Nick, Connor, Cap’n and Pete reveal their top-10 centers in their lifetime and talk about the week’s biggest stories in the NHL, ignoring the 2018 Draft altogether.
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Tag Archives: David Krejci
2018 Offseason Preview: Boston Bruins
Our offseason previews for all 31 National Hockey League teams continues with the Boston Bruins and their outlook for the summer.
The Boston Bruins are ahead of schedule. They weren’t supposed to finish 2nd in the Atlantic Division this season according to most experts. They weren’t supposed to get 50 wins or 112 points, but the 50-20-12 record 2017-18 Bruins made it all the way to the Second Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games.
Boston won Game 1.
Then it all came to a screeching halt, the Bruins lost four straight and were eliminated.
But fear not, for Bruce Cassidy‘s system is working and General Manager Don Sweeney has a plan. They weren’t supposed to be this good, this soon, but it all fits the bill of winning the Cup within Cassidy’s first three years at a time when Jake DeBrusk, Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen and Co. emerge as the future core behind Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Zdeno Chara.
For the entire roster, it was just one more lesson in experience. The postseason is an entirely different animal from regular season action.
2018 NHL Entry Draft
Sweeney traded away Boston’s first round pick in the 2018 Draft to the New York Rangers as part of the Ryan Spooner–Rick Nash blockbuster trade prior to the deadline in February.
Since then, the Bruins GM has indicated he’d like to get in on the deep first round action if he can, amid speculation that Boston is in the running for Ilya Kovalchuk, David Backes could be traded and more.
Pending free agents
Boston has almost $7.500 million in cap space available currently with the cap ceiling expected to rise perhaps by as much as $4.000 or $5.000 million, Sweeney still cannot afford to hand out long term contracts with a lot of value willy-nilly.
He did, however, just re-sign defender Matt Grzelcyk to a cap friendly two-year, $2.800 million ($1.400 million AAV) extension late last week and no it does not mean that Torey Krug is going to be traded. Signing 2017 first round pick, Urho Vaakanainen to his maximum term, maximum value entry-level contract doesn’t mean Krug is gone either– let alone that Vaakanainen will be on the NHL roster this October.
The Finnish blueliner has to really earn a spot on the Bruins defense this fall. Otherwise things are just going as planned with Vaakanainen’s development and he’ll be fine in Providence (AHL) for a season (at most).
Pending-UFAs Brian Gionta, 39, Kenny Agostino, 26, and Paul Postma, 29, already know they won’t be back in black-and-gold next season, leaving Riley Nash, 29, Tommy Wingels, 30, Rick Nash, 34, and Tim Schaller, 27 as the only pending UFA skaters on the NHL roster (ignoring Austin Czarnik, 25, and the fact that Agostino and Postma were with the Providence Bruins before season’s end, though all three– Czarnik, Agostino and Postma– played with Boston in relief appearances).
Sweeney is in the hunt for Kovalchuk and if it comes down to it, he’ll either sign the 35-year-old scorer looking to rejoin the NHL after a five-year journey to the KHL or re-sign 34-year-old Rick Nash– provided the 34-year-old Nash is still on the market.
It’s a bit of a standoff for the services of a sniper. One that’s almost guaranteed (Kovalchuk) and the other that had a small, injured, sample size already in a Bruins uniform (Nash).
The other Nash, Riley Nash, could get a pay raise elsewhere if the numbers don’t work out in Boston and I’ve already hinted at why *shameless self plug*.
Boston needs a second line winger. Whether it’s Rick Nash or Ilya Kovalchuk doesn’t matter. There’s already a youth movement going on and Mark Recchi played until he was 43 on the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup champion roster.
Don’t worry about one player– who’s still contributing– getting old. Worry about entire rosters.
Outside of Boston’s core (Bergeron’s turning 33 this July), Sweeney’s roster is filled to the brim with youth.
Wingels could see another go-around on the Bruins fourth line if Sweeney deals Backes’s $6.000 million cap hit elsewhere and brings back Schaller. The latter forward (Schaller) had his best career season with 12 goals and 10 assists (22 points) in 82 games played, while Wingels contributed with grit and the occasional surprise goal on the fourth line.
What’s more important for Boston’s fourth line skaters is the return of pending-RFA, Sean Kuraly.
The 25-year-old center could play on the third line at times, despite only notching 6-8–14 totals in his first full season of NHL action (75 games). Despite his offensive shortcomings, the Bruins shouldn’t give up on Kuraly with guys like Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson and Trent Frederic breathing down his neck for a bottom-6 forward role on the 2018-19 squad.
Kuraly had two clutch goals in the short-lived 12-game 2018 postseason run.
Pending UFA-defender, Nick Holden, 31, is as good as gone as the rental blueliner was acquired as an insurance policy for a deep run that didn’t come to fruition.
Sweeney won’t have to do much this offseason. Find a second line winger, work on bringing some key glue guys back (if possible) and re-sign or sign a new backup goaltender.
You’ll notice “find another top-4 defender” isn’t included in this list. A healthy Brandon Carlo shakes things up in the 2018 postseason. More experience under McAvoy’s reign or the insertion of Jeremy Lauzon or Jakub Zboril on the blueline can make a difference too.
Boston doesn’t have to rush and overpay for the services of a top-4 blueliner– unless they have John Carlson or the like in mind.
That’s right, Anton Khudobin, 32, is a pending-UFA.
While Khudobin held down the fort in October and early November, the backup goalie is not a starter. He loves Boston and the city, rightfully, loves him back for his best performance in goals against average (2.56) and save percentage (.913) in 31 games played since his 2013-14 campaign with the Carolina Hurricanes (a 2.30 GAA and .926 SV% in 36 games played).
There isn’t a huge goalie market, which could do favors for Khudobin if he’s looking for a healthy pay raise, but for Sweeney and the Bruins means he might have to fork something up to retain the services of his backup or acquire a new one.
Then again, Zane McIntyre and Dan Vladar have a healthy competition in the system for the backup role to starting goaltender, Tuukka Rask, 31, and his $7.000 million cap hit through the 2020-21 season.
Rask posted a 2.36 GAA and .917 SV% in 54 games played this season with a 34-14-5 record. He had his third-straight 30-plus win season and was right in the sweet spot for number of games played as a starter (he was four appearances shy of matching his 58-game appearance in 2013-14 with the Bruins– the same season Boston won its 2nd President’s Trophy in franchise history).
Now, as for why the Bruins would look to move Backes (I’m sure you’ve been wondering), it’s a simple game of math. Freeing up $6.000 million in cap space makes signing Kovalchuk or John Tavares more attractive, while also leaving an open door for maybe re-signing glue guys like Riley Nash and Tim Schaller.
And no, Boston won’t bring Milan Lucic back for a second stint with the organization like they did with Glen Murray years ago. Sweeney’s looking to rid the organization of a bad $6.000 million contract, not trying to add one in the form of an Edmonton Oiler’s forward who had his worst season since the lockout shortened 2012-13 season and his injury shortened 50 game season in 2009-10.
Plus, Boston still has Matt Beleskey ($1.900 million, retained salary) on the books through the end of 2018-19, Dennis Seidenberg‘s $1.167 million cap hit through 2019-20 (thanks to a buyout) and Jimmy Hayes‘s $866,667 cap hit through the end of 2018-19 (another buyout) on the books.
