NHL Playoffs 2012: Why Double-OT Loss to Capitals Spells Doom for Bruins

Saturday's game was exactly the type of game the Boston Bruins needed to win in order to make a run in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, and they couldn't get the job done. 

Instead of heading into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals with a  2-0 series win, the Bruins will head off to Washington with the series knotted at one game apiece, and they will have to face a Capitals' team that has stolen all of the momentum.

The Bruins tend to be vulnerable to momentum swings, for better or worse. 

Boston entered the third period of Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss down 1-0. Benoit Pouliot's goal just after the 12-minute mark tied it up, and from there it became a defensive battle. 

It took two extra periods and unassailable composure for the Capitals to get the job done on the road, but Nicklas Backstrom's goal two minutes and 56 seconds into the second overtime ended it—and left the Bruins with two days to think about all of the opportunities they squandered in Game 2. 

The Bruins had plenty of chances to score on Saturday, particularly in the second period and the first overtime; they just couldn't do it. Boston out-shot Washington 12-7 in the second frame and 14-10 in overtime, and they couldn't convert. 

The Bruins have the opposite problem that Pittsburgh is having. Their defense is fine, or as good as can be expected from over 80 minutes of hockey in one afternoon. They just can't manage to find the back of the net. 

In over 140 minutes this postseason, Boston has scored just twice. Unless your goaltender is a genetically-engineered beast, that does not make a championship team.

Tim Thomas, who stopped 37 shots on Saturday, can only do so much. And on Saturday, at home, his offense had to do better against Capitals' rookie netminder Braden Holtby. 

Holtby has played better than anyone's expectations this postseason. He's only two games in, but he managed to show up the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in his second career postseason start. The 22-year-old single-handedly kept his team in the game, stopping 43 shots in a road playoff game that went to two overtimes. 

If he can play with that kind of composure on the road, Boston doesn't want to see what he can do at home, where he is—after these two games—sure to have an ecstatic Washington fanbase solidly behind him. 

Last season, the Bruins lost their first two playoff games at home. But last season, they won the kind of game they lost on Saturday.

Last season, down 2-1 to the Canadiens, the Bruins won an overtime thriller in Montreal to even the series and then used that momentum to carry themselves to an eventual series win. 

Now, Boston will be under enormous pressure on Monday in Washington. If they win, the Bruins take the momentum right back. If they lose, they surrender the series lead. 

On Monday, will we see the version of the Bruins that crumbles under pressure—like they did in 2010, against a Flyers team that staged an improbable comeback from a 3-0 series deficit?

Or will we see the 2011 version of the Bruins—who went on the road after losing home ice advantage and stole the momentum right out from under Montreal? 

After Saturday's loss, Monday's game became a must-win, and you never know how the Bruins are going to react to those until the puck drops.