Bruins Drop Regular Season Finale

BOSTON - The Bruins had an opportunity on Sunday night.
With one game to play and the rest of the National Hockey League watching, Boston needed just 2 points to capture the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division crown.

But just as they have for the better part of a week, the Bruins struggled to generate the required urgency over a full 60 minutes. As such, they once again fell behind by a pair of goals, and despite a spirited third-period charge, dropped the regular season finale, 4-2, to the Florida Panthers on Sunday night at TD Garden.
"We're not going to allow one game to define us, yet we understand the meaning," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, whose sqaud finished 1 point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. "We let one get away, an opportunity lost to have home-ice advantage. And we'll see if that haunts us down the road. I think it's too early to tell that right now."

The loss locked the Bruins into second place in the Atlantic, setting up a showdown with the third-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 is set for Thursday night in Boston.
"Prepare mentally and physically...we know it's going to be Toronto in the first round, so we have to be ready because it's going to be a tough matchup like they all are," said Tuukka Rask. "At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter to me who you play because you've got to beat them all so you just have to prepare yourself and be ready when the puck drops on Thursday."
The Bruins admitted to a bit of mental fatigue setting in over the season's final stretch, which was evident, particularly over the last week, during which they dropped four of their final five games.
"It has been a long month and a half," said Brad Marchand. "We've played a lot of games, a lot of hard games - not games that you can kind of coast through. Everyone's battling for playoff spots and trying to figure out positioning. So games are tough, not a whole lot of rest, but that's not an excuse. We messed up an opportunity to jump to a higher seed. But it is what it is and we'll move forward."

Boston will turn its attention to the Maple Leafs, but not before taking advantage of some much needed rest. The Bruins will be off on Monday and could have a limited skate on Tuesday as they regroup ahead of the first round.
"But, what does the team need?" said Cassidy. "I think they need to get away from the rink tomorrow and get back to feeling good about who we are. We didn't finish April the way we wanted to. Clearly, we weren't the same team we were in March, but we'll get going here on Thursday and see where we're at."
That showed during Boston's sleepy start on Sunday night, which saw them fall behind the Panthers, 3-1, on Maxim Mamin's tally at 13:33 of the second period. Boston pulled within a goal on David Pastrnak's power-play goal midway through the third (his career-high 35th of the season) and peppered the Panthers for much of the final frame - outshooting Florida, 26-6 - but could not find the equalizer, despite a handful of golden opportunities.
"I think if we would have had that urgency that we had in the third [period], that would have served us well," said David Backes, who potted his 14th goal of the season. "They're a team that didn't have much to play for, other than personal accolades and such. I think if we would have come out with that urgency and put our game on sooner, it maybe discourages them having life. Instead, we kind of wait and see like we've done a little bit as of late and they started on time."

The Bruins hope they can learn from a difficult final week and parlay those improvements into a rejuvenated beginning to their second season on Thursday night.
"Just how you can't take any team for granted," Marchand said of the lessons learned from the loss. "They're out of playoffs and it would have been very easy for them to come in and just kind of shut it down, but it's a competitive league and guys want to win. That's why we play the game, we want to win.
"And it's going to be even harder in playoff time. It's going to be extremely competitive and we have to be willing to sacrifice every little bit, every shift, and if we don't do that then we're going to lose.
"We just have to be dialed in and prepared to do whatever it takes. But I think we have the right mindset in this room and guys want to win and they're feeling good about the group, so hopefully it goes well."