Despite seeing playoff seeding as ‘less relevant’ in 2020, Bruins still focused on final round-robin game
"You've got to win 16 games. We knew that going in and that will still be our goal."
With a second straight loss in the NHL’s round-robin to determine playoff seeding, the Bruins — despite being the only team to reach 100 points prior to the regular season pause in March — will not be the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
The 3-2 defeat to the Lightning, following the 4-1 defeat to the Flyers in the first round-robin game, means that the best Boston can do now is secure the third seed. Even doing that will be difficult, as it requires the Bruins beating the Capitals as well as help in another game.
Bruce Cassidy’s team faces Washington on Sunday with a chance to salvage something from the early games following a months-long layoff. The good news for the Bruins is that while the current games are far from meaningless, the question is not if they will make the playoffs at all, but simply what their postseason path will look like.
Still, Cassidy didn’t hide his frustration when asked about losing the No. 1 seed.
“Well, that part sucks, I’m not going to lie to you,” Cassidy responded. “But that’s the situation this year with the stoppage of play. We knew the rules going into it that we would lose a little bit of the advantage we had gained. But we are where we are now. We’re just trying to win a hockey game right now and get our game together for 60 minutes so that we can be at our best [against] whoever we meet.
“This is one year I do believe the seeding is less relevant than others,” Cassidy added. “I think everyone has discussed that. Would I have rather been No. 1 seed? Absolutely, keep it. That’s not going to happen. We’ll get ready for Washington, play the best game we can and prepare for the postseason. That’s our ultimate goal. You’ve got to win 16 games. We knew that going in and that will still be our goal.”
Tuukka Rask echoed his coach, noting that ultimately a playoff team still has to beat quality opposition regardless of their seed.
🎥 Chris Wagner and Tuukka Rask react following the B’s 3-2 loss to the Lightning. @GEICO | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/xFOskmIaxQ
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) August 5, 2020
“If you want to make a run in the playoffs you have to beat every team anyways,” Rask told reporters following Wednesday’s loss. “The situation is what it is. I think the worst case that’s going to happen is we’re going to lose the locker room in our practice rink so that’s about it. I really don’t care where we finish. We just have to focus on our game and try to improve that come Sunday and going into next week. You’ve got to beat everybody anyways so whatever.”
Considering that every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs will take place at a neutral site with no fans, Cassidy and Rask have a point. It’s an unusual season.
Yet as Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal pointed out, none of it will matter unless the Bruins are able to solve some of their current issues.
Fortunately, the loss against the Lightning carried a few glimpses of the Bruins team that played so well for much of the season prior to the March shutdown. After falling behind 2-0, Boston battled back to tie the game in the third period.
As the Bruins keep an increasingly less interested eye on playoff scenarios, the focus appears to be shifting towards being ready for the actual start of the postseason against whoever their opponent ends up being.
“I think we have to keep communicating and keep improving, getting better,” Patrice Bergeron explained. “Obviously we haven’t had a chance to play as a unit throughout camp, and we knew it was going to take a little bit of time to get everything back.”
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