If the Bruins’ top line continues to dominate the way it did in Game 1, this won’t be a very long series.
David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are far too talented to get as much room in the offensive zone as they did and not make their opponent pay.
They’ll get pucks on net and pounce on rebounds, which is what led to two of Pastrnak’s goals Saturday. They’ll attack on the rush and get to the slot, which is what Pastrnak did on his third goal. They’ll outshoot you 17-3 and create 16 scoring chances, which is exactly what those three did during their 12:43 of five-on-five ice time Saturday night.
Now the question is whether the Islanders have any answers. They didn’t in Game 1, but don’t expect them to just go out and defend that line the same exact way in Game 2. Barry Trotz is too good of a coach to not at least try to adjust.
So, what will those adjustments look like? The Islanders probably aren’t going to be able to completely flip the ice and force the Bergeron line to do a lot of defending. Few teams can do that, and even a very good defensive one like the Islanders hasn’t done that this year. In seven regular-season games against New York (Pastrnak missed their first meeting), the Bruins had 59.9% of shot attempts and 61.6% of shots on goal with their top line on the ice at even strength.
Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak are going to get time in the offensive zone and they’re going to get shots. The adjustment the Islanders will try to make is changing where those shots come from.
In Game 1, the Bruins’ top line was able to get too many from the slot and around the net. The Islanders’ goal is to now do a better job of keeping them away from those high-danger areas and more to the outside.
It’s something they were actually able to do at times in the regular season. In three of those seven regular-season games, the Islanders limited the Bergeron line to zero high-danger chances and under five total scoring chances. That’s a heck of a lot better than the four high-danger chances and 16 total scoring chances they got in Game 1 -- and that doesn’t even include Pastrnak’s third goal since that came during a line change with Taylor Hall and David Krejci on the ice.
Trotz knows his team can’t give that line as much space as they did Saturday. After tersely responding to a question about what they struggled with by saying, “Keeping them off the scoreboard,” he elaborated a little.
“We’ve got to challenge them a little bit more,” he said. “We backed off. They’re going to make plays, all of that. That being said, we’ve got to tighten up there.”
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy went into more detail about the adjustments he expects the Islanders to make, and what adjustments the Bruins may then need to make in return.
“I’m sure they’ll tighten up,” Cassidy said. “They’re a good defensive team. They’re here for a reason. They’ve got good goaltending. They’ve got D that are well coached and good in their own end. I think you’ll see them try to crowd the slot even more, and we’ll have to make the appropriate adjustments. Do we use the back of the net more, then, to see if we can get them looking the wrong way? Do we use the points more and try to stretch them out, bring a forward high?
“So there’s different things we can do as well, so it becomes a bit of that cat and mouse game. Obviously we want to get pucks to the slot. I don’t think it’s a secret. We want to get to the top of the paint to distract the goaltender, and we’ll keep doing that until it’s taken away. I think [the Bergeron line] does it probably as well as any line in the league. I know there are other lines out there that do a real good job of it. We’re playing one in [Brock] Nelson’s line. They get to the front of the net and do it well. But our guys have been doing it longer and better, and it’s tough to stop. It’s easier said than done, but I’m sure the Islanders will have a game plan for it.”
If the Islanders make those adjustments and they work at least to the point of limiting Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak a little bit, they’ll still have a chance to make this a long series. But if they can’t find a way to keep those three out of dangerous areas, the Bruins will continue to make them pay and this could end up being a short series.
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