Waiting a year to then buyout Backes’s remaining contract isn’t an option either, for the record.
It’s either find a trading partner or live with the consequences.
And no, just trading David Krejci without taking care of Backes at some point doesn’t fix things either. That’d actually hurt the team in its roster depth. Krejci is your surefire second line center (unless Tavares comes into the equation), which is not something Backes could handle at this point in his career.
Other pending free agents throughout the organization include:
Justin Hickman (RFA), Chris Breen (UFA), Colby Cave (RFA), Tommy Cross (UFA), Austin Czarnik (UFA), and Anton Blidh (RFA)
Bolts advance to Eastern Conference Final with 3-1 win in Game 5
The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-1, on Sunday, eliminating Boston in five games en route to the third round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Call it an Eastern Conference Finals Appearance Dynasty if you want, but Tampa has one thing in their sight if they can get four more wins this postseason— winning their 2nd Cup in franchise history. This year’s appearance in the Eastern Conference Final marks just the third time in the last four years that the Lightning are a participant (2015 vs NYR, 2016 vs PIT & 2018).
For the first time in the series, the team that scored first in the game lost the game.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves on 28 shots against for a .964 save percentage in the win for the Lightning, while Boston’s Tuukka Rask turned aside 19 out of 21 shots faced for a .905 SV% in the loss.
Tampa got out to a quick start in the overall flow of the game, controlling its pace and puck possession as the Bruins got out to another slow start.
Charlie McAvoy gave a quick cross check to Brayden Point about seven minutes into the first period and gave the Lightning their first power play of the afternoon. The Bolts did not convert on the skater advantage.
Boston outlasted the ten-minute mark in the opening frame, unlike the previous two games in the series where the Lightning held a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period.
David Backes bumped Anthony Cirelli into Boston’s net and was handed a minor penalty for interference at 11:52. Tampa’s 5-on-4 power play was short-lived as defender, Victor Hedman, held Bruins forward, Brad Marchand, and received a minor infraction for holding.
Marchand was also penalized for embellishment on the call, so the Lightning would still be on the power play at 12:04 of the first period.
Late in the first, Dan Girardi, checked Sean Kuraly without the puck and the Bruins went on the power play. About a minute later, Cedric Paquette, tripped David Pastrnak at 18:06 of the first period and Boston’s 5-on-4 advantage became a 5-on-3 advantage for 56 seconds.
Shortly after Girardi’s penalty expired, David Krejci (3) received a pass from McAvoy and fired a one-timer past Vasilevskiy as the Lightning goaltender was moving side-to-side in the crease.
McAvoy (4) and Patrice Bergeron (10) had the assists on Krejci’s power play goal at 19:12 of the first period and Boston jumped out to the lead, 1-0.
Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were ahead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and in shots on goal, 9-7. Boston also held on to an advantage in blocked shots (6-5), while Tampa was leading in hits (13-9) and giveaways (3-2) after one period. The B’s were 1/2 on the power play and the Bolts were 0/2 on the man advantage through 20 minutes of play.
Much like the start of the game, the Lightning came out of the gates in the second period at full throttle as Boston was making turnover after turnover.
Those turnovers proved to be costly past the halfway mark in the second period, as Krejci gave up the puck to Point (4) who promptly buried a shot in the twine with Rask out of position due to Krejci’s complete redirection of the play.
Point’s goal was unassisted and tied the game, 1-1, at 10:43.
Shortly thereafter, Rick Nash, took a shot from a teammate off the right knee and needed some assistance down the tunnel. The elder Nash on Boston’s roster would return to the action.
J.T. Miller followed through on a hit delivered to Bruins veteran, David Backes, wherein both players collided helmets and Backes fell to the ice, motionless, save for reaching for his head. He did not return to the game.
No penalty was assessed on the play.
Bergeron was sent to the box for tripping Ondrej Palat at 13:31 of the second period and the Lightning capitalized on the ensuing man advantage just 29 seconds later.
Miller (2) fired a shot home at 14:00 of the second period to give Tampa a one-goal lead, 2-1, on what would become the game-winning, series-clinching, goal. Nikita Kucherov (6) and Steven Stamkos (7) notched the assists on the goal.
With the Bolts ahead by one on the scoreboard after two periods, shots on goal were even, 14-14. Both teams had a power play goal and the Bruins had a slight advantage in blocked shots (10-8).
Boston went stride for stride with Tampa in the third period, as Rask kept his team in the game, but the Bruins could not muster a shot on goal that would go past Vasilevskiy and even the score.
Late in the third, Ryan McDonagh tripped up Pastrnak and was sent to the sin bin for two-minutes. Boston could not capitalize on the power play as time ticked down from under five minutes to go to under two minutes left in regulation.
Bruce Cassidy used his timeout with 3:16 remaining in the game and pulled his goaltender for an extra skater with a little over 90 seconds left in the season.
A faceoff in the attacking zone resulted in a defensive zone win for the Lightning, where Anton Stralman had a clear lane to flip the puck the length of the ice into the empty four-by-six frame in Boston’s end.
Stalman (1) scored his first goal of the 2018 postseason and made it, 3-1, Tampa at 18:31 of the third period. Hedman (6) had the only assist on the goal.
Rask vacated the goal again with less than a minute left, but it was all for naught as the Lightning finished the Bruins’s playoff hopes.
After a 60-minute effort, the Bolts had a 3-1 victory, clinching the series, 4-1. Boston finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal, 28-22, while the Lightning led in blocked shots (17-12), hits (37-29), giveaways (9-8) and faceoff win percentage (55-45). Both teams went 1/3 on the power play on the afternoon.
Tampa head coach, Jon Cooper, heads to his third career Eastern Conference Final behind the bench with the Lightning, while the Bruins fall to 0-24 all-time when trailing, 3-1, in a best-of-seven game series.
Boston was without defenseman, Torey Krug, on Sunday as a result of his lower body injury sustained in Game 4. Nick Holden made his Bruins playoffs debut in Krug’s place.
The Lightning await the winner of the Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins series to find out who they’ll battle in the last playoff round before the Stanley Cup Final. Washington currently leads their series with Pittsburgh, 3-2.
DeBrusk and the Bruins eliminate Toronto in seven games
First Star of the game, Jake DeBrusk (2-0—2 totals), and the Boston Bruins are moving on to the Second Round after a thrilling 7-4 victory in Game 7 on Wednesday night. The TD Garden crowd was roaring throughout the game as Boston eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tuukka Rask made 20 saves on 24 shots against for an .833 save percentage in the win, while Toronto’s Frederik Andersen stopped 29 out of 35 shots faced for an .829 SV% in the loss. Rask improved to 2-2 all-time in a Game 7, as Andersen remains winless (0-3) in his career Game 7 action.
Bruce Cassidy started his Worker Bs line consisting of Tim Schaller, Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari against Maple Leafs superstar, Auston Matthews, and the energy level cranked past 11 at puck drop.
Perhaps a bit too much for the Bruins, however, as Kuraly was penalized on a controversial tripping minor against Toronto defender, Jake Gardiner, 30 seconds into the action.
While Boston was struggling to settle their jitters, the Leafs pounced.
Patrick Marleau (3) opened the game’s scoring 2:05 into the first period with a tip-in from point blank and gave Toronto a 1-0 lead. Gardiner (2) and William Nylander (2) had the assists on the goal.
