Game Day Notes: Bruins looking for a quick start in Game 1 vs. Maple Leafs

It's time. The wait is over. The puck will drop between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs for Game 1 of the first-round series at 7 p.m. tonight at TD Garden. Here's what to focus on.

Start me up: Numerous times during the regular season the Bruins weren’t sharp at the opening puck drop and fell behind in the game. Fortunately, the Bruins were a strong closing team and had the ability to battle back.

The Bruins need to start on time now that the Stanley Cup playoffs have arrived, especially against a strong first-period team like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Well, obviously we want to put our best foot forward and show we’re prepared to play,” said Bruce Cassidy. “It’s an opportunity to establish the way you want to play and dictate the pace and style of play. At the end of the day we want to win the hockey game and whatever happens we’ll move onto Game 2 tomorrow.”



During the regular season, the Bruins went 1-2-1 in the four games against the Maple Leafs. Boston scored first in three of those games, which bodes well for them. However, down the stretch the Bruins have allowed the first goal six times.

“We have to be ready right away,” said Zdeno Chara. “It’s not something we can get away with and we need to have a 60-minute game that’s for sure.”

Playing from behind in the playoffs is not a trend the Bruins want carrying over from the regular season.

“You want to focus on having good starts,” added Chara. “It might happen that you fall behind, but you’ve got to keep your composure and keep going and play to the end.”

Besides scoring first, another way to make an early impact is a team announcing its presence with authority. That’s where the Bruins’ bottom six comes into play.

“Play a heavy, hard game and be physical,” said fourth-line winger Tommy Wingels. “Create energy.”

The Maple Leafs enter this series scoring first in eight of their last 10 games.

"It's an interesting thing -- some teams start fast and other teams finish," said Toronto coach Mike Babcock. "We think getting started is real important for our group. Boston is a real good third period team, so getting started and maintaining your game (is important). When you have two good teams playing there's going to be times you get dominated and then they take over for a bit. Just play well. Relax and play well. When you get your push, get your push. In the end, you've got to execute when you get your chances."

Lending a hand: Prior to training camp, Cassidy and goaltending coach Bob Essensa spoke with Tuukka Rask about playing the puck more this season, which would help the team’s breakout and cut down on the opposition’s forecheck.

Since that wasn’t one of his strengths, Rask worked on that aspect of his game time and again during practices and improved his puck handling skills.

“There were times he was really good at it, and other times we had to push him to be more involved,” admitted Cassidy. “Sometimes it’s mental and building it into your game is habit forming, so we have to remind him to help.”

Because Cassidy has the ability to make quick in-game adjustments, there were times during the season when he wanted Rask to simply leave the puck and allow the defenseman to gain possession with speed behind the net and make a strong outlet pass to start the rush.

When Rask does play the puck, he normally moves it up the half wall to start the breakout and avoid a deep forecheck. It also comes down to communication on the back end, which is an area Cassidy has tried to improve as the team prepares for the playoffs.

“We’re too quiet at times,” the coach said. “If you have a goalie who’s active and playing it, you need to talk. We’re getting better and we’ll keep working on it. There’s always room for improvement. I don’t think he makes a lot of blunders back there where there are gaps and it ends up in the back of your net, but we want him to keep working on it. One extra touch per game that’s clean and build on that.”

The Bruins’ ability to quickly retrieve pucks below the goal line, with Rask’s help, will be an extremely important aspect of controlling the Maple Leafs potent forecheck.

“If they’re firing it up, stretching, tipping and coming in hard with two guys then you might see him play it a little more and rim it by people,” explained Cassidy.

When Rask does play the puck, it also allows him to clog up the skating lane behind that net that basically acts as an interference play. So, pay attention to how often Rask plays the puck.

Masked men: Rask has impressive numbers against the Maple Leafs. He's 16-7-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage in 28 career games. At the other end of the ice, Toronto's Frederik Andersen has been impressive this season. Overall, he's 38-21-5 with a 2.81 GAA and a .918 SP in 66 games. In 11 career games against the Bruins, he's 10-1-0 with a 2.09 and a .935, including one shutout.

"He's a big goalie who has more natural talent than just a big goalie," Wingels said. "He's got the size, but he's got the ability to go with it. He comes out pretty aggressively for a big guy. He likes to make that first save and, like any goalie in this league, the only way you're going to beat him is through traffic and rebounds. Guys will save that first opportunity and he's no different. He's had a great year for them and it's on us to make it difficult for him and not allow him to have the success he had in the regular season."

Andersen has played in 34 career Stanley Cup playoff games, posting a 19-13 record, a 2.41 GAA and a .915 SP.

Opportunity awaits: For a variety of reasons, tonight will be Adam McQuaid’s first home playoff game since the 2013 Stanley Cup finals. Entering this series against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins have seven healthy defensemen, so one would be the odd-man out. Given the way McQuaid is respected by his teammates, and the fact that he sacrifices his body every shift, Cassidy is showing his loyalty to the veteran and McQuaid will be in the lineup and paired with rookie Matt Grzelcyk.

McQuaid understands that he has to perform, or Cassidy will make a change in Game 2 with Nick Holden.

“It’s all what you do with it,” McQuaid said of his chance to play. “I’m just trying to stay focused on playing and not thinking too much about things outside of that.”

McQuaid already has his name etched into the Stanley Cup from 2011 and he understands there's another opportunity this spring to add to it.

"Your first time (in the Stanley Cup playoffs) you're a little unsure what to expect, but the excitement level is still the same," he said.

Too many men: The Bruins have been called for a few too-many-men penalties against the Maple Leafs this season. The reason: Attempting quick changes in order to keep up with the high-flying Toronto forwards. Boston needs to be more disciplined in this category or it could come back and bite them in the backside.

Curious: It'll be interesting to see how many times the Bruins are forced to ice the puck tonight.

Here’s what the Bruins’ lineup will look like for Game 1.

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Rick Nash
Heinen-Acciari-Backes
Schaller-Kuraly-Wingels

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Miller
Grzelcyk-McQuaid

Goalies

Rask