Charlie McAvoy for the Norris!, Connor McDavid as a goal scorer, Garrett Crochet serves lunch

Tuesday 4/14/26

Tonight's the final night of the NHL regular season. All of the playoff spots are spoken for, so there won't be any drama on that score. The Flyers won in a shootout last night, clinching the final berth. I had hoped the Capitals would have squeaked in because I'd rather see Ovechkin in the playoffs than Philly but that's no big deal. I also tend to root for the less likely or unlikely thing to happen when it isn't one of my teams involved.

The Sharks finished just shy of the playoffs, but they gave it a hell of a run for a team that was expected to have little to no chance of contending for a postseason slot. They were a nice surprise story throughout the season. And as I've said, they boast the player who should be the league's MVP.

The Bruins still have something to play for tonight, though. They're currently in the first Wild Card position, a point ahead of Ottawa. Obviously how these two teams fare tonight will determine who each plays in the opening round of the playoffs in either Carolina or Buffalo. Right now, the Bruins would draw the latter.

With some hesitation, I'll say that that's a better match-up for them. My thinking: Buffalo isn't very experienced when it comes to playoff hockey. Many of these Bruins have at least been there. My reservation stems from knowing that you don't know how a team is going to play playoff hockey until you see them play it.

Playoff hockey and regular season hockey aren't the same thing. It's the same game, of course, but different all the same, if that makes sense. Some teams have a real knack for it. And some teams that had a real knack for regular season hockey have little aptitude for playoff hockey.

James Hagens had a nice assist in his Bruins debut the other day. It was a heady play. I always take note of when a player makes a pass from behind the next before he goes around the net; it's like making a short side pass from back there if you follow me. The expectation is that you'll do whatever you're going to do once you get to the other side, not before. It's a trickier angle, too.

I wonder who gets the start in net tonight for Boston.

Not a lot else bears watching. Connor McDavid has 48 goals. He's only reached the 50 goal mark once, which I think is a pretty big knock in terms of his historical legacy. This will sound more contentious than it is or one would realize it to be upon second thought--you know, that kind of thinking most people never bother with--but McDavid isn't a natural goal scorer. He has to think about it and make a point to try and score goals. David Pastrnak stands at 99 points and I'm sure he'll want to reach 100 and will be doing all he can to make sure he does. He likes his stats.

I'm seeing Bruins fans touting Charlie McAvoy for the Norris or else saying he'd be a favorite if he hadn't gotten hurt. Very few people know anything. Very few people know what they are seeing as it occurs in front of them. Very few people know what they are hearing when they, say, listen to the Beatles. In a world where hardly anyone has their own identity and no one can think and no one can tell what anything is, and yet people want to fill the void inside by being a part of some group of strangers as if that was community, and live vicariously, or claim to be a thing they aren't in the slightest (writer, for example) in order to be "special," this is what you get.

I'll be more interested tonight in the NBA's play-in games but will probably also monitor the Bruins and the Red Sox if I am up. My hours have, if anything, been stranger than ever lately. I'd like to get back to something more regular simply for my efficiency because it's not like I have any quality of life or anything to live for right now to put it bluntly and accurately.

Another loss for the Red Sox last night, but the big story was Garrett Crochet, who gave up 9 hits and 10 earned runs in 1.2 innings. His velocity was down as well. He served up some real meatballs and the Twins hitters went to town at the old lunch counter.

The Sox managed 6 runs. They reached double digits in strikes out as well, as is their wont. They have a lot of guys with sub-.200 averages. People talk about Mayer like it's going okay, but he's been bad. Durbin went 2-for-5 and that took him up to .135 which is quite the statement to be able to accurately make.

The OPS numbers in the Sox' line-up are ugly. .453 for Narvaez, .397 for Durbin, .469 for story. Anthony is at .661 and he walks. And it wouldn't be a Red Sox game without at least one error out in the field, so they made sure to get that in.

Crochet had a start last year where the velocity had dipped and you were worried about an arm injury, but all the same, how can you not be after a performance like that one yesterday? The Sox are operating with a thin margin for error as it is and if they don't have Crochet pitching like he did last season this whole thing can be rendered moot awfully fast.

I don't think the Red Sox have a good team, but I'd still be able to make like they might for a goodly portion of the season anyway. That's what it's about, right? That hope of the chase. I don't think this is fooling one's self--the way it might be if this were life rather than baseball--so much as how being a baseball fan--and a true Red Sox fan--works.