The Boston Bruins are down 1-0 in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to a lack of effort after gaining the lead. If the Bruins continue to play like this they will be packing their bags in no time.
The city of Boston was electrified on Thursday. Playoff hockey returned to the city and the TD Garden was rocking for the Boston Bruins.
Things got off to a good start with the team getting a 1-0 lead, but after that, things fell apart and the Bruins ended up losing 4-1.
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The loss was a gut punch to all Bruins fans. The wind was taken out of us.
It was fair to say that Boston was confident heading into the series. We have the most dominant line in hockey and the team has been looking really well.
Once the Bruins scored it was like they thought they won the game. They took their foot off the gas pedal and Toronto took advantage. The Maple Leafs deserve all the credit.
Hopefully, Game 1 will be the wake-up call the team needs. They can’t have another performance like that. I’m glad they got the worst of themselves out in the 1st game.
Now Boston Bruins fans are expecting a much better effort. Hopefully, Game 2 will end differently and the B’s will have momentum as the series heads to Toronto.
But for now, let’s focus on Game 1. Here are 5 takeaways from the Boston Bruins disappointing Game 1 loss.
1. Speed kills
The Boston Bruins biggest problem against the Toronto Maple Leafs last postseason was dealing with their speed. It’s crazy how fast guys like Mitch Marner are, but still Boston is a quality team they should be able to handle this.
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I guess that was asking too much of them because Boston’s defense once again failed to handle Toronto’s speed. There were way too many breakaways. It’s hard to keep the puck out of the net when opposing players get all the time in the world in front of Tuukka Rask.
Mitch Marner dominated and his speed was the main reason why. He was able to cause a penalty shot (more on that later) and then score his 2nd goal of the game. Toronto was up 2-1 and things didn’t look good for Boston.
Especially in this series defenseman have to be careful. A lot of Boston’s defenseman like to get involved in the offensive zone, but they have to be smart when going for a loose puck or hopping up on the odd-man rush. Boston needs to keep Toronto ahead of them and not allow easy breakaways.
If the Bruins can’t slow Toronto down I don’t know if they will be able to win the series.
2. A rough night for Jake DeBrusk
As of late Jake DeBrusk has been playing some great hockey. He has continually been able to score goals and is always making great plays.
Thursday was a poor start to the playoffs for DeBrusk.
DeBrusk may have only been a -1 but he basically handed the Toronto Maple Leafs the lead. The winger was unable to handle a pass while the Bruins were on the power play and Mitch Marner burst down the ice all alone.
Now David Pastrnak probably could have made a better pass, but DeBrusk can’t allow a guy like Marner to get a breakaway. He needs to control the puck somehow.
Now I appreciate DeBrusk’s effort to skate back, but he ended up tripping Marner and giving him a penalty shot. I like Tuukka Rask’s chances against Marner on a natural breakaway. He could feel DeBrusk on his heels and force a shot, but on the penalty shot, Rask had no chance.
So Jake DeBrusk will definitely be looking for a better performance in Game 2 on Saturday.
3. Zdeno Chara shows his age
I don’t know what it is about the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they bring out the worst in Zdeno Chara.
Chara definitely has never been the fastest skater. Now that he is 42 he hasn’t discovered blazing speed to say the least.
Once again the Maple Leafs made Chara look bad. He just looks so slow out there. At a certain point, it becomes a liability to the team.
Zdeno Chara needs to be better. It’s as simple as that.
The defenseman needs to keep up with the Leafs forwards and use his reach to his advantage. If he can’t keep up with Toronto the team is screwed. Chara logs lots of minutes and is on the top defensive pairing. Boston can’t afford to just leave him on the bench.
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Maybe Game 1 was just a warm-up and Chara will have his skating legs back when Game 2 arrives on Saturday.
4. Tuukka Rask wasn’t bad
Game 1 wasn’t a bad game for Tuukka Rask but it wasn’t good either. Rask was perfectly mediocre.
Rask definitely made some good saves and did his part to keep the Bruins in the game. 29 saves is a pretty solid night that definitely gives your team a chance to win.
But at other times Rask would struggle to hang on to pucks and was all over the place. The score definitely could have been higher.
A lot of the goals that were given up can’t really be blamed on Rask. The only goal that I was sort of mad at was the 3rd goal that came on a William Nylander breakaway.
Now it was a breakaway so I’ll give Rask some slack, but there are some saves a goaltender needs to make. Rask even got a piece of the shot but it snuck through his five-hole.
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So don’t blame Tuukka Rask for the loss. He isn’t the major problem and I expect to see him out there for Game 2.
5. Patrice Bergeron scored a goal
The only real bright spot was the goal that Patrice Bergeron scored in the 1st period.
The Bruins were on the powerplay and Brad Marchand sent a beautiful pass Bergeron’s way and Bergy was able to put it home.
Things seemed great for the Bruins. It seemed like the team was well on their way to a 1-0 lead in the series.
After that things weren’t exactly great for the line. One guy that had a poor performance was David Pastrnak. He just wasn’t that good on Thursday night. The winger was a -2 and his pass is partly to blame for the 2nd goal that the Bruins allowed.
Still, I have faith in the Boston Bruins. In 2011 they went down 1-0 in the 1st round. Maybe this is a good sign?
All we can hope for is a better effort from the team on Saturday or else the Bruins will be in a major hole headed to Toronto.