Gardiner fired a shot from the point into heavy traffic where Marleau used his stealthy hand-eye coordination to redirect the puck past Rask.
Entering Wednesday night, the team that scored first won five out of the six prior games in the series. In games where Toronto has led this series, they’ve won. All of that would mean nothing by the end of the night.
Morgan Rielly followed up with a minor penalty of his own, giving the Bruins their first power play, as the Maple Leafs blueliner was sent to the penalty box for delay of game (puck over glass) three minutes into the period.
As was tradition in the regular season, Boston’s power play had several chances, but could not capitalize on the man advantage until late in the power play.
After David Krejci kept the puck in the zone on a Toronto clearing attempt, the veteran Czech forward sent it to his fellow countryman, David Pastrnak, who quickly fired a purposeful shot looking for DeBrusk in front of the goal to redirect it. And that’s exactly what happened.
DeBrusk (4) redirected the shot into the net and the Bruins tied the game, 1-1, on a power play goal at 4:47 of the first period. Pastrnak (8) and Krejci (4) notched the assists on the goal.
The game wouldn’t be tied for long, however, as Marleau (4) scored his second goal of the night on a wicked wrist shot that beat Rask blocker side. Mitch Marner (7) had the only assist on the goal, having been responsible for the reverse pivot— fake shot on goal, turned pass— that was enough to sell Rask just out of position to stop Marleau’s shot.
Just over six minutes into the first period, the Maple Leafs had a 2-1 lead. It was the third time in three games that Boston allowed a goal about a minute after scoring.
Almost three minutes later, Danton Heinen (1), who had returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for part of the series, rocketed a shot past Andersen to knot things up, 2-2. Krejci (5) and Rick Nash (1) assisted on the goal at 9:10 of the first period.
Halfway through the opening frame of Game 7, there were 11 combined shots on goal. Four of them were goals.
Past the halfway mark, Leafs defender, Morgan Rielly took a shot up high— just above his upper lip— that caused a stoppage in play while the blueliner was attended to by Toronto’s athletic trainer.
The Bull Gang scrapped off the blood on the ice and play continued. Rielly would return for the second period after getting stitched up.
Rick Nash caught Zach Hyman with a high-stick at 11:30 of the first period and sent Boston on a penalty kill. The ensuing effort by both Toronto’s special teams and the Bruins penalty killers did not result in any goals allowed and Boston once again swung momentum in their direction, feeding off of the home crowd.
With less than a minute remaining in the opening period, the Bruins worked the puck into the offensive zone, whereby David Backes worked the puck back to Kevan Miller and the Bruins defender took full advantage of everything he had.
Miller shot the puck intentionally wide to attain a carom off the boards on the far side. The plan worked flawlessly as Patrice Bergeron (1) was crashing the net and put home the rebound off the boards to give Boston their first lead of the night, 3-2.
The assists went to Miller (2) and Backes (1) at 19:23 of the first period.
Through 20 minutes of Game 7, the Bruins led, 3-2, on the scoreboard and 12-10 in shots on goal. Boston also led in blocked shots (6-5) and faceoff win percentage (52-48), while Toronto led in takeaways (6-3) and giveaways (4-3). Both teams had 12 hits aside and one power play goal, as the Maple Leafs were 1/2 on the man advantage and Boston was 1/1 heading into the first intermission.
The Maple Leafs became the first team in NHL history to blow two separate first period leads in a Game 7, but fear not, that provided just enough motivation to take back the game’s momentum in the second frame.
Toronto stormed out of the gates to start the second period as Travis Dermott (1) converted on a Bruins turnover to tie the game, 3-3, just 2:07 into the period.
Roman Polak (1) and Nylander (3) picked up the assists on the goal as the B’s started a tumultuous period of sloppy play all over the ice.
Tomas Plekanec knocked down Brad Marchand away from the play at 4:56 of the second period and was assessed a minor penalty for interference. Boston’s power play proved to be powerless, especially after Torey Krug failed to keep the puck in the offensive zone.
With Marchand chasing after the puck, Kasperi Kapanen (1) stripped the Bruins winger of the rubber biscuit and dangled one past Rask on a beautiful individual effort for a short-handed goal to give Toronto the 4-3 lead just over six minutes into the period.
Boston allowed two goals on two shots on net to start the second period and were snake bitten leading up to the second intermission.
After 40 minutes of play, Toronto held a one goal lead— leading, 4-3 heading into the third period. Boston led in shots on goal (25-16), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win percentage (58-42) after two periods and the Maple Leafs led in blocked shots (10-9), hits (26-22) and takeaways (14-4). Both teams were 1/2 on the power play.
Krejci and Hyman took matching roughing penalties about a minute into the third period, resulting in 4-on-4 action, early in the final frame of regulation.
Four seconds later, Krug (2) redeemed his poor second period play with a one-timer goal that beat Andersen after the Bruins won an offensive zone faceoff. Miller (3) and Bergeron (6) had the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on the goal that tied the game, 4-4, just 1:10 into the third period.
Moments later, Tyler Bozak and Rick Nash couldn’t keep their hands off of each other as Bozak interfered with the Bruins winder and Nash retaliated.
Boston was pressing harder than they had in the end-to-end action that concluded the first period. The Bruins were looking to be the ones to score the next goal and they did just that, thanks to one of their rookies.
After working the puck up the boards, Krejci sent a quick, short, pass to DeBrusk (5) who bolted into the offensive zone, slide the puck under Gardiner’s stick, while taking a hit and went five-hole on Andersen to give Boston their second lead of the night, 5-4, at 5:25 of the third period.
Krejci (6) had the only assist on the goal.
Six minutes later, after surviving counter attacks from the Maple Leafs, the Bruins were on the prowl again, working the puck deep into the offensive zone, where Marchand slid the puck to Bergeron.
Boston’s alternate captain tossed the puck to Pastrnak (5) in the low slot and the 21-year-old star held onto the puck just long enough to let Andersen overcommit and leave a gapping net open.
Pastrnak hit the twine and the Bruins had the first two-goal lead of the night, 6-4, at 11:39 of the third period.
With about three minutes remaining in regulation, Babcock pulled his goaltender for an extra skater and the Leafs went on the assault for a solid minute and a half until Riley Nash skated the puck out of the defensive zone and up to Marchand.
Marchand (3) brought it in just far enough to seal the deal with an empty net goal and gave Boston a three-goal lead with 51 seconds remaining in the game. Riley Nash (1) notched his first point of the series and the Bruins led, 7-4.
At the final horn, Boston had finished the Toronto in seven games— leading, 7-4, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal (36-24), hits (33-31) and faceoff win percentage (57-43). Despite the loss, the Maple Leafs led in blocked shots (10-9). Both teams scored one goal each on the power play, as Toronto finished the night 1/2 and the Bruins finished 1/3 on the man advantage.
Bruce Cassidy completed his first series win as a head coach and is now 1-0 in Game 7s for Boston, while Mike Babcock fell to 3-6 all time in Game 7s, split between Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto.
The Bruins are now 3-1 all-time in Game 7s against Toronto, having last beaten them, 5-4 in overtime, in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Boston improved to 14-12 in Game 7s all-time, tying an NHL record for most Game 7 wins (14) with the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings. Wednesday night’s game was also the 26th Game 7 appearance in franchise history for the Bruins, surpassing Detroit’s 25 appearances for the league lead.
