Since the inception of the Presidents' Trophy in 1985-86, only seven of the winners have managed to become Stanley Cup Champions. The Boston Bruins earned the honor during the 2013-14 season but were unable to become the eighth Presidents' Trophy holder to win the Stanley Cup champion. The team was eliminated in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens. Here is a look at the highlights and low points of the Bruins' season.

Highs

The Bruins were solid throughout the start of the regular season but never really dominated until the second half of the year. In their final 42 games of the year, the team only lost seven games in regulation. The team won 28 of those remaining 35 games down the stretch including 15 of 17 in March. Boston actually managed a tremendous 11-game winning streak during March and earned points in 16 straight before losing against Detroit on April 2. For their efforts, the Bruins became the Presidents Trophy winners in 2013-14.

As will be noted below, goaltending remained a high point for Boston, but the team's offense was the third best in the league with 261 goals scored. David Krejci led the team in scoring with 69 points but he had substantial help from other players including Patrice Bergeron (62 points), Jarome Iginla (61 points), Milan Lucic (59 points) and Brad Marchand (53 points). Reilly Smith was also a revelation with 51 points on the year; he had nine points in 37 games during his rookie season with the Dallas Stars.

Lows

There are not many negatives to take away from this team this season. The playoffs are another matter of course as the team's offense sputtered a bit as it went deeper into the postseason. The team was expected to be a top contender but struggled to close out Montreal despite holding a 3-2 series lead.

However, Loui Eriksson was acquired last summer and was expected to play a major offensive role. While injuries harmed his production a bit, the form 70-plus point scorer only managed 37 points in 61 games this season.

Team MVP

The goaltender is often considered the most important player on the ice for any team. Tuuka Rask has been just that for the Boston Bruins and so much more. The netminder was terrific throughout the regular season with a .930 save percentage; that was his best save percentage since the 2009-10 season when he stopped 93.1 percent of the shots he faced. He continued that dominant display throughout the playoffs with a .928 save percentage in the playoffs. He also managed seven shutouts in the regular season, the most in the NHL. It must be noted that he did struggle somewhat during the series against the Canadiens and he himself admittedly to playing poorly in the opening game.

"We played overall good 5-on-5, pretty much dominated. We had a lot of chances, couldn't score. But I was (expletive) tonight," he stated about his Game one performance. "I've gotta be better."

But was he the team's scapegoat and main reason for the elimination in seven games? No. That honor goes to...

Elimination Scapegoat

During Boston's 2010-11 Stanley Cup championship run, David Krejci put up 23 points in 25 games. Last season he led the team in postseason, scoring with 26 points in 22 games as the team went all the way to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. Inversely, in 2010-11, Krejci was completely shutout by the Washington Capitals and only managed three points in the team's seven-game elimination. As these examples display, the Bruins go as Krejci goes in the playoffs. During the 2013-14 postseason, Krejci was woeful with zero goals and three assists in 12 games. During the regular season he led the team in scoring with 50 assists and 69 points. He was expected to be a force in the postseason, but instead he was arguably the team's biggest flop. Teams expect their top players to be just that during the postseason, but their inability to rise to the occasion puts the pressure on other players to take on roles less suited to them. Krejci failed to meet this responsibility and is the scapegoat for the Bruins' elimination during the 2013-14 postseason.