Entering Game 1 at TD Garden Thursday night, the Bruins knew what they needed to do in order to jump out to a 1-0 series lead for the second straight postseason. They also knew exactly what the Maple Leafs would be looking to do.
But despite what they did know, or thought they knew, the Bruins were simply outplayed.
"Yeah, I think obviously a lot of stuff we didn’t do tonight. I thought their – it was nothing we didn’t expect, I guess," said Patrice Bergeron, whose first period power play goal was the Bruins lone tally of the night.
There are several reasons behind why the Maple Leafs were victorious in Game 1, their first Game 1 playoff victory since 2003. Some of those were self-inflicted by the Bruins, and some of those were from Toronto being the better team.
"I think maybe we thought it was going to be a little bit easier than it was out there," said Brad Marchand who picked up the primary assist on Bergeron's power play goal.
Knowing how quickly the Leafs can move the puck up the ice and how well they can dictate the pace of play with their speed, head coach Bruce Cassidy sat a pair of veterans in favor for two rookies who can bring more speed to the Bruins game.
But it didn't matter who was out there for the Bruins. When you're playing with fire by turning the puck over at the attacking blue line, you're going to get burnt.
The sequence that led to Mitch Marner's successful penalty shot attempt was a painful one to watch.
Marner did Rask dirty 🤠pic.twitter.com/I3rBtifkRO
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 12, 2019
"Yeah, you know, we didn’t skate our routes in the entry first, so that’s where it started. I mean, Jake [DeBrusk] should be driving wide and Torey [Krug] is right behind him so there was a little miscommunication there, probably get in clean," said Cassidy. "Second part of it, I think it’s reactionary. I think that I would have preferred he let him (go in without the takedown), you know."
Marner's shorthanded goal was the first of three Maple Leafs breakaways in the second period, a period that also saw a Maple Leafs three-on-one rush that ended with time running out in the frame.
All-around it was an ugly night for the Bruins. They were credited with just seven giveaways, but it surely felt like a whole lot more.
"I think honestly if we just managed the puck better, it would allow us to play to our strength and be heavier and win the battles in the walls, and that doesn’t come into play as much," added Cassidy. "Force them to skate, defend, they get fatigued. Everyone gets fatigued defending."
As bad as the Bruins puck management was, the Maple Leafs made it difficult on the Bruins, jumping on each Bruins miscue, and winning the majority of the loose puck battles. They were quick through the neutral zone, and were excellent at limiting the second chances.
"I think they got through the neutral zone pretty clean. I think that they played a simple but effective style and generated a lot because of that," said DeBrusk. "Also, I think our reads as well. I think that we need to, like I said, adjust to some things just as they’re going to adjust as well. It’s just one of those things that a series is all about."
Toronto used their speed and a heavy forecheck to give the Bruins issues all night. For a team that is known for it's high powered offense, and deep group of forwards, the Leafs played excellent team defense despite 38 Bruins shots.
But what seemed to throw the Bruins off their game the most was how uncharacteristically physical the Leafs were. Toronto outhit the Bruins 33-31.
"Yeah, I mean, they played a little more physical then I think they normally do, but you’ve got to expect that come playoff time. Especially the way they’ve kind of been talking how they want to send a message," added Marchand. "I think they kind of accomplished that. They played well, they played hard, and they played fast, and they played their game. So, we have to be better."
Playing in his first career playoff game, defenseman Brandon Carlo felt that this was the most physical the Leafs have been against them this season.
"I think that’s the most physical we’ve seen that group this year. Their guys were stepping up on all of their lines even their more skilled guys in kind of putting bodies on us," said Carlo. "I don’t think we put it back in their faces as much. That’s a good learning experience in Game 1 to go with the rest of the series."
What impressed me the most about Toronto on Thursday was how much the John Tavares line dominated the Bergeron line, and how well Frederick Andersen played.
In 10:16 of five-on-five time where the two lines skated against each other, the Tavares line held the advantage in shot attempts 11-7, shots on goal 7-2 and goals 1-0.
"Well, Tavares is really committed to playing without the puck since he arrived, and he’s done a good job for us, and obviously [Zach] Hyman and Marner are real good players, and hard to play against, and our matchup with two of them on the backend just because they’d play a lot, [Jake] Muzzin and Z [Nikita Zaitsev] are real hard to play against, and [Ron] Hainsey and [Morgan] Rielly move the puck, so you know, I thought they did a good job," said Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock."
"We just wanted to stay above them all night, we wanted to make it hard on them to get to our line and get it in. Muzzin and Zaitsev did a great job as well, stopped them at the line a lot of times, stopped their rushes," said Marner who had hist first career two-goal playoff game. "For us four just making sure were trying to play as hard as we can down in their zone, make it hard to get out, when they do get out we’re fully fresh."
After a shaky end to the regular season, the Maple Leafs needed a strong effort from Andersen in Game 1, and they got just that. The veteran goalie stopped 37 of 38 Bruins shots and looked locked in between the pipes. When the Leafs needed a big save from Andersen, he gave it to them.
"I thought he was steady. I thought the guys did a good job in front of him, and I thought he was steady," added Babcock. "He’s a real good goaltender for us. He had a stretch there where he wasn’t quite as good, but we were confident, he’s confident."
Outside of the Marcus Johansson, Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen trio, there were very few bright spots for the Bruins in Game 1. Johansson led all Bruins in shots with four, while Coyle and Heinen were credited with two high danger scoring chances, tied for second most on the Bruins.
As the Bruins turn the page on Game 1, and move onto Game 2, a few simple fixes are needed in order to avoid falling into a two-game hole, entering Toronto Monday night.
The first fix is managing the puck better.
"Yeah, it’s massive. Take every game differently and we’re going to have to respond," said DeBrusk. "I think that obviously there’s outside noise and different things that pressure, but just one of those things where we understand we don’t want to go down 2-0 going to their arena, and we have confidence that we’ll play a better game."
Second is figuring out a way to slow down Toronto's speed.
"They’ve got a fast team, so that shouldn’t be a surprise," said Cassidy. "Clearly on us to get that message across better Saturday."
Lastly it's putting Game 1 behind them, and getting off to a better start in Game 2.
"Yeah, we’ve talked about that in the past. I think win or lose, it’s always you know, you take the time to think about that game tonight but then tomorrow it’s back at it and moving forward," said Bergeron. "You know, no one said it was going to be an easy series. Obviously you want to have a better start than we did tonight, but that being said, it’s on to game 2."
The Bruins hope Game 1 was Toronto's best of the series. They also hope Game 1 was their worse of the series.
"Yeah, I mean it’s one game. You don’t want to be behind at any point in the series, but still six games left here to get the job done," said Marchand.
"You know, we have to be better. So, hopefully we can accomplish that next game."