.

Cassidy didn’t mince those words at all. In fact, he cut right into the refs and on-ice officials –and rightfully so– for what we all saw and witnessed. To wit:

I couldn’t agree with him more, especially since those “outside influences” came from Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz who trotted out quite the line of “BS” when it came to Bergy.

And it worked, as No. 37 was thrown out of the first few faceoffs in the game!

Then there was this:

Once again, Cassidy was spot on in an assessment nearly unanimously shared in the Twitterverse by anyone who isn’t from Long Island or clinging to the memories of a defunct New York lacrosse team.

As he went on to later say: “these officials are too good” to be missing obvious infractions committed by the Isles and only catching weak and ticky-tack ones phantomly waived by the B’s (yes, Nick Ritchie got away with an elbow but that’s not the point).

Oh, and how about this point:

Will pulling Tuukka Rask end up being the right call?

Well, Cassidy hasn’t held back on the criticism of his “elite” goaltender this entire series, laying into the often-nagged netminder (to give you a reminder) after Monday’s Game 2 loss.

And you don’t need anyone from the Black N’ Gold, or wearing Black N’ Gold, to tell you that the Tuukka Haters of the world are going to use this as a Game 6 storyline, not to mention the following words used by Cassidy himself while at the post-game presser mic: “he wasn’t 100%.”

One thing that is 100% certain according to a majority of frustrated fans in the Hub of Hockey: the Bruins are now on the brink of elimination in a series they could’ve, would’ve and should’ve closed out already if not for the men in black-and-white stripes.

That’s not at all what we’ve pictured and why so many in Boston may be at a loss for words come the weekend, especially the main man behind the beleaguered B’s bench.