If you looked at nothing but the officiating, the Bruins had absolutely no business winning Game 1 against the Lightning. If you looked at everything else, of course they won.
The faceoff police decided to give policing cross-checking a spin to disallow a Brad Marchand goal. Tuukka Rask fell victim to an all-time stupid NHL rule that it's apparently cool for goalies to flail around the ice without blades.
The Bruins pulled off a 6-2 win.
Goalies are weird. Who knows if it was the new pads, or the fresh start, or the way Charlie McAvoy looked like himself again so the defense could fall into place.
Whatever the reason, Rask was locked in from the start of the Bruins' Game 1 win over the Lightning. His 11 saves through the first kept it scoreless while the Bruins shifted momentum and Rick Nash capitalized on a late power play:
.@pastrnak96 ➡️ Rick Nash -- pic.twitter.com/skrkyidh2K
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 28, 2018The whole team looked sharp as it did in the first two games of Round 1, and of course the Patrice Bergeron line led the way. It combined for three of the Bruins' six goals.
Brad Marchand made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone and David Pastrnak served this to Bergeron for a 2-0 lead:
Pastrnak to Bergeron and it's 2-0 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/9UdRiSCFpI
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2018Here's a better look at the no-look pass from Pastrnak, who's up to 17 points in eight playoff games:
No look pass from Pastrnak pic.twitter.com/gPQ7EjAVpw
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2018Dan Girardi got the Lightning on the board with their only hard-earned goal 2:31 into the second, but Rick Nash looked surprised as the rest of us when this snipe regained a two-goal lead 10 minutes later:
Snipe city population Rick Nash, 3-1 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/2aUdhzUqAe
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2018Criticism of Nash has been more-or-less justified. He was acquired specifically for this playoff run and remained in the Bruins' top three shot-takers with only one goal to show for it through Round 1. Cassidy reuniting him with David Krejci was the right call.
Then it got weird. Rask and his new pads lost a skate blade, something he said has only happened to him in practice once or twice.
"I tried to get the ref's attention for like 10 seconds," Rask said in his postgame interview with NBC. "It sucks."
It didn't matter if he got that attention or not -- it was the right call according to the rules.
Rask loses his blade and Sergachev scores pic.twitter.com/RqxtJTHpYM
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2018He didn't throw a milk crate like he once did in his AHL days, but rest assured, sharp objects were thrown. After someone whips a skate blade across the ice, you get the feeling he's not letting much past him.
He didn't let anything past him for the rest of the game, stopping 34 of 36 shots overall.
Bergeron's second of the game essentially sealed this one, and maybe more importantly made a convincing case that his "upper-body injury" is either subsiding or won't be a factor anymore:
Marchand to Bergeron for his 2nd of the game, 5-2 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/LNFmqXefWZ
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2018Game 7 hero Jake DeBrusk got to pad his stats a bit with an empty netter for the 6-2 score. After a shift with two huge blocks that had him in pain on the bench, he earned it about as much as you can earn an empty-netter.
A convincing score, a dominant first line, and defense...existing? Not bad, rogue skate blades considered.
