Bruins
The Bruins enter Game 7 as a wounded bunch, hoping to avoid blowing a 3-1 series lead for the second year in a row.
Six straight series-clinching scenarios, six consecutive losses.
Thus, a first-round matchup featuring two teams known for historical playoff meltdowns will go the distance.
In their second chance to close their latest seven-game matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins again didn’t show up on time, landing a paltry one shot on net in the opening frame. Eventually, they found their skating legs, only for Joseph Woll to stand tall in his second straight start.
The Bruins didn’t provide Jeremy Swayman any offensive support.
Their top performers — David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand — provided zero impact. The lapses proved costly late in the second and third, resulting in William Nylander’s pair. And now the Bruins enter Game 7 as a wounded bunch merely hoping to avoid blowing a 3-1 series lead for the second year in a row.
Here’s what we learned from the Leafs’ 2-1 win in Game 6 on Jack Edwards’ final broadcast of his 19-year career.
Non-call sequence puts the Bruins in chase mode.
The Bruins fired three combined shots on goal in the last two opening frames. Unlike their flat outing in Game 5, they came out with a little more urgency but struggled to control pucks and generate shots through traffic.
Eventually, the Bruins found a little more time and space in the attacking end. But just as they were building their way toward a breakthrough, a brutal sequence late in the second put them in chase mode.
An alarming sequence began after the officiating crew failed to assess Pontus Holmberg a boarding penalty after the Leafs forward hit Mason Lohrei from behind. Still, Lohrei’s teammates needed to bail him after McAvoy cleared the blue line before committing an unforced icing.
Instead, the Bruins couldn’t change their personnel, lost the ensuing faceoff and went into the locker room with a 1-0 deficit.
Boston’s top weapons aren’t getting the job done.
A heated exchange on the bench involving Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander exemplified a disorganized Leafs squad in Game 4.
Two games later, the questions over Sheldon Keefe’s job and potentially breaking up their core have simmered from the Toronto media. Between Woll’s confidence and an improved defensive structure, the Bruins appeared off-guard to start Games 5 and 6.
The Bruins found a decent attacking zone stride over the final 30 minutes. But they needed more production from everyone, particularly their top weapons.
“We had plenty of opportunities to score, but we need way more,” Pastrnak said to the media. “You know, it’s definitely not good enough a job of the forward group, and including myself, obviously, starting with me. We got one goal in two games, so we need to do much better and create more and more offense.”
Pastrnak, who committed a double-minor high-sticking infraction early in the second, only has two goals in the series. Pavel Zacha, Jake DeBrusk and a rotating cast of linemates haven’t provided enough support outside of a few spurts.
Marchand, who tried to inspire the team by talking up and down the bench during a second-period TV timeout, hasn’t replicated the energy or production after dragging his team into battle in Games 3 and 4.
Despite scoring two or fewer goals in all but one of the first six games, the Leafs’ top weapons made the most of their limited opportunities over the last two tilts without their top offensive weapon, Auston Matthews.
Their captain, John Tavares, outmuscled Matt Grzelcyk in overtime leading to Matthew Knies’ winner. Nylander, in his third game back from reported migraine issues, had his best performance of the series in Game 6.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have their frazzled fanbase on edge after self-inflicting in Games 5 and 6 for the second year in a row. They’ll need improvements across the board but need their top performers in Marchand, Pastrnak and even McAvoy to set the tone.
“Your best players need to be your best players this time of year,” head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters. “I think the effort is tremendous. They need to come through some big-time plays in big-time moments. So far, Marchand has done that in the series…Pasta needs to step up.”
Will Montgomery be coaching for his job on Saturday night?
Entering the playoffs, Montgomery’s job security hardly entered the public discussion aside from the rare takes on sports radio and social media. After all, the Montreal product led the Bruins to a record-breaking regular season in Year 1 and got some decent results out of a transitional team in Year 2.
On the surface, his job seemed safe, even with a first-round loss to the Maple Leafs. But with the Bruins facing elimination for the second year in a row after holding a 3-1 series lead, Montgomery’s hot seat could very well be at the highest level of his brief tenure.
Ideally, the Bruins avert disaster and set Montgomery up for success in his third season. They’ll have much more salary cap flexibility to address their top-six and defensive needs in the off-season.
But another blown 3-1 series lead puts every possibility of change on the table. In that regard, Don Sweeney’s first order of business might involve a coaching switch. After all, Sweeney would have difficulty justifying a decision to keep Montgomery to a panicked Bruins fanbase.
Simply put, the Bruins must show urgency from the get-go with their coach potentially playing for his job. Otherwise, a battle-tested core with little playoff success outside of 2011 could also be broken up.
“It’s unacceptable, our start again,” Montgomery said. “We got to find a way to start on time and we just got to be better.”
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