Whale of a chance, but a familiar finish

Once again, 37 years past their last Stanley Cup, the Bruins saw another season come to a disappointing, even gut-wrenching end last night when Scott Walker knocked in a rebound of Ray Whitney's shot with 18:46 gone in overtime, leaving the sons of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito still searching for a small patch of glory to call their own.

Not this year. And unlike many years over nearly four decades, it appeared this one could have had a much happier ending. Did they leave a Stanley Cup on the table? Perhaps. It feels that way this morning. But in truth, if they had this much trouble against the Canes, they would have had more trouble against the Red Wings, and perhaps the Penguins or even the Blackhawks.

Instead, after so easily dispensing of the Canadiens in Round 1, the Bruins played two weeks of ordinary, oft-error-filled hockey, and eventually fell in the decisive seventh game to the team that grew up in Hartford with a role in life to be beaten like a drum from that Original Six team from Boston that picked up W's at the Civic Center with the ease of collecting a receipt at the Mass. Pike toll booth.

When it counted most, with a Game 7 their final test to make it to the conference finals, the Bruins once more just didn't have enough to wiggle by the Canes. Did they play poorly? Absolutely not. But they didn't generate nearly as many quality scoring chances as the Canes (rough count: Carolina had approximately a 15-8 edge) and if not for Tim Thomas's superlative work in net, the outcome would have been decided well before the 60-minute mark.

"We knew we played well," said captain Zdeno Chara, reflecting on the regular season, when the Bruins finished first overall in the East. "And it carried over into the first round. But Carolina was a much better opponent [than Montreal]. They were skating well. That's a good hockey team over there."

Indeed it was, far better than anyone could have imagined. The Canes played with pluck and intelligence, and were the much better team in Games 2, 3, and 4 of the series. Boston's best game was No. 5, when it shaked the cobwebs and doldrums of three passionless efforts. Game 6 had the Bruins out on top early, 2-0, but overall the Canes hung in there, at least proving the point they would not be shaken down one more time like their Whaler forefathers.

"We are improving," said Chara, reflecting on the overall state of a franchise still in search of success and identity in a very crowded sports market. "But this is just a sad way to end it right now. Obviously, we had a much different goal - a higher goal - with better expectations. It's just a tough one."

The tipping point was the goal by Walker, the slippery Canes winger, so slippery that he somehow escaped the clutches of the rulebook when he should have been suspended for a game after sucker-punching Aaron Ward at the end of Game 5. But the league, in yet another of its, shall we say, mesmerizing and befuddling decisions, let Walker off with a $2,500 fine for mashing Ward in the kisser.

When it came to crunch time, there was Walker slipping through again, but this time in the slot. After Thomas efficiently turned back a dangerous Whitney slapper from the right side (one of Whitney's game-high seven blasts, of which a handful were testers), Walker slipped by Dennis Wideman and tapped the floating puck by Thomas.

"My thought was, you know, just give us a chance," said Thomas, reflecting on his mind-set as the OT stretched out, the Canes putting eight shots on his net in the extra session. "I felt like we were going to break loose and get it."

Had they been better on the power play, the Bruins might have been able to pop in the winner in regulation. But they were 0 for 4, and it wasn't really because Cam Ward had all that much to handle when the Bruins were on the advantage. Ward's penalty killers constantly closed down the passing and shooting lanes, keeping the frustrated Boston attack to the outside.

It was much the same at even strength, too. Byron Bitz provided the 1-0 lead, popping a forehander into an open net on a wacky bounce off the rear boards. Milan Lucic potted the other Boston goal, but it took a pinpoint Marc Savard relay to the front, from behind the goal line, for Lucic to be left in front for a quick lift under the crossbar. Off the rush, the Bruins saw next to nothing for shooting space. Wideman, Chuck Kobasew, and David Krejci each totaled five shots, 15 of Boston's 36, and of the three, only Krejci got his name on the scoresheet (first assist on the Bitz goal).

Overall, the Bruins were the distinctively better team for only two games in the series. They were better in Game 1, but the Canes were so flat it was hard to call it a good game for the Bruins. The Bruins got right to the task in Game 5. Otherwise, they too often looked as if they were thinking of the task instead of acting on it.

Now they have yet another summer to think. It is, without question, a much better, interesting, entertaining team than what we watched play out here pre- and post-lockout. They have the city's attention again. Even the talk show crazies will have trouble generating their familiar hate today, tomorrow, and the next day.

But . . . but . . . like so many years, but. It could have been far better. They could have been contenders. They lost their step in the long layoff following the Montreal series, and from there they lost their way.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.