As a result of the win, the Bruins are moving on to the Second Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs and will face the Tampa Bay Lightning. Since the Bolts won the Atlantic Division and secured the best record in the Eastern Conference, Tampa will have home ice in the series and Game 1 is set for Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena.
Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 3 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBC. Canadian viewers can follow the action on Sportsnet or TVA Sports.
Maple Leafs force Game 7 after emotional win
The City of Toronto has all our love after the tragic event on Monday.
For the first time since that game in 2013, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins will face each other in a Game 7 thanks to Toronto’s 3-1 victory on home ice in Game 6.
Frederik Andersen made 32 saves on 33 shots faced for a .970 save percentage as the Air Canada Centre crowd backed up their goaltender with enthusiasm all night. Boston’s Tuukka Rask turned aside 27 out of 29 shots against for a .931 SV% in the loss.
Both teams had great scoring chances in the first period— Brad Marchand even beat Andersen through the five-hole, but the puck deflected wide of the goal after catching some leg pad on its way through— but none of them changed the scoreboard from zeros.
Jake DeBrusk attempted to clear the puck out of the defensive zone around the halfway point of the opening period, but he got a little too much under the puck and sent it over the glass for an automatic delay of game penalty. The Maple Leafs were not able to convert on the ensuing power play.
Later in the period, Andersen made an acrobatic save while the puck was mid-air, having swatted it like a fly with the paddle of his stick to kill Boston’s chances at a rebound goal.
Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were outshooting Toronto, 17-10, and led in hits (11-8), as well as takeaways (4-1). The Leafs led in giveaways (3-2) and were 0/1 on the power play. Both teams had five blocked shots in the first period.
DeBrusk (3) got the Bruins on the board first with his third goal of the postseason 1:02 into the second period. David Krejci (3) picked up the only assist after winning a faceoff in the offensive zone after Toronto iced the puck. Krejci won the draw, got it back to DeBrusk at the top of the faceoff circle, who then promptly fired the puck through traffic and past Andersen.
Just 35 seconds later, Maple Leafs forward, William Nylander (1), tied the game, 1-1.
Nikita Zaitsev (1) and Jake Gardiner (2) were credited with the assists on Nylander’s goal at 1:37 of the second period after the Leafs beat the Bruins once again by virtue of the stretch pass.
Toronto thought they had the first lead change of the series when it appeared they had scored again moments later, but Zach Hyman had skated through the crease, taking Rask’s stick with him as the Bruins netminder was attempting to make a poke check.
The call on the ice was a goal, but Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, used his coach’s challenge, asking for the play to be reviewed for goaltender interference.
Upon video review, the officials concluded that Hyman had reached the crease before the puck and interfered with Rask, thereby reversing the original call on the ice and reverting the score to a tie, 1-1.
Mitch Marner (2) would give the Maple Leafs the first official lead change of the series on a backhand goal at 13:25 of the second period. The goal did not come without controversy, however, as it appears Tomas Plekanec may have been offside entering the zone. Nonetheless, there was no review and the score remained, 2-1, for Toronto.
Plekanec (2) and Ron Hainsey (1) notched the assists on the goal.
Shortly thereafter, Kevan Miller, picked up a roughing minor against Kasperi Kapanen and the Maple Leafs went on their second power play of the night at 14:19 of the second period. Boston effectively killed the penalty and resumed even strength play.
Nazem Kadri slashed Riley Nash with about 10 seconds left in the second period, so the Bruins wound up with about 1:50 of their ensuing power play carrying over into the third period.
After 40 minutes of play, Toronto led, 2-1, on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Boston led in shots on goal (26-22) and faceoff win percentage (64-36). The Leafs led in blocked shots (12-5), hits (19-16) and giveaways (11-10) entering the second intermission. The B’s were 0/1 on the man advantage and the Maple Leafs were 0/2.
Roman Polak and David Backes mixed things up a bit early in the third period as Backes was attempting to deflect the puck past Andersen. Backes caught Andersen with an elbow to the mask, but only matching roughing minor penalties were handed out to Polak and the Bruins forward at 1:53 of the third period.
Toronto ended up with a rare 4-on-3 power play after Charlie McAvoy served a minor penalty for tripping Kadri. The Leafs were not able to convert on the two-man advantage.
The Bruins ended up on their final power play of the night at 14:17 of the third period after Marner sent the puck over the glass and out of play for a delay of game penalty. Boston did not convert on their special teams opportunity and gave up a couple of tremendous shorthanded scoring chances for the Maple Leafs.
Auston Matthews moved in on Rask in the midst of a two-on-one, but was denied by a vintage-looking poke check whereby Rask slid across the crease on his stomach.
Cassidy pulled his netminder with 80 seconds remaining in regulation for an extra attacker, but things went sour fast.
Four seconds after Rask vacated the goal, Plekanec (2) forced a turnover while Patrick Marleau delivered a check to Backes behind the play. Plekanec pocketed the empty net goal that sealed the deal, 3-1, for Toronto. Marner (6) and Zaitsev (2) were credited with the assists on the empty net goal at 18:46 of the third period.
The Bruins pulled their goaltender for an extra skater again with around a minute remaining in regulation, but could not muster any legitimate scoring opportunities.
After the final horn had sounded, the Maple Leafs celebrated their Game 6 victory, while Boston lamented outshooting Toronto, 33-30, but trailing in blocked shots (23-6). Hits were even (23-23), as were giveaways (11-11), but the Bruins also led in faceoff win percentage (63-37), despite losing.
Neither team scored a power play goal as Boston finished 0/2 and Toronto went 0/3 on the night.
For the first time in the series, the team that scored the first goal of the game did not win.
Game 7 is scheduled for Wednesday night at TD Garden in Boston. Puck drop is set for a little after 7:30 p.m. ET and viewers can tune in on NBCSN in the United States, as well as CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.
In 2013, it was the Bruins overcoming a 4-1 deficit in the third period for a 5-4 victory in overtime of a Game 7 less than a month after the 2013 Boston Marathon— and having led the series 3-1 before losing Games 5 and 6.
In 2018, it’s the Maple Leafs on the verge of making what could become a deep playoff run after a horrific event took place in their city before Game 6. Once again, Boston had a 3-1 series lead entering Game 5.
For the last series remaining in the First Round— and only one to go seven games— it’s anybody’s game. And Wednesday night, it’s game on.
Pastrnak propels Bruins to 3-1 win in Game 4
David Pastrnak’s two-assist night contributed to the Boston Bruins 3-1 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night at Air Canada Centre. Boston holds a 3-1 series lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs heading into Game 5 Saturday night on home ice.
Tuukka Rask made 31 saves on 32 shots faced for a .969 save percentage in the win for the Bruins, while Frederik Andersen stopped 18 shots out of 21 shots against for an .857 SV% in the loss for Toronto.
The City of Boston and the rest of New England collectively held its breath as Patrice Bergeron was not on the ice for warmups prior to Game 4 in Toronto. The Bruins tweeted that Bergeron would be out of Thursday night’s action and listed as “day-to-day” with an “[u]pper body” injury.
With Tommy Wingels back in the lineup, Riley Nash moved into the first line center role alongside Brad Marchand and Pastrnak.
Nash won the opening faceoff and the Bruins entered the offensive zone. Pastrnak worked the puck from along the right side boards back to Kevan Miller at the point. Miller then slid a pass to his fellow blueliner, Torey Krug (1), who then fired a shot past Andersen as Nash was screening the Toronto netminder.
