Ryan: By vanquishing the Capitals, the Bruins finally managed to knock their bully out

Close to 13 years ago, an emotional, exhausted — and most importantly, relieved — Kevin Garnett strode up to a podium within the bowels of TD Garden. 

During his 21 years in the NBA, the passionate big man not only filled many a highlight reel with his play on the court, but also through his numerous colorful remarks and evocative musings in post-game pressers and on-court comments. 

And none of those addresses were perhaps as memorable as the one Garnett delivered during that conference back in June 2008 — shortly after winning his first and only NBA title with the Celtics.

After years and years of futility in Minnesota, Garnett crafted a familiar analogy for many when it came to getting over the hump and finally putting an end to the boogeyman that was the postseason. 

“You ever go to school and you had that bully that messed with you every day? It’s like that bully that you go to school every day,”  Garnett said of old narratives concerning his luck in the playoffs. “You know when you get out your mom or dad’s car, you know you got to see him as soon as you walk through the front doors. He’s sitting there, with his feet up, waiting on you to pat your pockets and mess with you. 

“And then it’s like one day, you say to yourself, ‘You know what, this is going to stop today.’ And you walk through and as soon as he pats your pocket, you lay his ass out.”

Granted, the stakes on the ice down in D.C. weren’t as high as the ones Garnett mapped out in wake of an NBA championship. But one has to think that many in the Bruins’ dressing room at Capital One Arena on Sunday night could relate to Garnett’s remarks in some form.

After all, the Capitals had served as Boston’s bully — its boogeyman — for years and years leading up to this recent first-round bout. 

For as much as multiple matchups seemed to favor the Bruins in their playoff series against Washington, the fears felt by many of their fans were certainly warranted. 

Because let's face it — history wasn’t exactly on Boston’s side when it comes to the Caps.

Ever since Washington snuffed out any chance of a back-to-back Cup run for Boston back in 2012, the Capitals have regularly served as a thorn in the side of the B's — at one point posting a 14-game winning streak against the Bruins that stretched from Oct. 11, 2014 to Jan. 10, 2019. 

But more disheartening than season after season of on-ice futility and hopes dashed by the soul-devouring void that was Braden Holtby between the pipes was the manner in which the Capitals landed their punches against Boston — with the likes of Tom Wilson, Alex Ovechkin and other big bodies routinely doling out bone-crunching checks and putting black-and-gold sweaters in harm’s way. 

Of course, Washington’s physical style of play was not reserved just for Boston, with the Caps serving as the revamped East Division’s schoolyard bully during this COVID-impacted campaign — with Wilson in particular not only injuring dependable skaters like Brandon Carlo, but also reducing the New York Rangers to a smoldering pile of ash in the span of just a few days. 

So, sure — given both the ghosts of years past and Washington’s imposing roster that’s just as happy to dish out punishment as it is to light the lamp — it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that plenty of fans were dreading what was to come when Boston finally peeked under its bed and confronted said boogeyman in the playoffs once more. 

But those fears didn’t resonate with the Bruins out on the ice, many of whom had been here during those years spent getting stuffed in lockers by Ovechkin and his crew. Instead, it was time to finally punch back. 

For as much as some narratives last week tried to paint the picture of a series marked by Boston ducking haymakers and doing what it can to stay off the ropes, it was the Bruins who finished the round delivering a flurry of punishing blows to its hated foe — with Bruce Cassidy’s club matching every heavy check landed with a blast of its own, and then some. 

"I thought game by game we kind of got better, especially early on,” Tuukka Rask said following Boston’s series-clinching victory over the Caps in Game 5. “I think we had everybody going, which was huge. Everybody contributed offensively, defensively. We did a lot of little things right. I think that probably ended up being the difference — that we just were the better team overall.”

Whether it be Charlie McAvoy knocking the freight train that is Wilson off his tracks in Game 5 or both Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak trucking over Ovechkin in Game 4, Boston was more than willing to give Washington a taste of its own medicine over the past five games. 

Even when injuries to Jeremy Lauzon and Kevan Miller (the byproduct of a dangerous hit from Dmitry Orlov in Game 4) sapped Boston of its depth on the blue line, the next men up in Connor Clifton and Jarred Tinordi more than made their presence felt. 

Not only did Clifton solidify Boston’s third D pairing (Boston outscored Washington, 3-0, in Clifton’s 59:55 of 5v5 ice time — despite having just 29.73% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone), but both him and Tinordi also joined the long line of Bruins who were more than happy to hit anything that moved in a red, white and blue sweater. 

Answering every hit and standing tall against the Caps’ usual routine of post-whistle scraps and dodgy play was enough to knock Washington off balance in their bout. But going beyond the physical play, the fact of the matter is that this series wasn’t even close — with Boston reducing a foe once thought of as a night terror into nothing more than an innocuous brain fart. 

Just about every perceived strength that the Capitals could rest their laurels on was negated in this five-game series. A potent power play that cashed in on 31% of its chances against Boston during the regular season finished with just three tallies on 21 total bids in the postseason. 

A dynamic top-six unit featuring the likes of Ovechkin, Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded just one even-strength goal in five games — and that came back in Game 1 when Wilson opened the scoring 6:22 into regulation. 

Down the other end of the ice, it was Rask — he of a 4-11-7 record and .894 save percentage against Washington in 23 regular-season games — that turned the tables on a team that has given him plenty of grief over the years. 

After relinquishing an OT winner back in Game 1, Rask responded by stopping 130 of the next 137 shots that came his way — finishing the series with a sterling .941 save percentage. 

Put it all together, and you’ve got the gentleman’s sweep that Boston put forth over the past week. 

Of course, there’s plenty more challenges that lie ahead of Boston — be it either the Penguins or Islanders in the next round or whatever titans await outside of the East Division.

But given the circumstances and results that have plagued them for years, the Bruins have every right to feel some kinship with Garnett’s sentiments. 

“You’re kind of shook, because you know what — you just knocked the bully out, and you don’t know how he’s going to come back,” Garnett said. “So the next morning when you come in and he’s not there, it’s like a sigh of relief. It’s like getting rid of the bully. I knocked the bully’s ass out. I knocked his ass clean out.”

The Bruins still have a long way to go if they want to reach the same euphoria that Garnett achieved back on June 16, 2008. But man, it’s a hell of a start.