The Boston Bruins now follow in their second round Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the Tampa Bay Lightning after a 7-1 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night in Toronto.
Here are some thoughts, reviews and takeaways from Wednesday’s game.
– Honestly, there is not much to take away from this, other than the fact that it would have been the worst loss of the Bruce Cassidy era – maybe Game 7 has been ruled out of the 2019 Stanley Cup final .
– It was a case of things that started badly and then quickly snowballed. Nick Ritchie was called up for a tackle in the middle of the first period. Twenty-nine seconds later, the Lightning made it 1-0. Fifteen seconds later it was 2-0 Lightning when Yanni Gourde got an assist from a lineman who essentially put a choice on Bruins defender Jeremy Lauzon. Typically, a team like Bruins is able to stop things there and even claw their way back into the game. We have seen it many times over the years with this group. For whatever reason, it was just not Wednesday night.
“The disappointing part about it is that we could not get ourselves back in the game by killing further penalties or committing crime or having our pressure back,” Cassidy said after the game. ‘That’s what we missed last night for whatever reason. But it’s over. ”
– Bruins goalkeepers allowed seven goals on just 31 shots, but it was hardly the fault of Jaroslav Halak and Dan Vladar that put Tampa Bay on a touchdown and the extra point. There were far too many golden opportunities for the Lightning, and a team that will benefit well more often. A perfect example came at the end of the second period on the goal from Brayden Point. The Bruins were “only” three down and got a bit of sustained offensive pressure. Aim for a goal there, and it’s a game that goes to the third. Instead, Point could fly out of the zone because the Bruins either forgot him or missed him on the ice, and then he’s gone. Point covered Vladar from his pads, but even the best goalies are in a tight spot with Point only getting the ice down. That kind of opportunity was all night long enough for Tampa – not many could do the goals there.
– Specifically with Vladar, how about that for your first taste of NHL hockey? Imagine what he thought back in March, when the season started to win. At that time he was 22 and in the middle of a great AHL season, he saw the big club from afar with his two very good goalkeepers in Tuukka Rask and Halak. Now, five months later, he makes his NHL debut on a Wednesday night in August in the playoffs in a bubble against arguably the best hockey team in the world. Pretty wild. Considering all that, giving up three goals on 15 shots doesn’t seem so bad. It’s hard to say what the Bruins have in Vladar and whether they can feel comfortable going back to him if Halak is injured or something (although they don’t really have a choice). He was too much under siege to say for sure, but it will surely be a memorable first match for him to tell his children and grandchildren about.
– We ended our Game 2 takeaways post by saying that the powerful game of Tampa Bay “will go to a point after starting the series in a 0-for-5 drought” to start the series. That was obvious, but it seems rather prophetic after the Bolts lit up the scoreboard with three power-play tallies in Game 3.. It looks like the tweaks are finally paying off, with Nikita Kucherov moving from the right side of the ice to the left. where he essentially takes the place of the injured Steven Stamkos. Kucherov certainly enjoyed playing his game in advance in Game 3, as he grabbed a few assists for the man advantage. Now it’s up to the Bruins to make their own adjustment, especially since the Lightning have regained their confidence in the power game.
“Our penalty shootout let us down last night. It’s been great all year,” cassidy lamented. “Really good in the playoffs so far, we haven’t done it on the PK.”
– If you’re looking for positive points on the part of Bruins, Cassidy could at least manage ice time. No Brown recorded more than 18:37 of ice time, and Cassidy certainly took a chance to pull his horses back. Charlie McAvoy, who averaged more than 26 minutes since the start of the Carolina series, played just 16:19. In the second half of a back-to-back game, 43-year-old Zdeno Chara played just over 18 minutes. Even pulling Halak gives the 35-year-old goalkeeper a chance to rest.
– Game 4 lineup lineup will be another focal point for the Bruins. Cassidy really turned on the blender in Game 3, adding Jeremy Lauzon, John Moore and Par Lindholm in the Boston lineup. Some of them were in need; the Bruins were without Sean Kuraly, who was unfit to play, and Cassidy opted instead for the extra defender. However, that still means that Anders Bjork and Connor Clifton were sitting. The Clifton is peculiar. He had looked pretty good there in the first two games against the Lightning, and Lauzon sometimes struggled back in his comeback (although just like everyone else did, really). There could certainly be more change as well. Cassidy lamented the inability of the middle lines to get going, as he hoped some of the younger players on those lines would battle for older players in the second half of the back-to-back kiss up. That, of course, did not work out, so it’s back to the drawing board.
– Somewhat related to that, Cassidy also briefly mentioned a desire for the Bruins defenders to get more involved offensively. If that’s the case, you should think that Clifton – if healthy – would be back in the lineup. But it’s an interesting point. Torey Krug has not necessarily had a bad series, but when the Bruins click, he feels like an offensive threat. He has only three shots on goal through the first three games. The Bruins were 16-5-4 this season when he could not get three shots on goal in a game. Of course, just by him three shots at not getting better does not automatically improve the chances of Bruins, but we have seen how getting the D men involved has benefited Tampa Bay. The Bruins rely too heavily on their first line and power play to generate offense now, so getting the blue liners involved should help.
– The bad news about Game 3 is almost everything for Boston. The good news? It’s just one game, and there are ways to solve some of the most striking issues. Although the Bruins did not look very resilient on Wednesday night, it is still difficult to see how they will not return with a strong effort in Game 4.
“Seven to one, 2-1, a loss is a loss,” Cassidy said. ‘They are two against one. I think we have a good group in it – I know we have a good group in it. They are elastic. Like I said, we’ll lick our wounds (Thursday), get off the rink and get ready for Game 4. “