Krug’s goal, his first of the postseason, came 28 seconds into the matchup and was assisted by Miller (1) and Pastrnak (6).
Entering Thursday, the team that scored first in each game went on to win that game in the series.
Shortly thereafter, things started to go Toronto’s way as Mitch Marner entered the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Patrick Marleau. Marner sauced a pass over Boston defender Charlie McAvoy’s stick and Marleau got off a one-timer that was denied by Rask.
Almost midway through the first period, Marner and Marleau played a vital role to Tomas Plekanec (1) scoring his first of the series. Marner stripped Riley Nash of the puck and moved it to Marleau.
The veteran NHLer in his first postseason with the Maple Leafs quickly moved the puck to Plekanec who fired a one-timer past Rask’s blocker side as the Bruins netminder was moving right to left.
Marleau (1) and Marner (4) were credited with the assists on the goal that tied the game, 1-1, at 7:43 of the first period.
Jake DeBrusk was guilty of the only penalty of the game when he hooked Maple Leafs forward, William Nylander, at 15:08 of the first period. Toronto failed to convert on the ensuing power play.
Boston and Toronto were tied, 1-1, entering the first intermission with the Maple Leafs leading in shots on goal (12-7), takeaways (3-1) and giveaways (5-1). The Bruins led in hits (18-13) and had yet to see time on the man advantage. Toronto was 0/1 on the power play.
Midway through the second period, Marner had a breakaway with speed and all but certainty of scoring a goal, except for the fact that his backhand shot was stopped by Rask.
Shortly thereafter, the Bruins were the ones on the charge after winning a faceoff near the end of a shift on an icing in their own defensive zone. Adam McQuaid cleared the puck off the wall and up to Pastrnak with Toronto defender, Jake Gardiner, overcommitting, Pastrnak burst through the neutral zone on a two-on-one with Marchand on his wing.
Nikita Zaitsev went to play the puck and disrupt a pass from Pastrnak but couldn’t get a handle on it as the young Bruins winger sent the puck across ice to Marchand.
With Andersen in desperation and fully committed to stopping what he thought would’ve been an oncoming shot from Pastrnak, Marchand (2) fired a shot into the gapping net behind the Maple Leafs goaltender and gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 16:55 of the second period.
The goal was Marchand’s second of the postseason and was assisted by Pastrnak (7) and McQuaid (1).
Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, as well as in blocked shots (13-7) and hits (32-20). Toronto led in shots on goal (22-16), takeaways (7-2) and giveaways (10-8) after two periods and had a slight advantage in faceoff win percentage (53-47). Boston still hadn’t seen any time on the power play and the Leafs were still 0/1 from their man advantage back in the first period.
After David Krejci broke up a play in Boston’s defensive zone, the Bruins were on a quick breakout reminiscent of Marner and Marleau’s two-on-one for Toronto back in the first period— only this time it was Krejci and DeBrusk for Boston.
Krejci sent a saucer pass to DeBrusk as Andersen again fell victim to making the first move and DeBrusk (2) fired a shot into the back of the net to give the Bruins a two-goal lead. Krejci (2) had the only assist on the goal that made it 3-1 for Boston at 4:17 of the third period.
Maple Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, tried double shifting Auston Matthews throughout the remainder of the game and pulled his goaltender for an extra skater with about two minutes left in regulation. Toronto’s last ditch effort was to no avail, however, as the Bruins defense— and Rask— proved to be too much.
The final horn sounded at Air Canada Centre and Boston had won the game, 3-1.
Toronto finished the night leading in shots on goal (32-21) and faceoff win percentage (63-37), but Boston had the final result on the scoreboard, as well as the lead in blocked shots (27-9) and hits (40-26).
The Bruins now lead the series 3-1 heading back to TD Garden for Game 5 on Saturday night. Puck drop is expected a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers can tune in on NBC in the United States and CBC, SN or TVAS across Canada.
In 2013, Boston went up 3-1 in the series before the Leafs stormed back to force a decisive Game 7 that culminated in a third period comeback by the Bruins leading to Patrice Bergeron’s game-winning goal in overtime to defeat Toronto, 5-4.
The Bruins hold an all-time series record of 18-2 when leading a series 3-1.
Maple Leafs cut series lead in half, win 4-2 in Game 3
Patrick Marleau had a big night on home ice scoring two goals in the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Maple Leafs goaltender, Frederik Andersen, stopped 40 shots out of 42 shots faced for a .952 save percentage in the win, while Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask, made 26 saves on 30 shots against for an .867 SV% in the loss.
The crowd was rocking and the teams were trading chances end-to-end throughout the first period. Zach Hyman hit Brad Marchand and the home fans at Air Canada Centre got a rouse.
Rask stopped a couple of breakaway chances by the Leafs, including perhaps his biggest save of the period on a Kasperi Kapanen shot. Rask denied Kapanen with an extension of the right leg pad after Kapanen broke free of Boston’s blue liners.
Late in the period, Riley Nash attempted to clear the puck off the glass and out of the defensive zone. Despite video replay showing what might have been a blown call, unlike an offside ruling, delay of game (puck over glass) calls cannot be reviewed, nor challenged.
As a result, the game’s first power play went to Toronto at 16:58 of the first period and the Maple Leafs only needed seven seconds of the man advantage to make it 1-0.
James van Riemsdyk (2) pocketed his second goal of the series and gave Toronto their first lead in the series with a power play goal. Tyler Bozak (1) and Morgan Rielly (3) had the assists on van Riemsdyk’s goal.
After 20 minutes of play, the Maple Leafs led 1-0 on the scoreboard and 12-8 in shots on goal. Boston led in blocked shots (8-3), but Toronto led in hits (19-11) and giveaways (4-1). Both teams had one takeaway each after the first frame. The Bruins had yet to see a power play, but the Maple Leafs were 1/1 on the man advantage.
The second period witnessed plenty of shifts in momentum as Boston’s fourth line of Tim Schaller, Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari got some energy going and generated a few scoring chances. In fact, one of those scoring chances resulted in a goal.
Adam McQuaid (1) found a loose puck and threw a shot on goal past Andersen to tie the game, 1-1. Schaller (1) and Kuraly (1) picked up their first assists of the postseason on McQuaid’s goal – just his third career Stanley Cup Playoff goal dating back to McQuaid’s rookie season of 2009-10.
It only took 43 seconds for Toronto to go ahead once again as Mitch Marner started a breakout off of a turnover and passed the puck over to Marleau before Rask could square up to the oncoming shooter. Marleau (1) scored his first of the postseason and put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-1. Marner (2) and Morgan Rielly (4) were credited with the primary and secondary assists, respectively.
Almost a few minutes later, after Kuraly had sent the puck into some open ice, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara (1) pinched in from the point, picked up the puck and went to the goal, firing a wrist shot off the mask of Andersen and in, top-shelf. Boston had tied it, 2-2, at 6:19 of the second period and with the goal, Chara became just the 7th defenseman age 40 or older to score a Stanley Cup Playoff goal.
Kuraly (2) and Nick Holden (1) notched the assists on Chara’s goal.
For the first time since May 24, 2014, two players over the age of 38 scored a goal in a playoff game with Marleau and Chara having gotten their names on the scoresheet (Martin St. Louis and Francis Bouillon had goals for the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, respectively, in a game during the 2014 Eastern Conference Final).
