After a 4-2 loss in game 3, the Boston Bruins will be looking to rebound in Toronto.
The Boston Bruins have a 2-1 series lead. They have far and away been the better team. Still, the Bruins have some things they need to improve on.
Game 4 will be a pivotal point in the series. The Bruins have the ability to pounce on the Leafs and be a game away from advancing to the next round. If they end up losing, they will be returning to Boston with the series tied. The Bruins will have lost all the momentum that they built with their dominant wins in the first two games of the series.
The Bruins just need to do these three things and they will come out with the win, and they will be heading back to Boston with a chance to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
1. The defense needs to show up
One of the glaring issues that the Bruins need to fix is their defense. The Leafs have been able to easily get behind defenders causing Tuukka Rask to have to stand on his head. The defense needs to do a better job of skating back and keeping an eye on trailing forwards.
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Torey Krug and Nick Holden have seemed to fallen victim to the speedy Leafs the most. It makes sense as both of these guys do most of their damage in the offensive zone.
The Bruins also need to do a better job of clearing the crease. The 1st goal of Game 3 was directly caused by this. They need to do a better job so Rask can better see the puck, and not be flailing around after allowing a rebound. Doing these two things will take the pressure off of Rask, who has been playing great so far, and limit the Maple Leafs scoring chances.
2. Put the puck on net
This seems extremely simple, but the Boston Bruins had plenty of opportunities to score and were unable to take advantage. Frederik Andersen was on his stomach, facing the wrong way, and the Bruins were still unable to put the puck in the net.
The Bruins should use their big men to their advantage. Rick Nash, David Backes, and Tim Schaller should be posting up in front of Andersen, and taking advantage of the rebounds he gives up. The Maple Leafs don’t have a lot of great defenders so the Bruins should be able to score a good amount of goals doing this.
Also, the Bruins need to take advantage of wide open nets. David Pastrnak had a rough game on Monday, getting robbed by Andersen, and hitting the post a bunch of times. If these pucks move an inch they would probably be goals. So hopefully the Bruins got all of their posts out in game 3, and those shots will become goals in game 4.
3. Get the first line going
The Boston Bruins most dominant line struggled a lot on Monday. The Bruins line combined for a rating of -7, with Brad Marchand having the worst night with a rating of -3. The Bruins are a deep team, but they perform the best when their first line is getting things done. If the Bruins can get some early production from these guys it will pay dividends.
The line combined for 228 points in the regular season. You know they are able to score, but can they do it when they are needed the most? The line is having a relatively great series combining for 20 points, but they need to rebound in game 4.
Next: The Bruins were unable to execute in game 3
If the Bruins first line is able to put up some points there is a good chance that they will be coming home with a 3-1 lead.