Bruins Overtime is a postgame feature providing extra news, notes and analysis from each game. Boston was defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0, on Thursday night in Boston, MA.
The great Yogi Berra once said,"Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical." While hockey is no baseball, the same principle can be applied, as the Bruins dropped their fourth straight game to the worst team in the Eastern Conference last night.
It was the first time in Carolina franchise history that they swept the season series, keeping Boston winless though all four games. Last night, they also kept them scoreless, blanking them 3-0.
Not only that, but they have done what many other teams have failed to do repeatedly--they not only kept the Bruins from scoring in the third period, but they even scored the third goal in the third, decreasing Boston's impressive third period goal differential.
"It's one thing that we learned last year, consistency and hard work overcome a lot of things, and right now we aren't doing that," Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. "We're not working smart and we're not working as a team and as a unit. We know the system but were just not putting that on the ice.
"It is a bit mental, but it's just playing to our system, our skills and the best of our abilities and we aren't going to be talking about this anymore."
CAROLINA HAS BRUINS NUMBERS
Carolina improved to 4-0-0 against the Bruins this year, and swept the season series. Doing that against any team is quite the accomplishment, but against the former Stanley Cup Champions, and a team that has been doing so well this season, well the Hurricanes will take that.
"Well, yeah. I think it’s a credit to the guys when we play like that we’re capable of beating very good teams," Carolina goaltender Cam Ward said. "It’s no secret that they’re once again Stanley Cup contenders and to beat them four times is a huge compliment to our team, but we have to play every team like it’s the Boston Bruins. It seems like they bring out the best in us."
However, Bergeron said that the issue might not be in the team they are facing, but in the way that they catch themselves playing in certain games.
"Yeah I don’t think it’s about Carolina," Bergeron said. "I think it’s just about us not executing and not playing well. Yeah they are a great team, I’m not trying to take anything away from them. They are playing well, they are playing hard, they are a good team, but that being said I think the chances they got, not the chances, but the goals they got were all our fault, sorry."
SHUT OUT AT HOME
Last night's loss marked just the third time this season the Bruins have not scored at least one goal. The other two were against Colorado (1-0) and the Florida Panthers (2-0). All three shutouts were at TD Garden.That 3-0 win was Cam Ward's third shutout of the seasons and his third career shutout against the Bruins.
UP NEXT:
The Bruins stay at home and have a chance to put their words into practice on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 1 p.m. in front of the Bruins faithful. Claude Julien hopes to keep the frustration out of the locker room and set the team back on course.
"You know, when you’re playing the way they’re playing, guys get frustrated, and we saw that at the beginning of the year," Julien said. "We’re not playing very smart right now, and we’re certainly not competing the way we should be competing. I guess, as a coach, you’ve got to find ways to solve that, but at the same time, the answer still remains in the dressing room, too. They’ve got to kind of do their share because we certainly can’t play for them. But we’re certainly going to work on that and getting our competitive edge back up to where it should be."
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