Again, late in the period, Boston gave up momentum as Auston Matthews (1) beat Rask blocker side from the low slot to Rask’s right, making it a 3-2 game in favor of Toronto.
The assists on Matthews’ first goal of the 2018 postseason went to William Nylander (1) and Hyman (2).
With 40 minutes in the books, Toronto led, 3-2, on the scoreboard and in hits, 30-20. Boston led in shots on goal (25-23) and blocked shots (19-16). The Bruins still hadn’t seen any action on the man advantage through two periods and the Maple Leafs had only gotten (and converted) on one power play opportunity back in the first period.
Marleau was assessed a hooking minor just 26 seconds into the third period, but the Bruins wound up ringing the post twice on the ensuing power play in addition to several big time saves made by Andersen.
Late in the third, Marleau (2) once again found his way onto the scoresheet by straight-up beating Rask after a mishap by David Krejci in the offensive zone led to another two-on-one breakout for Toronto. Marner (3) and Tomas Plekanec (1) had the assists on Marleau’s second goal of the night.
With about two minutes left in regulation, trailing 4-2, Bruce Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra skater, but Boston’s last ditch offensive efforts were no match for Mike Babcock’s reshaped and reformed Maple Leafs lineup.
After Andersen froze the puck at 17:56 of the third period, Brad Marchand and Morgan Rielly took a few liberties with one another, swinging their sticks in each other’s direction.
Both skaters were sent to the penalty box with matching slashing minors and the game continued as if nothing had happened.
The final horn sounded and the Maple Leafs had beaten the Bruins, 4-2, cutting the series lead to 2-1 in favor of Boston. Toronto has assured themselves of at least a Game 5 on Saturday in Boston with Game 4 in the series set for Thursday night on home ice at Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto.
Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (42-30) and blocked shots (22-19), but trailed the Leafs in hits (38-26) as well as the final score. The Bs went 0/1 on the power play in Game 3, while Toronto finished 1/1 on the man advantage.
Again, Game 4 is Thursday night at Air Canada Centre. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune to NBCSN, while fans in Canada can watch the matchup on CBC or TVAS.
David is Goliath: Pastrnak’s hat trick; 6 points too much for Leafs
If Pastafarianism wasn’t already a religion, Boston would definitely be trying to make it one. (But seriously, it is already a religion. Look it up. It’s a hoot.)
It was a rocking night at TD Garden, with Rene Rancourt bringing his two-game fist pump totals to 8 (kid’s on a roll) and the Boston crowd (that included our own @nlanciani53) was thunderous.
After having the proverbial sand kicked in their faces in Game 1, it was expected that Toronto would come into Game 2 looking for redemption, and prove they were the threat they were made out to be. Sure they’d have to do it without Nazem Kadri (serving the first of his 3 game suspension, replaced by Andreas Johnsson playing his first career NHL playoff game) in the lineup, but Boston would be without Tommy Wingels (the one who received the suspension-worthy hit, replaced by Ryan Donato also playing his first career NHL playoff game) so that should even things up, right?
It, uh…it didn’t.
The first solid action kicked off just 1:30 into the game, as Jake DeBrusk sprung Rick Nash on a breakaway with a beautiful stretch pass, but Nash would fire just wide of the net.
Soon after, it was Tuukka Rask making the game’s first notable stop, grabbing a redirect off the stick of William Nylander. On the following shift Rask covered up another puck and took a snow shower from young Kasperi Kapanen, drawing the ire of…basically everyone wearing black and gold. This seemed to be when the troubles really started for the Leafs, actually.
First it was Kevan Miller absolutely freight train-ing James van Riemsdyk in the corner to Rask’s right, igniting the Boston crowd and giving a jolt of energy to his team.
Just over 30 seconds after the big hit, the Bruins’ top line started zipping the puck around, capped off by Torey Krug firing a hard pass to a streaking David Pastrnak. The pass caught a Toronto stick and deflected up in the air, but Pastrnak somehow managed to corral the puck and settle it on his tape while doing a 360 past a Leafs defender and tucking a backhand past the outstretched pad of Frederik Andersen to take the 1-0 lead at 5:26. If you haven’t seen this goal yet, go find it.
Krug would make the church bells ring a few minutes later, firing one off of the post, shortly before Toronto took a penalty. Early in the penalty kill it looked like Toronto was going to tie the game, as Kapanen broke in alone and deked Rask out of his pants, but fired the puck right off the post and sent the play in the other direction where shortly after DeBrusk would tip in a centering feed from Krug (who had pinched all the way to the goal line on the right wing boards) to score Boston’s 4th power play goal of the series to put his team up 2-0 9:46 into the game.
Less than two and a half minutes later Boston would find the back of the net again, with another defenseman, this time being Kevan Miller from the left wing boards, would fire a pass to the middle of the ice from along the goal line. Miller’s pass hit the skate of Leafs defender Nikita Zaitsev and beat Andersen, putting Boston up 3-0 with 7:47 to play in the first.
Mike Babcock decided he had seen enough, and rather than burning a valuable timeout, he chose to make a goaltending switch to get the attention of his team, pulling Andersen in favor of Curtis McElhinney, who made just the second playoff appearance of his entire career.
Unfortunately for Babcock and the Leafs, the Bruins were having none of this attempt to slow things down. Tim Schaller made sure the building stayed in it by flattening Mitch Marner on the forecheck, leading to a fight with Ron Hainsey.
On the power play resulting from Hainsey’s instigator penalty, the Bs extra man unit improved to five-for-eight in the series when Rick Nash cleaned up the garbage from a ricocheting Pastrnak shot just 11 seconds into the man advantage, giving the Bruins a 4-0 lead at the 15:00 mark.
Toronto did manage to somewhat stop the bleeding for the final five minutes, and mounted a bit of a counter-attack, but never got a serious scoring opportunity out of it and went to the room trailing by four with little in the way of positives to build on. Boston scored four goals on eight shots, including the last three on consecutive shots.
Early in the second, Toronto finally found life, with Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner pouncing on a David Krejci turnover to set up a two-on-one, where Marner would bang in the back door goal to make it 4-1 just 1:22 into the middle frame.
Again, it took no time at all for Boston to push Toronto’s faces right back in the dirt, coming out on the very next shift and responding with two thundering hits. First it was David Backes stapling Zaitsev to the end boards behind his own net, then just a few seconds later Leo Komarov tried to step into Miller and instead ended up laying on the ice seemingly unsure of his whereabouts. Or identity. (He’d return only briefly on a power play shift a few minutes later, taking the ice for about 10 seconds before immediately returning to the locker room and never reappearing)
Then just 2:24 after the Marner goal, it would be Krejci making amends for his costly turnover by tipping a Pastrnak shot past McElhinney as he skated across the front of the net, restoring Boston’s four-goal lead 3:46 into the second.
The Leafs would get a power play soon after, but the only real opportunity they’d have was a hard wrist shot by Auston Matthews labeled for the glove side corner that Rask seemingly lackadaisically snagged out of the air.
Rick Nash and Auston Matthews traded breakaway opportunities, both on terrific power moves through defenders, but both were turned aside by the respective netminders.
