BUFFALO, N.Y. – Offensively challenged in the regular season, the Boston Bruins are facing similar questions after coming up with an all-too-familiar scoring dud in their playoff opener against Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres.
So, what else is new?
“Same old, same old,” Coach Claude Julien said with a shrug of his shoulders after practice Friday, a day after a 2-1 loss. “We had enough scoring opportunities to win the game. … We just didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.”
The Bruins outshot Buffalo 39-32 and were particularly dominating during the second period, when they peppered Miller with 24 shots but managed only one goal.
“I think it is a lost opportunity,” Julien said of a team that finished 29th in the league in scoring and is playing without star Marc Savard (concussion). “But I don’t think you hammer yourself over the head because of 39 shots. We can certainly do some things better, and hopefully that’ll start (today).”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series is today in Buffalo.
It’s a second chance for a still upbeat Bruins team that’s vowing to capitalize on its second-chance opportunities in front of Miller by getting more traffic in front of the Buffalo net.
“There’s no need to panic,” forward Michael Ryder said. “It’s a matter of us now getting to those dirty areas and getting the goals.”
Not so fast, said the Sabres.
The Northeast Division champs aren’t entirely happy with how they unraveled in the second period, only to be bailed out by Miller and captain Craig Rivet, who scored the decisive goal.
“We gave up how many shots, 24? That’s a little bit too much,” defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. “Yeah, we have to play better.”
Miller’s not too concerned, considering the Sabres found a way to win.
“There’s going to be a lot of times where you don’t feel like you had your best period,” he said. “But we found a way to get a goal, and we found a way to make it hold up in the third period by making some adjustments and playing a much more solid period.”
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