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The 3-1 lead that the Bruins held over the Senators in the third period of Game 2 last week in Ottawa feels like a million years ago now, doesn’t it? It finally shows in this series, too, as the Black and Gold find themselves in a 3-1 series hole heading into tonight’s actual must-win game in Ottawa.
The Bruins felt robbed of Game 3 on Monday. Wednesday’s Game 4 loss, a 1-0 final at TD Garden, lacked any real emotion, and the Bruins seemed to sleepwalk through the third period of a game they trailed, going almost 10 minutes without a shot on goal before they were whistled for a penalty.
This has become the glaring problem for the Bruins.
It’s not the missing bodies on defense that’s haunted the Bruins through four games, but rather the fact that the Bruins have been held under 30 shots in all four games of this series, and that their lack of generating rebounds and second-chance opportunities has become a noticeable killer.
“I think we need to hit the net more often with good chances to create some second chances and force them to be uncomfortable,… Bruins interim head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But now, there’s games that – I don’t want to rehash the whole series but we know, was it the first game? We didn’t have a shot in the second period. So, we had some chances that were off net again that game. But, we weren’t a 60-minute team in that game. The other night, our first period was flat and we pushed ourselves through. So no, we probably haven’t hit that where we would be completely satisfied with 60 minutes, but I’m not sure they are either to be completely honest with you. That’s part of playoff hockey. You play good teams. You’re going to have an advantage and there are going to be momentum swings. That’s the way it goes. We’ve just got to put it in our favor on game five.…
That starts in the middle of the ice, too, where the Bruins have been plagued by their own inconsistencies when it’s come to going against the Sens’ vaunted neutral zone clog-up.
“You just can’t start dangling through those guys, because they’re going to turn it over and make you pay. So you just kind of have to stay patient and get the pucks deep, and try to grind it out, and we can’t be stubborn,… Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask said. “We have to believe that you have to grind it out, but I don’t think it’s frustration. It’s just, you have to make the play when it’s there, and when it’s not there, don’t make it. I guess that’s the simplest you can put it.…
Rask, who stopped all but one of the 27 shots he faced in a losing effort on Wednesday, will once be in net against Ottawa’s Craig Anderson, who made 22 stops for his shutout of the postseason in Game 4.
On a lineup front, Ryan Spooner will be a somewhat healthy scratch tonight. He will be replaced by Sean Kuraly. Back in the lineup as the Bruins look for more of a forechecking and grinding presence, Kuraly played in the first two games of this series, with five hits and a blocked shot to his name.
“Ryan’s not 100 percent, and we liked Sean’s game up here,… Cassidy said. “He’s good on getting on pucks, and forecheck has been a big part of how we’re able to create some of our offense, and he gives us that. I don’t know what’s going on mentally, but physically yes, [Spooner is] not 100 percent, which listen, there’s guys throughout the series that end up like that, but I don’t want to expand anymore than that. We liked the way Sean’s played, as much as anything.…
Cassidy did mention that Spooner is well enough to play, though, so there’s that.
“We just have to worry about the next game,… Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. “We have to be big, but we have to take it one game at a time from here. Again, this team has been on both sides of it where teams have come back from 3-0 deficits and we’ve come back as well from two and three-game deficits. So, we have to just worry about the next game and regroup and have a good one in Ottawa.…
The Bruins have never come back from a 3-1 series deficit.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal magazine, and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.