Hockey fans are watching a marriage unravel in real time. The Bruins’ relationship to the boards had been inextricably tied to their unimpeachable possession statistics. They mopped up the Maple Leafs and cruised in the last two-thirds of the regular season due to their ability to shoot and retrieve unceasingly. But if the Bruins lose in the second round of the playoffs, it will be because the Lightning have exposed a fragile bond between Boston and the boards.
The Bruins’ breakouts and transitions have been manipulated by the Bolts’ physicality, anticipation, and speed, which have made Boston’s defense porous. Poor Rick Nash felt the brunt of this when Brayden Point turned Nash’s stray pass into a dagger to be wielded against Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy. Opportunities for the Lightning on the weak side proliferated due to lost board battles by the Bruins.
Preying on the weak side with a stretch pass off the boards was a theme all game long last night. There was the breakaway by Nikita Kucherov off the Chris Kunitz pass in the first period. There was Kucherov’s dart to Steven Stamkos with the game tied at 2 in the second period, albeit that shot was foiled by Tuukka Rask’s glove.
There was even Miller’s stretch pass on the delayed penalty that cued up the Point-to-Stamkos two-on-one. And yes, it also factored in the game-winner, when Ryan McDonagh blasted a pass through Bruins forward Ryan Donato, and the cycle that followed led to Dan Girardi’s tip on the weak side. It was the convergence of the stretch pass and the weak-side action that brutalized Boston.
The Girardi goal also highlighted the Lightning’s depth advantage. If the Bruins’ first line is stifled, the team is helpless. Defensively, once Torey Krug left the game, the Bruins were forced to rely on unpalatable pairings like Adam McQuaid and Matt Grzelcyk against the Lightning’s putative third line. But the Cirelli line is a threat to score every time they are on the ice, and Noel Acciari, Brian Gionta, and Donato were badly outmatched on the deciding goal in overtime.
The Bruins had their chances to thwart the cycle. When the puck first reached Girardi, he was at the point, and he swatted the puck below the goal line for a forward to retrieve. Cirelli beat not just one but both Bruins defensemen to the puck, which led to the McDonagh pinch along the half-wall.
It was a three-on-three scrum, but Gourde tapped the puck back to Killorn, who covered over the top for McDonagh. Then came the unimpeded give-and-go between Killorn and Gourde, which led to Killorn driving down the wing and attempting a crossing pass on his backhand with two teammates stationed near post and far post along the crease.
Throughout the sequence the Lightning subdued the Bruins with puck movement on the outside: Anthony Cirelli won a race by the boards behind the net; the Lightning came out of a pile of bodies with the puck after McDonagh’s pinch along the half-wall; and Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde ran a give-and-go on the perimeter. If the Bruins defeated the Lightning along the boards, that goal does not happen. And remember, Nash’s turnover to Point came along the boards as well. The Bruins can gripe about the officiating, but, once again, they had zero even-strength goals. One of the best parts about the NHL playoffs is that there is going to be one winner, so there has to be a team of destiny. In most settings, when destiny and fate are mentioned, this attracts ridicule. But hockey is different. There will be one sui generis squad who etches its names on the Cup and becomes immortal.
Along the way, the team of destiny will need to exploit opportunities when presented. Maybe that is a no-call on a tug on McAvoy that initiates a blast from the high slot. Perhaps it’s a slash on the enemy winger that fails to draw a call. The NHL postseason has inflection points. Stay around the playoffs long enough, and a team can create its own myths of destiny.