Recchi congratulates Gagne/By Sharon Bradley

BOSTON – There have now been 33 too-many-men penalties called in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, according to TSN. But only one has decided a Game 7.

At 11:10 of the third period tonight, the Bruins were whistled for their second bench minor of the postseason and 14th of the year. Just 1:42 later, Simon Gagne made Boston pay and gave the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 lead they never relinquished en route to closing their Eastern Conference semifinal series at TD Garden.

That the ultimate blow against this Bruins team was struck by such a minor infraction is disappointing but by no means surprising. Attention to detail cost this team time and again all season, so in a way it was appropriate that a faulty line change was Boston’s undoing in 2010.

Head coach Claude Julien and his staff stressed the little things all season, as they knew that a flawed team with little firepower up front and questionable decision-makers on the back end couldn’t just get by on talent alone. But basic power-play execution, routine breakout plays and even exchanges between the goaltender and the defensemen cost the Bruins at many crucial times in the season.

So you can’t even raise an eyebrow at a too-many-men call. The Bruins were warned, and they didn’t heed their coaches’ advice.

“We had a player come to the bench and had his stick up like he wanted to change, and he changes his mind and we had the next centerman jumping on,” said Julien. “So they made that call. He made kind of a loop and came right back to the bench. The puck was in the corner, but they call those. They’re calling them through the whole playoffs, so we’ll leave it at that.”

“We keep telling our players, if you’re going to come off, you got to come off,” the coach continued while acknowledged the preponderance of bench minors called in the postseason, “and if you’re going to stay, you got to stay. So again, there was a little bit of hesitation.”

We might never know who the culprit was when the Bruins were called for too many men and went on to lose in the Stanley Cup semifinals to Montreal in 1979 against Montreal. Don Cherry might take that info to his grave.

But “too many men 2.0” will always be a Marc Savard production, with some support from Vladimir Sobotka.

“I was coming back and then no one jumped so I stayed on. I’m not sure what happened after that. I went back to get on the puck and then, I don’t know,” said Savard.

Sobotka explained it this way:

“I don’t really know. I just saw that Savvy was changing and I heard my name, so I jumped on the ice and there were six guys on the ice.

“I thought he was coming for a change. I didn’t see that he went back for the backcheck.”

Sobotka didn’t want to get into the technicalities of who called his name. It doesn’t even matter. Obviously more than one person thought Savard was getting a change and his decision to not hit the bench cost the Bruins.

While Savard’s return from a severe concussion for this series with the Flyers was admirable, his play during Boston’s historic collapse was forgettable (until he committed the gaffe the cost the Bruins Game 7). Instead of getting better with more ice time and the momentum from his Game 1 overtime winner, Savard regressed. His passes were off the mark, his backchecking left much to be desired and he did little to get the dormant power play going during the Bruins’ season-ending four-game losing streak. Had Milan Lucic not taken it upon himself to create his own offense and pop in two goals tonight, Boston would’ve gotten nothing from the trio of Savard, Lucic and Miro Satan during its downfall.

Savard will have to live with the error. I bet he’ll never raise his stick to go for a change and then change his mind ever again. Or he won’t if he knows what’s good for him and the Bruins. And if the Bruins want to return next year as a legitimate Cup contender, they’ll have to learn the lessons of the too-many-men call as a group.

There will be a talent upgrade next season, with the addition of the No. 2 pick, the promotion of some prospects and the potential acquisition of some free agents or traded players. However, even a more-talented Bruins club is going to have to bear down and not beat itself with preventable mistakes. Goals allowed in the minute after a big penalty kill, scores surrendered during bad line changes and losses on home ice to some of the dregs of the Eastern Conference also fall into this category for Boston.

It’s going to be hard to watch or think about the too-many-men call, Gagne’s goal and the loss that capped one of the most fantastic failures in Boston sports history.

But maybe the tragic events of Game 7 should stay fresh in the Bruins’ minds as a reminder of what needs to change in order to make sure the 2009-10 season doesn’t repeat itself the way too-many-men did.