Bruce Cassidy called out his top players, specifically his first two lines, after a Game 1 loss in which they didn’t do enough.
The reality is that most of those player didn’t need any sort of public wakeup call, though. Most of them have been here before and know how they need to play to be successful in the playoffs, and they know Saturday night wasn’t it.
Monday night’s Game 2 wasn’t a perfect effort from the Bruins’ big guns, but it was a much better one, and they stepped up when they were needed most, leading Boston to a 4-3 overtime win that evened up the series.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were arguably the two biggest disappointments in Game 1. Expected to lead the offense, the two combined for zero points and just one shot on goal Saturday. On Monday, both found the back of the net -- Marchand in overtime.
Bergeron’s goal came midway through the first and gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Linemate David Pastrnak made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, then fed Bergeron in the high slot for a shot that was wired just under the crossbar.
Marchand had himself a bit of a classic Marchand game, one featuring both a lack of discipline and a massive, potentially season-saving goal. His net drive on Bergeron’s goal was important in freeing up space, but then it looked like he was on the verge of taking himself out of the game.
He took a roughing penalty later in the first period with a foolish retaliation shot, then took another after-the-whistle penalty in the second when he and Anthony Mantha continued to go at each other well after a scrum had been broken up.
If the Bruins had lost, Marchand’s lack of discipline may have landed him on the list of players to be criticized again. He made sure that wasn’t going to be the case, though, and wound up playing the role of hero by burying a one-time feed from Matt Grzelcyk past Craig Anderson 39 seconds into overtime.
“I’ve got a lot of faith and trust and loyalty to Brad. There’s way, way more good than bad,” Cassidy said after the game. “And I think he wanted to drag us into the fight, and we needed it tonight, because we didn’t start on time. So him and Bergy were certainly guys who were going to do that. That’s Brad. I think he’s mature enough now to not take himself out of the game. Maybe that would’ve been a game in the past he would’ve let it get to him and he wouldn’t have been an effective player, but he found his game and certainly was a big part of the win, obviously, with the overtime winner.”
So, what about the second line? Taylor Hall, David Krejci (who had a nice keep-in to help set up Marchand's winner) and Craig Smith created great chances all game long -- 16 of the Bruins’ 31 5-on-5 scoring chances and 13 of their 17 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick -- but it appeared they might be on their way to an extremely frustrating outcome, potentially a loss in which they did everything except actually score.
Instead, they kept battling and stuck with it, both in the game as a whole and on the goal they finally scored to tie the game with 2:49 left in regulation. Hall, who also drew his third penalty of the series in the game, created the chance by beating John Carlson 1-on-1 down the left wing and then feeding Smith with a centering pass.
Smith’s initial chance got stopped, but then Smith, Krejci, Hall and Charlie McAvoy all crashed the net for the rebound. In the middle of the chaos that ensued, Hall finished off the play he started by eventually banging the loose puck home.
“He stuck with it, made a huge a play on the third goal, beat Carlson 1-on-1, great poise,” Cassidy said of Hall. “He waited him out, got it to the front of the net, and then he hung around there. He didn’t fly by. Credit to Taylor. Listen, he’s been really invested since he’s been here. I think he just wanted to really do well right away. Obviously that’s a good mindset to have, but there’s a lot of hockey. I think a lot of his teammates remind him of that -- just keep playing. When it’s your turn, you’ll make the right play, and sure enough he did.”
Then there’s McAvoy. It’s probably a disservice to not mention him until now, because he was the big gun who had the best all-around game of anyone. It was a monster performance from the Bruins’ No. 1 defenseman in all three zones.
Although McAvoy didn’t register a point, he was on the ice for all four Bruins goals and had a plus-4 rating in nearly 27 minutes of ice time. In his 20 minutes of even-strength ice time, the Bruins led the Capitals 44-21 in shot attempts, 28-11 in shots on goal, 14-4 in high-danger chances, and 4-0 in goals.
This was how the Bruins needed their best players to respond, and how they’ll need them to play going forward. Add in a strong performance from a new-look third line (including Jake DeBrusk’s second goal of the series off a nice setup by Charlie Coyle) and some big saves from Tuukka Rask (especially early in the game as the team in front of him started slow), and there was a lot to like Monday night.
“I think the guys that have been here understood the urgency of this game,” Cassidy said. “Listen, we had to play better. … We did. Obviously getting the win is very important, but for our own selves, we needed to play a better hockey game. I thought we were the better team tonight.
“Those guys led, Bergy and Marsh, and Charlie McAvoy really got going too. I thought early on we were pressing a little bit, but then played real solid. Krech made a big play at the end, and Hall -- they got going in the third period. A little frustrated throughout that the puck wasn’t finding them in the right spots, but came through for us. Obviously we moved some lines around. I thought Charlie Coyle looked dominant out there, and Jake. So now you’ve got three lines buzzing and creating offense. … Everyone came to play.”