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Revamped lines help Bruins edge Maple Leafs in Game 4 |
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Head coach Bruce Cassidy is often as honest as they come and it’s been widely noticed around the National Hockey League. But even Cassidy has to sometimes stray off the path, I mean it is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Throughout the course of the regular season, Cassidy often had no issues moving pieces around across his four lines, searching for whatever may be the perfect fit on that given night.
But after three straight games where the Maple Leafs forward group was getting the better of the Bruins, something had to change.
One of those changes came in the form of a returning Marcus Johansson who missed Games 2 and 3 due to an illness.
The other change came in the form of a slight tweak of his first and second line right wings, one that wasn’t known until the Bruins starters for puck drop was officially submitted.
On Tuesday, Cassidy let it be known he was sticking with his all-world top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, at least to start Game 5.
Was that actually what his plan was?
Even in warmups, it was just as Cassidy said on Tuesday: Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak.
But when the Bruins starting five was submitted, it was Danton Heinen to the right of Marchand and Bergeron, not Pastrnak who was on the second line with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci.
"I was told to warm up on [the third] line and got put on Bergy and Marchy's line," said Heinen. "It's his [Cassidy's] stuff to think about and we just get ready to play with whoever we're with."
With the top two lines settled, it was Johansson returning to a line with Charlie Coyle and David Backes, and the fourth line of Joakim Nordstrom, Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner as is.
The change to the top-six seemed to spark the group, as the Bruins got two goals by Pastrnak, and one by Marchand in what was a 6-4 Game 4 victory.
Both of the Bruins top-two lines made a difference in the victory.
Cassidy’s shuffling on the right wings wasn’t necessarily because of what Toronto was doing on the other side of the puck, but more of an attempt to get his big guns going in a series where the Maple Leafs have done an excellent job of limiting the Bruins’ top two lines.
"I think it sparked everybody to give them a little bit of a different look, it was fun,” said Pastrnak who scored two goals in a span of 1:35 in the second period. “I've played with him [Krejci] a lot, know what to expect. We all know Heinz [Heinen] plays great with those guys. It's good for us."
Possession-wise, the Bergeron line was the Bruins best, and ended up as the only line with a five-on-five Corsi For Percentage over 50%.
The line finished with a Corsi For Percentage of 66.67%, held the edge in shot attempts 8-5, scoring chances 8-4 and goals 2-0.
Heinen is no stranger to playing on a line with Marchand and Bergeron, something he did for several weeks when the Bruins were without Pastrnak due to a hand injury.
“Heinen has played with Bergy [Bergeron] and March [Marchand] when Pasta [Pastrnak] was out for four, five weeks. (Heinen) did a good job out there, tailed off a little at the end. Not sure if Danton can sustain it at this point of his career, every night against top lines, against top teams,” said Cassidy. “But he certainly does a nice job in spots.”
As it was in the first three games of the series, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock elected to stick with the John Tavares line and pairing of Jake Muzzin and Nikita Zaitsev against the Bergeron line, while deploying the Auston Matthews line and pairing of Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey against the Krejci line.
After seeing Heinen open the game on the Bergeron line, Pastrnak skated just 3:38 of ice time in the first period. Part of that was due to the Bruins killing back-to-back penalties at the end of the first period.
But the lack of ice time surely motivated Pastrnak in the second, and helped lead to his two-goal period. The Bruins leading goal scorer logged 7:37 of second period minutes.
After seeing how well the movement of right wingers to the top-two lines worked in Game 4, the Bruins need a change in Game 5 on their fourth line as Wednesday was another poor performance from the trio.
It seemed anytime the Acciari line was on the ice, the Leafs had extended zone time. The line finished with a five-on-five Corsi For Percentage of 22.22%, were out shot 4-2, out chanced 8-2 and looked completely lost in the seconds leading up to Travis Dermott’s third-period goal.
In just over 31 minutes of five-on-five ice time the three have played together in the series, they have been out attempted 41-27, outshot 17-12 and outscored 2-0.
For most of the regular season, the Bruins fourth line had been a bright spot for the Bruins, but without Sean Kuraly, and the physicality he brings to the table, the line has been as far from a bright spot as possible.
On top of his physical play, Kuraly brings a high level of speed to the line, and even can add a bit of a scoring touch, finishing with eight goals and 13 assists in 71 games this season.
Kuraly has a knack for quickly getting to loose pucks, and a knack for winning the heavier puck battles along the boards. All qualities that make up the perfect fourth-liner.
With the series now guaranteed a sixth game, Kuraly could return Sunday for Game 6, or if necessary a Game 7 next Tuesday. Kuraly has been skating on his own the last few days and continues to inch closer to a much needed return.
Charlie McAvoy up, Matt Grzelcyk down
When you think about the Bruins future with Charlie McAvoy as the team’s number one defenseman, Game 4 was probably how you envision things.
The 21-year old McAvoy was not only the Bruins best defenseman, he was one of the Bruins best players. He opened the scoring for the Bruins, cashing in on a beautiful feed from Coyle for his first goal of the playoffs. He then followed that up with an assist on Marchand’s goal later in the period.
As good as he was offensively, McAvoy was just as solid defensively, leading the team with 21:04 of ice time. In 8:48 of five-on-five ice time McAvoy saw against the Tavares line, the Bruins held the advantage in shots 9-6, and goals 3-1.
It was a night to forget for Matt Grzelcyk, who much like the Bruins’ fourth line, was buried in the Bruins zone all evening.
With Grzelcyk on the ice five-on-five, Toronto held the edge in shot attempts 29-4, shots 15-3, scoring chances 15-1 and goals 1-0.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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