We thought this marking period had, oh, another seven weeks to go. How wrong we were.
Hockey is hockey and anything can happen, but this Bruins team gave every indication that it could buck the Presidents’ Trophy curse and go on a long run. Nope.
Despite the fact that GM Don Sweeney seemed to have planned for every contingency, there’s only so much you can do when your top two centers and elite goaltender pull up lame at the most inopportune time. When the B’s blew a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers in 2010, that team was still on the rise and won the Stanley Cup the next year, immediately removing the stench of that loss. With a cap crunch and possible retirements of stalwarts Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, this one could leave a mark on the franchise that could take a long time to remove.
Here are the playoff grades:
Brad Marchand, B: Yes, a minus-6 is a minus-6. But Marchand elevated his game with the top two centermen out and led by example. The regular season was at times a struggle for him as he worked his way back from double hip surgery, but he had key contributions early in the series and his four-assist Game 6 should not have gone for naught.
Pavel Zacha, B: Perhaps the best thing to come out of this debacle is that it appears the former Devil is capable of playing in a top six centerman role. When the top two centers were out, Zacha stepped in and did a good job. He’s also proven to be both valuable and malleable. He can be plugged into any of the 12 forward positions and he’d thrive.
Taylor Hall, B: Hall was very good through the first five games of the series, when it should have been over and done with. He was very good in Games 3 and 4 in Florida and had the tying goal in the third period of Game 5. He was shut out in Games 6 (when he played less than 13 minutes for some reason) and 7, which hurt, but Hall showed up for this series.
Jake DeBrusk, B: DeBrusk had 4-2-6 totals in the seven games, the kind of output you’d expect from him. It would have been nice to see him on his regular line with Marchand and Patrice Bergeron in Game 7.
Tyler Bertuzzi, B-: He’s the best net-front presence on the power play the B’s have had in a long time and he did draw six penalties. But his tendency to make drop passes and soft plays at both blue lines did not help cutting through the Florida forecheck or establish O-zone time. Tough to see the team making a strong pitch to keep him, given the salary cap crunch.
David Pastrnak, B-: Thanks to a shoulder injury he suffered early in Game 1, he didn’t make an impact until Game 6, when he scored two goals but was stopped on a breakaway when the B’s could have taken a two-goal lead. He scored the go-ahead goal in Game 7 that should have held up as the GWG, and he hit the shaft of Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick in OT. So close to being the deciding factor in the series, but he wasn’t. Like Bertuzzi, he drew six penalties.
Charlie Coyle, B-: He was very good in Games 1-4, especially when he was asked to bump up to play in a top six role. Still, with just 1-1-2 totals, you’d like to see him use his brute strength to take the puck to the net a little more.
Nick Foligno, B-: Playing for the first time since leaving the lineup on Feb. 28, Foligno was slow out of the gate but played well in Florida. You have to wonder if he could have made a difference in Game 7.
Tomas Nosek, C+: Nosek was better than 60 percent at the faceoff circle, but the penalty kill, which was the best in the league in the regular season and a big part of Nosek’s value, killed at just 75 percent and was a big reason the B’s could not close out the series.
David Krejci, C+: Krejci missed three games with an undisclosed injury. He wasn’t able to do much in Games 1, 2 and 6, but he reached back in time for a strong Game 7. Just wasn’t quite enough.
Patrice Bergeron, C-: It was tough to watch him not be the player he could be. The captain was playing with a herniated disc in his back when he returned for Game 5 and the B’s in control of the series at 3-1. They didn’t win another game and Bergeron was a minus-6 in three games. He did score a power-play goal in Game 5, and he was still strong on faceoffs (70%) but that was it.
Garnet Hathaway, C-: He was not as much of a physical presence as it was hoped he’d be and he had a key blue line turnover in Game 7. In fairness, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to impact the series. He only cracked 10:00 in three of the seven games.
Jakub Lauko, C-: In minimal action, Lauko was tagged with a pair of minor penalties in the pivotal Game 5, the second of which led to a goal against.
Trent Frederic, D: Frederic made huge strides this year, but he couldn’t bury numerous chances in this series. In the regular season, you take the positive out of that and build on it. In the playoffs, those chances have to go in. He was also victimized on the same Game 7 goal on which Hathaway turned it over.
Brandon Carlo, B: Carlo was his mostly solid, defense-first presence but he did manage to pick up four helpers in the series. If the B’s had been able to lock down Game 7, he would have had the primary assist on the GWG. He loses a grade for the PK underachievement.
Dmitry Orlov, B: Orlov came about six inches away from ending Game 7 in regulation but he hit the crossbar. As it was, he had eight assists in the series and pushed the pace. If the B’s move out contracts to make room for any UFAs, this would be the guy to do that for.
Charlie McAvoy, B-: McAvoy imposed his will on the Panthers in Games 3 and 4, but could not tamp down the chaos of Game 6 and had the late equalizer go off him in Game 7. Bad break, but it counts.
Matt Grzelcyk, C+: Grzelcyk was mostly good, but he was on the ice for both overtime goals against. He was not much at fault on the Game 5 one when Linus Ullmark gave the puck away, but he was part of a group of Bruins beside the net who could not clear the puck on Game 7 series winner.
Hampus Lindholm, C: If Lindholm had the same stay-at-home profile as his partner Carlo, this would be a higher grade. But he was in the Norris Trophy discussion all season for the way he was able to transition the puck from offense to defense. He was tentative to start and seemed to get worse as the series progressed. He finished with 0-0-0 totals, and that’s with power-play time.
Derek Forbort, D: After playing so well in last season’s short playoff run, Forbort just didn’t have it after missing the final month and half of the season. The rust was real, and the PK – on which Forbort makes his bones – never regained its shutdown identity in the series.
Connor Clifton, D: Clifton set himself up for a nice payday this offseason with his best regular season, but he had an absolutely disastrous, minus-3 Game 6.
Jeremy Swayman, B-: Given the situation, he performed pretty well in Game 7. He even made two Grade A stops in overtime before Carter Verhaege silenced the Garden.
Linus Ullmark, C-: We may never know how limited Ullmark was in the postseason and the fact that he wasn’t pulled earlier in the series is not his fault. But there’s no getting around the .896 save percentage and 3.33 GAA.
Jim Montgomery, D: Line combinations that didn’t work, questionable goaltending decisions and the inability to figure out the Florida forecheck tarnished a terrific inaugural season for Montgomery and spelled doom for the winningest regular season team of all time.