This was a game the Bruins did not deserve to win, but nonetheless, had plenty of chances to win. Below are my game notes:
– They were absolutely terrible in the first period and the first ten minutes of the 2nd period. They got outplayed, could not get anything going, and were lucky that Swayman played amazing last night to keep them in the game.
– Even though they improved their play the last half of the game, some common errors kept happening. They could not break the puck out and their composure was awful all night. They had so many in-zone turnovers that led to scoring chances and it looked like they couldn’t make a clean pass all night. They were dominated on faceoffs too.
– This is giving me echos of last year. The Bruins were up 3-1, then lost game 5 in OT at home and went on to lose the series.
– It would be one thing to simply lose the game. It’s hockey, that is going to happen. But the fact that the Maple Leafs – without Austin Matthews – outplayed them and the Bruins didn’t look like they came to play is a bad sign. The OT goal is a perfect example of that. Two Bruins forwards took a terrible change while the Leafs were on a rush, leaving the Bruins with three guys in the Dzone. Grzelcyk was playing Tavares, while McAvoy and Coyle were simply watching the puck instead of covering a guy. Tavares got the puck out front and McAvoy and Coyle weren’t in position and there was no backchecking forward there to cover Knies either and he got an easy rebound goal. That simply can’t happen in the playoffs.
– Despite their bad play, the Bruins still had multiple chances to win the game but were either stopped by Woll (who played great) or missed the net. Those are pucks they need to put home if they want to win the Cup.
– Now they have to go back to Toronto and try to win there, lest we have a Game 7. It’s time to put this game to rest and focus on Game 6.
Wheelhouse Blog 