NHL Playoffs 2012: 4 Signs the Boston Bruins' Season Will End on Sunday

In Saturday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Boston Bruins deleted 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, but…

No buts. And too little, too late.

On Saturday, three of the Bruins’ top six forwards, who were previously pointless in their series with the Washington Capitals, finally hit the score sheet, but…

No buts. And too little, too late.

On Saturday, the previously scoreless power-play brigade finally came through for Boston to draw a late 3-3 knot, but…

No buts. And, once again, too little, too late.

The real story is that the Bruins spilled a 4-3 decision to the Washington Capitals and will now go into the first elimination game of the series trailing and trying to preserve their 2011-12 season in a hostile venue.

Barely 21 hours separate the ominous siren that ended Saturday’s affair at TD Garden and Sunday’s Game 6 down at the Verizon Center. The freshly-baked momentum pie is in the Capitals’ possession, and the rare set of back-to-back engagements leaves little, if any, time for it to cool off on the windowsill.

At this rate, the Bruins will have to take it upon themselves to break out cold water guns to freeze, let alone reverse the unfavorable direction of the series. They will need to do that by hastily regrouping and defying each of the following omens that surfaced in Game 5.

Afternoon Agony

During the regular season, the Bruins were an acrid 6-8-2 in matinee games with only three of those wins coming in regulation or overtime.

Surprise, surprise, whereas they have claimed two of three night games against the Caps, two of Boston’s three losses in the 2012 postseason have come at 3 p.m. faceoffs.

And wouldn’t you know it? It will be another 3 p.m. start time on Sunday as Washington looks to have a happy handshake in front of its fanbase.

Confident Caps

Rookie goaltender Braden Holtby still has not faced the Bruins at their best. And the longer Boston’s strike force holds out, especially in the tone-setting phases of the game, the harder it gets for them to circumvent Holtby’s praetorian guards.

Regardless of the quality of the shots he has faced, Holtby’s obligation to stop each puck that reaches him is all the same. And he has now repelled 175 out of 185 in this series, which inevitably spawns confidence in his skating mates, who symbiotically begin to make his job easier by flustering the forecheckers.

Similarly, the fact that Holtby has not dealt with a 1-0 deficit after five games in this series can only augment his faith. And Washington upped its assertiveness on Saturday by taking the first multi-goal lead of the series and never falling behind even after Holtby authorized a couple of equalizers.

Fatal Frustration

Benoit Pouliot’s slashing infraction after losing possession of the puck in his own zone led to the penalty that invited Troy Brouwer’s game-clincher on Saturday.

One period earlier, with the game still scoreless, a puck-carrying Patrice Bergeron was bolstering an enticing odd-man rush as he hustled down the center lane. Regrettably for him and the rest of the Bruins, teammate Johnny Boychuk seemed to care more about mixing it up with Brouwer.

A good 13 seconds separated a Brouwer hit on Boychuk and subsequent coincidental roughing minors to the two parties. With 5:14 gone in the second period, the calls were made over the two men's scuffle behind the Boston cage and terminated what could have been an icebreaking play on Capital’s property.

Seeing as the Bruins ultimately conceded the first goal for the fourth consecutive game and never led at any point on Saturday, Boychuk’s short temper and selfishness came back to stick out like a prom night pimple. Ditto Pouliot in his costly, ill-advised whack at Nicklas Backstrom.

The more the Capitals agitate and the more they sniff out seams in the attacking zone, the better their chances of sustaining the momentum they spawned for themselves on Saturday.

Banged-up Bergeron

Multiple collisions with Capitals drastically cut down on Bergeron’s final workload on Saturday. The multifaceted alternate captain saw only 12 minutes and 55 seconds of action due to prolonged stints on the bench and a brief sendoff to the dressing room.

Even if he is deemed healthy enough to play in Game 6, bringing 100 percent of his game could be a daunting task, especially with the rapid turnaround and travel-day interspersed.

This, in turn, could mean that the Bruins should not bank on Bergeron being able to deliver his usual reliability as a face-off connoisseur, proficient playmaker, Selke Trophy candidate and penalty killer.

All of that, most naturally, nudges the door open a little wider for Washington.