Toronto again pulled within 3 when Tyler Bozak tipped home a nice spinning feed from below the goal line by Connor Brown with 10:57 remaining. They managed to build a little momentum off of this, having a few good scoring chances (Gardiner one-timer out of a netfront scramble, Marleau getting his own rebound off the end boards and nearly beating an off-balance Rask) turned aside in the next few minutes. Rask continued to be the story for most of the dying minutes, making two of his best stops with just over 4 to play, first on Matthews walking out from behind the net, then stretching out the opposite side pad to deny Patrick Marleau on the rebound. Shots were evened up at 22 at the end of the second period.
Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk spent the last part of the second and the third period nursing an apparent leg injury of some sort, often limping noticeably, but finished the game.
The early minutes of the third passed without incident, until Brown and Tomas Plekanec jumped on a loose puck after Charlie McAvoy tripped near his own blueline for a two-on-one, but Rask again turned it aside. On the following shift at the opposite end it would be McElhinney stopping a Patrice Bergeron one-timer on a feed by Brad Marchand.
With 8:26 remaining Boston would strike again, Marchand turning the puck over from Gardiner and walking in on a breakaway that Gardiner somehow managed to get back and poke check away at the last second, but before Toronto could regroup Bergeron had already retrieved the puck in the corner and handed it to Pastrnak, who walked to the front of the net almost uncontested and roofed a shot over the blocker side of McElhinney for the 6-2 lead.
JVR managed to again cut the defecit to 3 with 5:07 to play when he banged home a rebound past Rask, who had little help on the play, after a hard forecheck by Bozak caused Zdeno Chara to lose his stick, leaving him unable to tie up van Riemsdyk in front of the net.
Just to make sure the winning margin was four goals, and just because he could, Pastrnak took a Marchand pass from behind the goal line, toe dragged it between his own legs, then backhanded the puck into the net past a prone McElhinney to scored the hat trick, bring his point total to six on the night (nine in the first two games of the series), and drive the dagger firmly into the hearts of the Toronto faithful with 1:36 to play. ‘Pasta’ became the first player in franchise history to score 3+ points in each of the team’s first two playoff games of the year.
The simple fact in this series is that Toronto has yet to find any answer for the Bruins’ top line (14 points between them in Game 2). Should they be able to, they could find success, as the rest of the Boston lineup is not supremely dangerous (New Jersey has found a way to keep the Miller/Stamkos/Kucherov line quiet, but can’t match the Bolts’ ridiculous depth). But the Toronto defense looks almost helpless at times, and Rask has simply been too good for Toronto to rely upon their offense to solve all their problems.
Mike Babcock and his team will search hard for an answer, I’m sure, and will hope for a little reinvigorating energy from an energetic home crowd at the ACC. Game 3 will come to you on Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern with DTFR coverage brought to you by shameless Boston homer @nlanciani53
Bruins beat Maple Leafs 5-1, lead series 1-0
A full 60-minute effort led to the Boston Bruins 5-1 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup at TD Garden on Thursday.
First Star of the game, Brad Marchand, opened scoring on a multipoint night, while Torey Krug, David Pastrnak and David Krejci each had multipoint nights of their own. Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask had 26 saves on 27 shots against for a .963 save percentage in the win.
Toronto goaltender, Frederik Andersen, stopped 35 out of 40 shots faced for an .875 SV% in the loss.
After James van Riemsdyk took a trip to the penalty box for hooking Bruins forward, Rick Nash, Boston’s power play did not take long to convert on their first man-advantage opportunity of the night. Brad Marchand (1) received a pass from Torey Krug and fired a shot past Frederik Andersen to give Boston a 1-0 lead on a power play goal at 5:28 of the first period. Krug (1) and David Pastrnak (1) were credited with the assists on Marchand’s goal.
Shortly thereafter, David Krejci was called for hooking Maple Leafs forward, Nazem Kadri, and Toronto would see their first power play of the night.
The Maple Leafs man advantage was no match for the pure puck possession dominance of Marchand and his linemate, Patrice Bergeron, as the two Boston forwards had a couple of tremendous short handed scoring chances that were turned aside by Andersen.
With 3:08 remaining in the first period, Zach Hyman (1) burst past Krejci through the neutral zone, got ahead of Bruins defenseman, Charlie McAvoy, deked and flipped a backhander past Rask to tie the game 1-1 on a breakaway goal. Hyman’s goal was assisted by Connor Brown (1) and Morgan Rielly (1).
After twenty minutes of action, the Bruins and Maple Leafs exited the ice to a 1-1 tie with Boston leading 9-7 in shots on goal and hits (20-18). Toronto led in blocked shots (5-1), while both teams had a pair of takeaways. The Leafs were 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission, while the B’s were a perfect 1/1 thanks to Marchand’s goal.
Only 59 seconds into the second period, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, was guilty of a minor penalty for holding the stick of Zach Hyman. Toronto failed to convert on the ensuing power play and Boston resumed even strength activity with no issue.
Danton Heinen followed up Chara’s minor penalty with a penalty of his own for slashing, giving Boston two consecutive penalties to kill in almost six minutes apart. Unfortunately for Toronto, Boston’s penalty killing unit was on its game.
Patrick Marleau tripped Jake DeBrusk in the Bruins offensive zone at 13:59 of the second period and Boston went on the power play for just the second time of the night.
After every player touched the puck on a fast moving power play, David Krejci tossed the puck over to David Backes (1) who then kicked it upon reception from his left skate to his stick blade and roofed the twine for his first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Krejci (1) and McAvoy (1) snagged the assists on the goal.
Backes’s power play goal gave Boston a 2-1 lead at 15:43 of the second period and the Bruins never looked back.
With under a minute remaining in the period, Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak were working the cycle. Pastrnak fired a shot that was denied by Andersen, but Andersen left a gaping rebound for Marchand to scoop up, shake off an opponent and send the puck right back to Pastrnak.
The 21-year-old forward dragged the puck on his blade and ripped a shot past Andersen to give the Bruins a two-goal lead and make it 3-1. The goal was Pastrnak’s (1) first of the postseason and just his 3rd career Stanley Cup Playoff goal. Marchand (1) had the primary assists while Bergeron (1) was credited with the hockey assist.
Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led 3-1 on the scoreboard and 25-18 in shots on goal. Boston also had a dominant 57-43 faceoff win percentage, while Toronto led in blocked shots (11-7), takeaways (4-3) and giveaways (6-5). Hits were even at 29 aside and the Maple Leafs were 0/3 on the power play. Boston was 2/2 on the man advantage after two periods.
Toronto was guilty of a bench minor for too many men almost two minutes into the third period, but the Bruins were unable to convert on the ensuing power play.
With 15:16 remaining in the game, Nazem Kadri caught Tommy Wingels along the wall and was sent to the box with a minor penalty for boarding.
About a minute after the power play, Sean Kuraly (1) collected the puck off a Pastrnak shot that rang the post and batted it out of mid-air while jumping over a sprawling Andersen to make it 4-1 Boston. Pastrnak (2) and Chara (1) had the assists on Kuraly’s highlight reel goal, which was his 3rd in his last three Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Less than a minute later, Kadri again found himself the center of attention for the wrong reason.
After finishing a hit on Mitch Marner, Wingels fell to his knees before Kadri came in late, with speed, and made contact with Wingels’s head on a hit from behind.
The refs debated and handed Kadri a five-minute major penalty for charging, as well as a game misconduct. Wingels did not return to the game after being helped off the ice by Bruins trainer, Don DelNegro.
