McLaughlin: Bruce Cassidy defending Nick Ritchie after Bruins' Game 4 loss doesn't help

Bruce Cassidy isn't one to throw players under the bus. He'll share honest criticism of them, but he rarely tears into them publicly. He wouldn't have done that to Nick Ritchie no matter what he thought of the two penalties Ritchie took Saturday, the second of which was a five-minute major that set up a Lightning power-play goal that made it 3-0 and may very well have been the nail in the Bruins' coffin.

A full-throated defense of Ritchie was just as unexpected, though.

Surely Cassidy could have seen that Ritchie's retaliation penalty in the first period was foolish given the way the series has been called, no matter what you think of Cedric Paquette's initial hit on Karson Kuhlman.

#GoBolts Cedric Paquette hit on #NHLBruins Karson Kuhlman .. Nick Ritchie takes exception. pic.twitter.com/W8tVP0GlbB

Surely he could have seen that Ritchie's hit on Yanni Gourde in the second period was very late, worthy of at least a two-minute minor, and ill-timed given that the Bruins had just fallen behind 2-0.

YIKES#GoBolts Yanni Gourde down on the ice after this hit by #NHLBruins Nick Ritchie pic.twitter.com/3vsYn0zmFd

Wrong. In his postgame press conference, Cassidy defended Ritchie on both counts, questioned the officiating, and even seemed to suggest that Gourde faked an injury to draw the five-minute major call.

"The discipline was nothing originally," Cassidy said of Ritchie's five-minute major, referencing the fact that it was only called after a video review. "There was no call, and then it turned into a five-minute major. I'm not sure. I guess we'll get an explanation or we won't, I don't know. I didn't get one of why that changed.

"Clearly Gourde was down on the play. He's a good player, a real good player for them. Clever obviously. Got them on the power play for five minutes. He finished the game, had no problems in the third period. I didn't agree with the call. As I said, Kuhlman got hit by Paquette late in the first period, like I said, a very, very, very, very, very, very similar hit, no call. But I guess we'll ask that question, find out what the thinking was."

Were they really very (times six) similar, though? Maybe in terms of the angle, but one very (times six) obvious difference was that Kuhlman still had the puck at the time Paquette hit him, while Gourde had gotten rid of the puck well before Ritchie hit him.

"iT wAs ThE sAmE hIt" pic.twitter.com/fJxgNxtxQF

Asked point-blank later in the press conference if Ritchie is using his physicality in the wrong way, Cassidy responded with indignation.

"No," he answered. "There was no call. He's finishing a check. It happens all the time. He played through a player's shoulder as I saw it. Shoulder to shoulder hard. I don't know if the explanation was it was late, or if it was a 225-pound man hits a 170-pound man and that's why the penalty is called. Like I said, I thought Paquette did the same thing if not worse to Kuhlman in the first period.

"The standard is set. That's what officials do. They set the standard, and the players adjust to it and adapt to it game in and game out. So no, I thought he did a good job. That's what he's asked to do, be hard on people, stick up for your teammates, go to the net, score dirty goals, make plays off the wall, all those things.

"So that hit was part of the job description and he did it. They reversed the call and at the end of the day, it went against us. We want Ritch to be physical, not reckless, and that's what we thought it was, but it didn't work out that way."

On the one hand, you want a coach who has his players' backs and defends them.

On the other, you also want a coach who holds his team accountable when it lacks discipline. At least publicly, Cassidy isn't doing that right now.

The refs have been calling retaliation penalties all series, and really all playoffs, including one on Ritchie just one game ago. So when Paquette throws that hit on Kuhlman, what should you maybe not do with your team already trailing 1-0 in the game?

Again, we can debate whether Paquette deserved a penalty (my personal opinion is it should have been a two-minute minor for boarding), but either way the retaliation wasn't needed. You're either negating a power play if they do call Paquette, or putting your team a man down if they don't. Ritchie was even lucky to not get five minutes there, as he actually did his drop his gloves and throw a couple punches.

Take a number and respond with a clean hit later in the game if you really feel the need to answer. This is Game 4 of a second-round playoff series against a great Tampa Bay team. You can't afford to jump the guy on the spot like you might in the regular season.

The hit on Gourde was even more indefensible. Again, there are elements of this we can debate. Was it too late and therefore interference? Was it boarding because of the position Gourde was in? Did it warrant a five-minute major? (Personal opinion: Yes, yes and yes.)

Even if you answer no to one or more of those questions, here's a tougher question: Why is Ritchie even chasing the big hit in that situation? The Lightning just made it 2-0 a minute earlier. Your season is hanging in the balance. The last thing anyone on the Bruins should be doing there is taking chances on big hits, especially knowing the series has been called tightly.

You needed goals, not hits. Sometimes hits can help lead to goals, but this one wasn't going to. Gourde had already gotten rid of the puck. The play had moved on. Ritchie finishing that check wasn't going to win back possession or create a turnover. The only possible outcome of any significance was a penalty.

You can't blame this loss or the series or anything else on Ritchie alone. But Cassidy's comments after the game are indicative of a bigger problem, both as it relates to Ritchie specifically and as it relates to the team as a whole.

It demonstrates stubbornness to the point of detriment. Stubbornness to keep playing Ritchie and not be able to admit that he was a trade deadline acquisition that just hasn't worked out. He doesn't bring enough offense, and his physicality -- the reason Cassidy brought him back into the lineup for Tampa after being a healthy scratch for the final three games against Carolina -- has done more harm than good this series.

And stubbornness to not adapt to tightly called games and numerous punishments for retaliation. The Bruins have given the Lightning 11 power plays in the last two games. That is a surefire way to lose games and lose a series.

Yet the message from Cassidy, at least publicly, isn't that the Bruins need to change the way they're playing and be more under control. It's that the refs are doing them wrong, and that the Lightning are selling calls.

Blaming officiating and blaming perceived flopping is weak. Does it sometimes help your team get some calls the next game? Yeah, actually. We saw it last year in the Stanley Cup Final when Blues coach Craig Berube did it, and even a little bit in the first round when Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour did it, so maybe Cassidy sees an angle there and is playing the game a little bit.

But it also lets your players off the hook. If the Bruins are going to have any chance of avoiding elimination Monday night, they're going to need to be a lot more disciplined than they have been these last two games. Even if you think the refs are out to get you, too bad. You know how the series is being called, so you have to adapt to it.

You have to wonder if that's going to happen, though, if Cassidy's message behind closed doors is the same as the one he shared publicly Saturday afternoon.