Boston Bruins: Team treading water after Game 5 loss
By Connor Floyd
The Boston Bruins lost 5-4 to the New York Islanders in Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Monday night at TD Garden after their comeback fell short in the third period. The Bruins are now one game away from making tee times and worrying about their tans.
There’s almost too much to unpack from Game 5 and its implications going forward, but we’re going to try to hit all the bases. Let’s get into it.
Jeremy Swayman in, Tuukka Rask out to start the third period for the Boston Bruins
I think this is the biggest storyline from Game 5 in terms of what it could mean for the Boston Bruins in Game 6 and (hopefully) beyond. It is this hockey writer’s opinion that Tuukka Rask was pulled mainly to preserve and manage his health.
The Bruins were down by two and the Islanders had gotten four pucks past Rask on 16 shots. So his performance certainly had something to do with it, as well, because I highly doubt that Bruce Cassidy would have yanked him if he was standing on his head.
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Rask is clearly not playing at full capacity right now and that led to the decision to put rookie phenom Jeremy Swayman in for the third period, likely to give the frustrated Bruins a spark and give Rask some much-needed rest.
Swayman didn’t exactly light the world on fire in Game 5. He only faced three shots on goal and allowed what ended up being the game-winning goal to Brock Nelson in a point-blank chance from the slot.
There’s a real chance that Rask can’t go for Wednesday’s do-or-die matchup on Long Island and that Swayman will get the first postseason start of his career.