Ek’s note: After covering the Bruins for Bruins Daily for parts of seven seasons, Anthony, a lifelong Bostonian comes to HockeyBuzz with a knowledge of all things Bruins. You can follow him on Twitter @a_travalgia. He will be adding coverage here along with Hockeybuzz veteran writer Ty Anderson.
Twitter:@a_travalgia
The Bruins will enter Game 2 Monday night after taking many positives out of their 6-2 Game 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rick Nash, the dominance by the top line and the performance by Tuukka Rask were just a few things that went right for the Bruins Saturday afternoon.
Rick Nash scored twice, the combination of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak combined for three goals and eight assists, and Rask made 34 saves, including several show-stopping saves in what was one of his best games in his eight playoff appearances so far.
The Bruins looked a bit uncomfortable in their own end to start the first, but Rask stood tall making 11 saves in the frame. Rask’s key saves led to Nash’s second goal of the playoffs, to give the Bruins the first lead of the game.
Despite a pair of Lightning goals after Nash’s tally, the final two periods were dominated by the Bruins.
But as has been the case with much of the NHL this season, the game did not end without some in-game controversy.
With the Bruins leading 3-1 and the Lightning on the power play after a weak inference call on Jake DeBrusk, we saw one of the craziest moments we’ve seen in a hockey game in a long time.
A skate save by Rask caused the blade of his skate to fall off. With the blade lying clear as day in the crease, and Rask yelling and motioning to the referees for their attention, no whistle was blown. Shifting his attention away from the puck, allowed Mikhail Sergachev’s shot to find the back of the net. An irate Rask tossed the blade towards the boards, but the goal counted.
Rask loses the blade on his skate and the Lightning score pic.twitter.com/FAxzOV4qST
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 28, 2018
Per NHL Rule 14 “Play shall not be stopped nor the game delayed by reasons of adjustments to clothing, equipment, skates or sticks.… Later the rule states “No delay shall be permitted for the repair or adjustment of goalkeeper’s equipment. If adjustments are required, the goalkeeper shall leave the ice and his place shall be taken by the substitute goalkeeper immediately.…
According to the rule, the referees made the right call, but there certainly was some confusion on the ice.
“Yeah, I was trying to figure that out,… Rask said of what the actual rule is. “But the ref told me that if they had seen it they would have blown it. I was just trying to get his attention there, the ref beside the net. But it’s—I guess I just need to change my skates.…
Now that skate technology has changed, I think it may be time to revisit the outdated rule. If you’re going to have skate blades that can be changed in a matter of seconds, a rule has to be in place if a goalie loses a blade that play is stopped. Now, I don’t disagree with those that say Rask should know the rule and should have kept his attention on the puck. But I still think the rule is dumb and again, outdated. How is it safe for a razor blade to be lying on the ice, especially in front of the net where physicality is often increased?
“I think your options are either just don’t say anything and try to stop the puck or you try to say something while you’re following the puck, I took the latter option,… said Rask.
Even with the craziness of the skate blade incident, Game 1 was exactly what the Bruins needed from Rask after a shaky series in the first round. He made some big saves and gave the Bruins the ability to add to their lead with his key saves.
Much like Rask, a solid outing in Game 1 will do good things for Nash. The former Rangers forward was decent in the first round, but couldn’t capitalize on his chances, scoring just once against Toronto. Nash was much better Saturday afternoon and provided the Bruins with continued scoring from outside of their top line.
If Nash can get going and prove to be another weapon alongside DeBrusk and David Krejci, the Bruins become much more dangerous.
Rick Nash scores his second goal of the game. pic.twitter.com/ZCtVs3Cuhe
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 28, 2018
“Yeah, it’s nice. I’ve always seemed to be—through my career it always seems that my goals come in bunches and the chances were there, which was good,… said Nash. “I was playing on the inside and finally I got rewarded tonight.…
There was much talk heading into Saturday on how the Bruins top line would perform against the Lightning’s shutdown trio of Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson, as well as the defensive pairing of Ryan McDonagh and Anton Stralman.
The end result: 11 combined points for the Bruins top line and a combined minus-19 from the Lightning’s shutdown five.
Advantage Bruins.
What amazed me the most about what the Bergeron line was able to do in Game 1 was the way they were able to create space and move the puck with ease in the offensive zone. The passing lanes were there and the three took advantage of it. Pastrnak and Marchand led all Bruins with four assists.
The Bruins survived a scare in the third period as Jake DeBrusk hobbled off the ice and onto the Bruins bench after blocking a shot with his knee. The rookie missed just one shift and would later wind up with an empty-net goal. Now the Bruins hope that he wakes up tomorrow and has no ill-effects.
“Yeah, that was an amazing shift by him,… Bergeron said of DeBrusk’s painful shift. “He got pushed around a few times and got back up, made some like you said, blocks and had a good stick and finally got the puck out. That’s what you need and what you want to see. He got rewarded with the empty netter. It’s nice to see from the young guys, and I say it a lot it’s fun to watch.…
Stat of the night: Saturday marked the second time Rick Nash has had a two-goal playoff game. His first came in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Against who you ask? The Tampa Bay Lightning.
Up next: Game 2 is scheduled for Monday night where the Bruins will look to take a pair of wins and a 2-0 series lead back home to Boston.