After months of clinging to a small playoff lead, before padding it with an impressive win streak, before holding on for dear life once again, the streakiness of the 2014-15 Boston Bruins has finally caught up with them.

Waking up Tuesday morning, the Bruins found themselves in a place they hadn’t been since the first week of January: out of the playoff structure, thanks to a 5-2 win on Monday by the Ottawa Senators over the San Jose Sharks.

The Senators now sport 85 points, one more than the Bruins, and still hold one game in hand over the Black and Gold. In order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in the Claude Julien era, the B’s have to right the ship and take care of business, while also relying on Ottawa to slip up a few times.


As bad as the Bruins have looked over their five-game losing streak that followed a five-game win streak, the harder part of that scenario for the Bruins appears to be the latter. At the current rate they’re going, there is a very real possibility that the Senators may not lose again before the season concludes on April 11. So even if the Bruins (however unlikely) run the table and win all nine of their remaining games to finish with 102 points, they could still be sitting at home once that postseason begins on April 15.

The run the Senators are on is nothing short of remarkable. Since a 6-3 loss to the lowly Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 16 dropped them to 22-23-10 – 10 points out of the playoffs – the Sens have been the hottest team in the NHL. They’ve won all but two of their 17 games since that date, collecting 31 of a possible 34 points to storm past the Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, and – now – the Bruins to claim the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference with a mere handful of games left on the schedule.

The catalyst for the improbable streak has been the out-of-this-world goaltending of Andrew “the Hamburglar’’ Hammond, he of one career NHL game entering this season (a relief appearance against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 27, 2014). Since taking over for Robin Lehner in the Feb. 16 loss to Carolina, Hammond has seized control between the pipes for the Senators and run with it. Entering Wednesday, the Hamburglar has yet to lose in regulation and has just one shootout loss this season, going 14-0-1 over 15 starts with a ridiculous .949 save percentage. After a 2-1 overtime win over the Hurricanes on March 17, Hammond tied Hall of Famer Frank Brimsek’s 76-year-old record for most consecutive games allowing two or fewer goals to start a career.


The Bruins got a first-hand look at the Hamburglar last Thursday, and while their four goals denied him sole possession of the aforementioned record, the Bruins were thoroughly beat up by the Sens, losing 6-4. The Bruins must now get back winning in order to salvage their season, while also hoping that the clock strikes midnight on Hammond and the Senators – before it’s too late.

Hammond’s run and the Senators’ rise is this year’s feel-good story of the NHL; unfortunately for Bruins fans, it may come at the expense of their team missing the dance for the first time in almost a decade, a situation that would surely produce some drastic changes the likes of which haven’t been seen on Causeway Street in some time.