Round 1 Bruins-Leafs
- Thread starter The Napkin
- Start date
There is steering into the skid and then there is squeezing Pat Maroon’s chubby little hand like he is Geena Davis and driving straight toward the cliff.
I’m not even mad, I’m impressed.
Maroon was on the ice with 3 minutes left in the game while trailing by a goal.
The mind reels.
That is when Maroon’s 20-foot game truly shows its gritty, gutty veteran winnnernicity.
In addition to the lack of energy and intensity at the beginning of the last two games, its also concering that nobody came to Lohrei's defense after he got smashed into the boards. Can't control the refs, but is disappointing and concerning that none of the Bruins engaged Holmberg in any way (at least not that I saw).
Team just seems uninterested in the last few games on multiple fronts.
Team just seems uninterested in the last few games on multiple fronts.
The hard thing emotionally/logically is holding two simultaneous (and potentially frictional) ideas at the same time. One, that the Bruins overachieved this year and did better than many expected - and that reflects well on the head coach. And two, that they have had 3-1 leads in consecutive seasons and came out - this year at 3-1 up - tight/flat against a team without it's best player in uniform and are on the verge of what would be a terrible underachievement in the shorter context of the series and a 3-1 lead with home ice advantage - and that this reflects really badly on the head coach (even considering variance and the dearth of talent at certain spots).
It's a massively fractious situation to be in.
It's a massively fractious situation to be in.
I think that dichotomy is easily resolved if you conclude that the head coach is an excellent manager for the regular season and is a terrible one in the postseason when pressure, tactics, and stakes change rapidly and he cannot adjust to the changed circumstances.
And now we have consecutive years of evidence showing that to be the case.
He was planning for the empty net. They need a 1-2 shifts from the bottom 6 with between 3-5 minutes left so that he can put the top 6 guys on the ice for the entirety of the extra attacker situation. He pulls the goalie with 2-3 minutes left when they are down a goal the group that goes on the ice typically finishes the game. And it's usually 4-5 forwards.
Yes - and that's why I personally think that if we lose Saturday he ought to go. But I do understand that this dichotomy can create uncertainty/confusion - and not just with the fan base (we tend to be more binary in our views, I suspect) but also in the front office perhaps - because they may also be aware that the team rode a lot of overachievement during the regular season and that the playoffs are another story and that's where the fuel often runs out.
Monty might have been safer in his job had he just lost the series in 5, rather than (potentially) in 7.
In Montgomery's prior gig with the 18-19 Stars they were up on 3-2 on St. Louis. And we know how that turned out, So that's seven straight losses with a chance to win a series.
In that series they were at least the lower seed and lost Game 7 in double OT due to a strange bounce off the goalpost and Bishop's shoulder. Ironically the guy who scored the GW goal was Pat Maroon.
In both series he's coached in Boston, they've been the higher seed (last year they were the MUCH higher seed) and expected to win both series.
It's like he's getting worse.
It wasn’t much of a gamble. Samsonov was allowing more goals than the Bruins’ xG with him on the ice. He just wasn’t viable as a starting goalie.
Woll, OTOH, has allowed two goals in 7+ periods, and the Bruins’ xG in that period is over 8. His GSAE/60 is very similar to Swayman’s, who has been the best goalie in the playoffs, bar none. Another game like that tomorrow, and Woll replaces him.
Maroon's also been one of the better forwards IMO. Fancy stats seem to back it up. He's been particularly great below the goal line and with the puck on the boards.
I wonder if Monty is a great system coach but not a game to game coach. His system seems to maximize the players/team strength over the course of 82 games which is overstating the obvious the last two seasons but when it comes to a playoff series where you need to adjust game to game and period to period I'm just not seeing it.
They didn't have an answer for FL forecheck last year and don't seem to have an answer for TOR dump n chase on offense and packing the high danger area on defense. They are basically the antithesis of the Belichick Patriots who changed their game plan week to week based on opponent weakness vs. playing to their strengths regardless of opponent.
They didn't have an answer for FL forecheck last year and don't seem to have an answer for TOR dump n chase on offense and packing the high danger area on defense. They are basically the antithesis of the Belichick Patriots who changed their game plan week to week based on opponent weakness vs. playing to their strengths regardless of opponent.
The proof is in the pudding, and two of these series losses in a row should have the door beckoning. BUT...it simply cannot be the case that the coaching staff hasn't provided plans to adjust to some of Toronto's stuff. Maybe its the wrong stuff. Or maybe the players have tuned him out. But there *has* to be some element of bad execution in here somewhere, right?
Yes there is. The players are gripping their sticks incredibly tightly. McAvoy and Lindhom have been awful (McAvoy's tendency to allow goals to be deflected in off of him is almost deliberate at this point), and none of the players are seeing the ice very well at all.
