Ordinary teams

You need to go no further than one stat to find out why the Bruins lost miserably to the Panthers tonight.

Of six power play opportunities, the Panthers converted on four of them. On many of them, quickly.

When the Bruins found themselves down a man (or two), they seemed in chaos, blowing assignments and often scrambling in front of the net for a puck that should have been kicked out of the zone seconds ago. And of the power play opportunities they had themselves, they often appeared lethargic and out of synch.

There were subpar efforts all around for this one. The play of Stuart, Mara, Alberts and York was less than stellar. On a third period goal, I believe Stuart tried unsuccessfully to kick a puck out from the crease at least four times before the Panthers were able to poke it in. Too often, Thomas found himself in near hopeless situations that he was unable to overcome. Still, a good goalie needs to be able to come through in those situations from time to time. But Thomas was not that kind of goalie tonight and was mercifully yanked after goal number seven. Chara was about the only defenseman to come out of this unscathed, notching two assists and somehow managing to escape with an even +/-.

The offense didn't fare much better with many of their shots missing the net completely (there were ten early in the 3rd period). I know Bergeron was recovering from the flu, but that can't excuse the play of the rest of the team. Kessel had some growing pains of his own and mishandled a puck along the boards which led to a turnover and a goal.

Tomorrow night's going to be tougher against the Lightning, but they can't fare much worse than what they did tonight. At least I hope not.