This was just one of those series’ where you look back and think to yourself, yeah, we just got beat by the better team. As heartbreaking as it is to exit the postseason before you believe you’re supposed to, the New York Islanders just flat out out-played the Boston Bruins at their very own game. It also didn’t help that you lost two of your top game-changing defensemen to injuries in Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller, but that plays into the hypothetical and “what-if” game which serves extremely little purpose and gets us nowhere.

This series was frustrating to watch, and one of the reasons being that in seasons past, the Bruins seemed to have every other line except for the top line contributing. The past few years the perfection line just seemed to go quiet heading into postseason play, and unlikely second, third, and fourth line heroes stepped up and gave the Bruins a chance. But this year, oh how the opposite was true. This year, after the Bruins finally (seemingly) perfect their second line, creating an even more productive third line, and a fourth line capable of getting their job done, it’s only the top line that lead the Bruins to the second round. And when only your top line is producing, this is what happens.

We can attribute a lot of that to Barry Trotz and the Islanders outplaying the revamped second line of the Boston Bruins. After watching Boston’s second line absolutely torment the Washington Capitals, he told his locker room, “hey… don’t let them do that.” Which, in doing so, freed up some space for the top line to do their damage, but, we all know how that worked out.

Side note, Semyon Varlomov played about as well as you can ask of any goaltender. I believe the Bruins handsomely outshot the Islanders in every game except for game 6, and Varlomov stood on his head. If not for him, I think the Bruins had a legitimate chance at getting past the Islanders, but that’s playing into the “what-if” game so that’s the last I’ll say about that.

Now, we’re also seeing those postseason injuries come to light, with learning that Tuukka Rask was playing through a torn labrum, that both answers some questions about his sharpness, and asks some new ones in regards to coaching. The questions it asks are A. was Bruce Cassidy aware of the extent of Rask’s injury and B. If Cassidy was aware, seeing how well young Jeremy Swayman performed when needed, did he make a judgement call to keep him out of the crease?

Either way, the decisions that were made in addition to some untimely injuries cost the Bruins a chance at continuing a quest for a Stanley Cup. Now the questions remain in who will be signed this offseason. I’m not going to ask those questions, but I will say who I think the Bruins should make a priority: Taylor Hall (who’s said he believes it’s a fit and will take a discount), Tuukka Rask (hopefully on a short-term deal), David Krejci (if you’re going to sign Hall, you have to bring back Krejci, and vice versa), and Kevan Miller (he’s proven how vital he is, he just needs to stay healthy).

The Bruins are in a decent spot for next season if they can handle this offseason gracefully.

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