David Krejci (1) banked a shot off Andersen and into the net on the long power play for Boston and made it a 5-1 game with 8:31 remaining. Jake DeBrusk (1) notched his first career Stanley Cup Playoff point and Krug (2) picked up his second assist of the game.
The goal was Krejci’s 30th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.
Boston finished the game leading on the scoreboard 5-1 and leading in shots on goal 40-27. Toronto finished the night leading in blocked shots (15-8), giveaways (11-7) and hits (42-37). Both teams split faceoff wins evenly at 50-50%. The Leafs went 0/3 on man advantage and the Bruins matched their 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs power play goals total (3/16 in six games) in one night. Boston was 3/6 on the power play in Game 1.
The Bruins take a 1-0 series lead into Saturday night’s primetime matchup at TD Garden for Game 2 of this First Round series. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune in on NBC. Fans in Canada can view the game on CBC or TVAS.
April 8 – Day 179 – This is the end, beautiful friend
Originally left as an off day in preparation for the postseason, a nasty Nor’easter on January 4 has turned Florida at Boston’s (NHLN/SN/SN360) showdown, postponed until tonight at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, into the NHL’s regular season finale.
With Philadelphia eliminating the 43-30-8 Panthers from playoff contention yesterday, this game is all about the 50-19-12 Bruins and their ability to claim first place in the Eastern Conference.
Thanks to the Lightning losing in overtime yesterday to the Hurricanes, a win of any variety tonight earns Boston home ice throughout the Eastern playoffs and a date with the New Jersey Devils in the first round.
Inversely, a loss of any variety tonight leaves the Bruins in second place in the Atlantic Division with a first-round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even though an overtime or shootout loss would tie the Bruins with Tampa Bay at 113 points, the fact that the Bolts currently have one more regulation+overtime victory means they would hold on to their spot atop the conference.
For Boston to claim that coveted spot atop the Eastern mountain, it needs to keep playing like it did yesterday instead of continuing in the form its assumed for the rest of April. The Bruins have posted only a 1-2-1 record since Easter Sunday, a run that surely doesn’t inspire confidence going into the playoffs.
Offense has not been the Bruins’ friend since since flipping the calendar to April. Even though Boston managed five goals in yesterday’s victory over the Senators, it has still averaged only 2.5 goals per game since April 1, the fifth-worst mark in the NHL in that time.
Boston’s struggles are certainly not the fault of F Danton Heinen. The rookie has played exceptionally from the second line over his last four games, posting 2-2-4 totals to improve his season marks to 16-31-47. Additionally, F David Backes has also been well outperforming his 13-19-32 season numbers in these last four outings, as he has 1-2-3 marks to show for his month of April.
Instead, I’m much more concerned with the scoring struggles of LW Brad Marchand (34-51-85 season totals), C David Krejci (17-26-43) and LW Jake Debrusk (16-27-43). All three skaters rank among the Bruins’ seven best point producers, yet they combine for only three points over these last four games – none of which were goals, an especially important note in regards to Marchand, who’s 34 markers tie RW David Pastrnak for most on the team.
If there’s any team in the NHL primed to play spoiler, it’s the Panthers, who are riding a four-game winning streak.
There may not be a hotter goaltender in the NHL right now than 18-11-2 G Roberto Luongo. Even though the defense in front of him has allowed a whopping 36 shots against per game since April 2 – a mark that’s (t)fourth-worst in the NHL in that time – the Panthers have allowed only two goals against per game during that run to rank (t)second-best in the league.
Considering his stats in his last three starts (he didn’t play in yesterday’s game against the Sabres), Luongo is the only reason for Florida’s defensive success lately – and really for the season as a whole. Since April 2, the Montréal native has managed a stellar .951 save percentage and 1.67 GAA, both marks that are well superior to his .929 save percentage and 2.48 GAA on the year.
If there’s any concern this team won’t have the heart to compete tonight after their impressive playoff qualification run came up just short, those doubts were squashed in last night’s 4-3 home victory over the Sabres. The only reason the score ended so close is because Buffalo scored three goals on 21 shots (not a surprise considering the Panthers’ previously mentioned horrid defense) on 21-14-6 G James Reimer‘s goal in the third period, but the Panthers made sure to reward their fans for their support with two points.
Even if a few Panthers are held out of this effectively meaningless game due to some lingering injuries that are no longer worth playing through, I don’t expect Florida’s competitive drive to dull.
So far this season, home ice has played a pivotal role in determining a winner between these clubs. In the two games it hosted at BB&T Center, Florida earned two points apiece, starting with March 15’s 3-0 victory (Reimer earned the shutout with a perfect 46-save performance). Most recently, the Panthers claimed a 3-2 win on April 5 (C Jared McCann provided the game-winner in the third period).
However, the Bruins’ den – better known as TD Garden – was not a friendly environment for the Panthers last weekend, as Boston took a dominant 5-1 decision on March 31 (DeBrusk’s two-goal, three-point effort led the way for the Bruins).
It’s never a good thing for a struggling offense to be going up against a red-hot goaltender, especially one that has a Jennings Trophy on his résumé. Even though the games between these sides have favored the team playing at home, there’s a real chance Luongo could keep the Bruins from claiming first in the conference.
With a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Pepsi Center in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day, the Colorado Avalanche clinched their first playoff berth in four seasons.
In the first period, no one stole the show quite like G Jake Allen. He very nearly saved all 12 shots he faced in the period – many of which were reminiscent of his 2015-16 campaign. However, with 46 seconds remaining in the first period, First Star of the Game D Samuel Girard (W Blake Comeau and F Carl Soderberg) got the Avalanche on the scoreboard with a slap shot.
Colorado didn’t take nearly as long to find its second goal, as D Tyson Barrie (RW Mikko Rantanen and Second Star LW Gabriel Landeskog) buried a power play clapper 6:11 into the second period that, though it was challenged for offsides, doubled the Avs’ advantage. After killing off the delay of game penalty resulting from the failed challenge, F Jaden Schwartz (D Alex Pietrangelo and F Brayden Schenn) scored a power play tip-in of his own with 7:32 remaining in the period to pull St. Louis back within a one-goal deficit. However, Schwartz’ tally didn’t prove to be the final goal of the second frame, and the one that was ended up being the all-important game-winner.
Entering this game, F Nathan MacKinnon had been riding a nine-game goalless skid. That all changed 3:02 before the second intermission, as he (Landeskog) took advantage of the open space caused by four-on-four play to beat Allen bar down to the far post with a wrist shot from below the left face-off dot.
With only 4:35 remaining in the Blues’ season, Head Coach Mike Yeo was forced to pull Allen for an extra attacker. 1:12 later, Landeskog (MacKinnon) scored a wrister on an empty net to set the score at 4-1. With nothing left to lose, Allen departed the ice once again with 3:16 remaining in regulation, with Schenn (Schwartz and F Patrik Berglund) finding success this time to pull St. Louis back within two goals. However, W Matt Nieto’s (Soderberg) wrister on an empty net with nine seconds remaining in the game set the 5-2 final score.
Third Star G Jonathan Bernier earned the victory after saving 32-of-34 shots faced (.941 save percentage), leaving the loss to Allen, who saved 34-of-37 (.919).
Perhaps its no surprise the Avalanche won the game considering how well home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series have been performing lately. Having earned points in six-straight games, the 103-54-22 hosts now have a 53-point advantage on the roadies in the series.