The Boston Bruins are playing for their lives on Wednesday night. It all comes down to one game. If the Bruins can do these three things they will likely come out on top.
Here we are. We all thought that the Boston Bruins would have finished the Toronto Maple Leafs off by now. They were up 3-1, but the Bruins haven’t been able to send the Leafs home.
So there will be a game 7 at TD Garden. The Bruins will need a complete effort in order to move on to the next round of the playoffs.
This game will show if this team has the heart and grit to win a Stanley Cup. Game 7 will probably be some of the best hockey you watch all season. It will also cause your heart rate and blood pressure to spike as well. If the Bruins want to win they are going to need to do these three things.
1. Get the first line going
The Boston Bruins first line has been terrible as of late. In the Bruins three losses, they are a combined -16. It doesn’t take a genius to realize this is pretty horrible. In the case of Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, they seem to be trying to make the extra play. Whether it be dangling through their legs or trying to make a pretty shot.
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Overall they need to simplify their game. They need to pepper Frederik Andersen with shots. Andersen has been great this series, but the Bruins haven’t made him move a lot. A lot of their shots have been straight on Andersen. If the Bruins can jump on rebounds and make Andersen scramble they should have some success.
If the Bruins want to win they are going to need at least one goal from this line. The Bruins need to score early and jump on the Leafs. The Bruins need to kill the Leafs hope before it can begin to sprout.
2. On Wednesday night it needs to be Tuukka time
This will be a huge game for Tuukka Rask. Rask had a much better effort in game 6 and made some key saves that show how great of a goaltender he is. The Bruins need a similar effort on Wednesday night.
Rask hasn’t had the best of luck in deciding games. In Rask’s career, he is 1-2 in game 7’s and has a terrible save percentage (.849). Rask has also allowed at least three goals in all of these games.
The Bruins can’t afford this Tuukka Rask showing up. If this game becomes a shootout I don’t think the Bruins will come out on top. Andersen has been playing great and will be hard to beat.
If Rask is able to only allow one or two goals he will put the Bruins in a good position to win. Hopefully, Rask will be able to prove all of his doubters wrong and lead the Bruins to the second round.
3. Defense wins championships
The Boston Bruins defense need to improve drastically. They can’t keep allowing the Maple Leafs to breeze into the zone. The D needs to get the puck out of the zone as soon as possible. When the Leafs are able to cycle the puck they are able to get traffic in front of Rask and disrupt his ability to stop shots. Also, I want Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews out of the Bruins zone for as long as possible.
The Bruins defense also needs to set the tone early. They need to let Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, and James Van Riemsdyk know that they won’t be able to score easily.
Finally, the Bruins need to find a way to stop the Leafs stretch passes. This could be done by playing with the defensive pairings to have one offensive-minded defenseman, and one stay at home defenseman on each pairing.
It all comes down to this. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it. If the Bruins do lose disappointment will spread throughout New England.
Next: The Bruins are headed to game 7
But we aren’t here to hear that. I will speak it into existence. The Bruins will win game 7. The cardiac kids will come through once again. They can’t lose… Right?