But at the same time, it's Monty's job to figure out how to scheme up more quality chances on Woll with Toronto packing it in in front of the net and he's simply not doing it.
The elephant in the room is they haven't been able to score at 5x5 all series. They have 8 5x5 goals through 6 games.
The wins came on the back of the power play, 6 PPG's. The last 2 games they've been unable to even get on the power play.
The wins came on the back of the power play, 6 PPG's. The last 2 games they've been unable to even get on the power play.
Which of course goes back to Keefe manipulating the officiating through the media with his comments about Marchand.
I don't expect them to get on the power play in Game 7 either.
To me, this is related to something that several here pointed out before the playoffs. The team does not have a lot of top-end offensive talent. It's one reason why Lohrie *has* to play (something I can't believe I actually believe), defensive risks be damned.
There is an element of that but they weren't getting on the power play much to begin with, they were mostly just converting at a ridiculous rate.
Game 1: 2-5
Game 2: 1-2
Game 3: 2-3
Game 4: 1-3
The lack of calls IMO reflects the lack of puck possession more than any officiating agenda. Other than the Lohrei play last night, which should've been matching, I haven't really thought the Bruins have put themselves in position to draw calls.
Game 1: 2-5
Game 2: 1-2
Game 3: 2-3
Game 4: 1-3
The lack of calls IMO reflects the lack of puck possession more than any officiating agenda. Other than the Lohrei play last night, which should've been matching, I haven't really thought the Bruins have put themselves in position to draw calls.
The flip side of that is Marchand getting called for (checks notes) skating around Bertuzzi.
The Keefe comments hurt the Bruins in both ways.
The Keefe comments hurt the Bruins in both ways.
Yeah, I don't know. The Bruins aren't being paraded to the box either, Toronto's had 3 power plays in each of the last 2 games (2 being from a double-minor). The only one I'd really take issue with was the extra 2 they got in the scrum at the end of the 2nd period of game 5.
Marchand gets officiated differently with or without Keefe's yammering.
Marchand gets officiated differently with or without Keefe's yammering.
View: https://twitter.com/_TyAnderson/status/1786480493380170035
Can only help them in practicing on the terrible Garden ice. Perhaps the first smart thing Monty has done.
Can only help them in practicing on the terrible Garden ice. Perhaps the first smart thing Monty has done.
Anyone have any guesses why the ice never comes up publicly from anyone associated with the team?
If as others have said that it's entirely a bull gang issue, the team may not be able to say anything at all. It sounds like it's completely out of their control.
What are the players going to say about the ice publicly? They'd come across as whiners if they want to complain about the ice. Both teams play on the same surface. It's not like Toronto was built to be a heavy on the puck bunch of grinders. I'm probably out on a limb by myself, but I don't think the ice has been even 5% of the reason they dropped game 5. There were times when it looked like they were handling a superball in Toronto too.
The ice being substandard is just excuse making. If they win game 7 it won't be because the ice was suddenly up to par and losing won't be because the ice was poor. It's going to be about their effort and execution. Effort and execution were missing in game 5. Execution was missing in game 6. It's going to come together in game 7. 23,769 days since the Leafs beat the Bruins in a playoff series. We'll all wake up on Sunday with that extended to 23,771.
The ice being substandard is just excuse making. If they win game 7 it won't be because the ice was suddenly up to par and losing won't be because the ice was poor. It's going to be about their effort and execution. Effort and execution were missing in game 5. Execution was missing in game 6. It's going to come together in game 7. 23,769 days since the Leafs beat the Bruins in a playoff series. We'll all wake up on Sunday with that extended to 23,771.
You and your fucking reasoned thought!
Samsonov was awful, we were 6 for 13 on the PP through 4 games against him, and now with a real NHL goalie, no PPs, and our Band of Bottom 6 Forwards playing on the top 6, we are losing faceoffs, not creating offensive chances, not scoring goals and losing coin flip games on fluky goals against a similarly mediocre team.
Saturday will be a toss-up with the luckier team winning.
I definitely dont mean say it now, or even after a loss in February. It's just that it seems to be a regular issue, and I have never heard a peep.
The officiating really has not been a big issue outside of the Lohrei play (big play obviously but my larger point stands). Toronto is 1-for-20 on the power play this series and Boston is 6-for-15. In terms of PP chances in the last 2 games, Toronto has had 3 chances each night to Boston's 1 so it's not some large margin slanted to Toronto. There isn't some master manipulating going on with the great Sheldon Keefe. The fact of the matter is that the Bruins aren't playing well enough offensively or have much sustained zone time to force Toronto into taking penalties.
I just want to see a first period where they appear to give a shit. Score first. Score early. Score often.