Currently, Bruins' game is on the fritz
RALEIGH, N.C. - If the Bruins were your laptop computer, ever trusty and full of answers, you would have turned it on last night, watched the screen come aglow, and within a few minutes you would have been convinced that it picked up a mysterious and potentially deadly virus.
A few more minutes, and you no doubt would have been tapping the space bar, really tapping the space bar, in hopes of fixing it. Yes, sir. Tap, tap, tap.
If you grew up in the world before cable television (Google UHF antenna and aluminum foil), you next would have employed the foolproof method of smacking the side of the screen maybe, oh, two or three or four times. And if that failed, the only option would have been to heave the sucker clear across the kitchen and curse the bleepin' thing back to working order. That ever work for you, bunky?
All in all, that had to be how Boston coach Claude Julien felt after watching his misguided wanderers flub and stumble their way to a 3-2 overtime loss last night to the hard-charging Hurricanes.
"Probably one of our worst games in I don't know how long," said a composed but clearly disappointed Julien following the defeat, which left the Bruins in a 2-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series. "We turned pucks over. We lacked execution. We lost battles. It was a very uncharacteristic game for us."
Three games into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Bruins have yet to play a good game against Team Tobacco Road. They walked to a win in Game 1, mostly because the Canes were still in a daze after going to the last seconds of Game 7 to rub out the Devils. Two nights later, the Canes blanked them in the Garden, 3-0, the Bruins mistakenly thinking they could win with the same Gentleman's 'C' effort they put forth in Game 1.
Last night, in what could be the pivotal game of the series, the Bruins looked ill at ease with the puck for virtually the full 62:48, as if they were running on pure caffeine and no game plan. In every aspect of the game, in all three zones, and especially in their defensive end, they were a collection of Don Knotts(es), forever fidgeting and blinking, as if looters were running in and out of every store on Mayberry's Main Street.
One glaring example came with 2:02 remaining in the second, only 69 seconds after Eric Staal tied it, 1-1, for the Canes. The speedy Phil Kessel lost an edge in the neutral zone and coughed up the puck as he tumbled to the sheet. In a flash, and with Kessel slow to catch up to the ensuing Canes rush, ex-Bruin Sergei Samsonov nailed in the go-ahead goal.
Even worse, normally steady captain Zdeno Chara attempted to push the puck up the left wall in overtime, only to see Samsonov come rushing back with it and unload a backhander that led directly to Jussi Jokinen's winner at 2:48. Chara was off all night, along with his defensive partner Aaron Ward, the two of them often out of synch or out of position when confronted with Carolina's incessant forechecking and overall better puck management.
"We are not respecting the game plan well enough," said Julien.
True enough, but not encompassing enough. For two games, the Bruins have not matched Carolina's intensity, physical play, or composure. The Canes seem to gain confidence and quick legs with every shift. The Bruins look not so much confused as timid, unsure, like big hitters at the tees who suddenly start skulling their drives or burying them deep in the woods with duck hooks. Quack.
"We threw pucks away the whole night," said veteran winger Mark Recchi, shaking his head, unable to understand the nonsense. "We just weren't patient with the puck. Instead of getting it, looking for a play . . . we just seemed to be whipping it around out there. That's just not the way we play. Sure, part of it is that they're doing a lot of good things. But the other part of it is that we have to be composed with the puck and make plays out there."
As a consequence, none of Boston's forwards was effective, be it in providing defensive support in the back end or turning their few offensive advances into bona fide scoring chances. They came here hoping to put pressure on goalie Cam Ward, move the puck around his crease, get him out of his comfort zone. When Milan Lucic potted the 1-0 lead, the shots stood at 5-5. For the remaining 55:05 of play, including the 2:48 of OT, the Canes outshot them, 36-18, and that 2-to-1 ratio didn't do justice to the much greater advantage the Canes held in true scoring chances.
"They pressure you hard," noted Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. "But we played teams like that the whole year, that's not really new. They get in on the forecheck and put pressure on you all over the ice . . . and for most of the year we handled it well."
"This is a wake-up call," added Lucic. "We have to be better on the forecheck."
They have to take a deep breath. They have to trust their instincts. They also have to avoid stupid penalties like the Marc Savard interference on Ward that came only 35 seconds after the Bruins gained a power play when Niclas Wallin hammered Stephane Yelle's skull into the sideboards.
One thing that might help: a "statement" check, someone on the Bruins riveting a red shirt to the sidewall or tipping someone upside down in the neutral zone. You know, kind of like smacking the beejeezus out of that old black-and-white television, or that computer, with screen lighting up and cursor locked. Looking the part. But unable to perform.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. 
