By Ian Moran
Special to BostonSportsJournal.com
Ian Moran played in over 500 NHL games, including 66 in the postseason, in 15 years as a defenseman with the Penguins, Bruins, and Ducks before retiring in 2008. The Acton native attended Belmont Hill and Boston College before being a sixth-round pick of the Penguins in 1990. The Duxbury resident is currently the head New England scout for Neutral Zone, a first-of-its-kind hockey scouting and news site which identifies, ranks and profiles NCAA and Ontario Hockey League (OHL) prospects from across North America. Ian breaks down each Bruins playoff game for BostonSportsJournal.com. You can follow Ian on Twitter at @IMHockeySkills.
WHY THE BRUINS LOST GAME 3
Tomas Plekanec was involved. I’m not kidding when I say I do not remember him in the first two games, but he had himself a game on Monday night. While he was in Montreal, he was a massive pain in the a$$ who got noticed every game. That really hasn’t been the case since the trade to Toronto. Last night, he was involved and the newly-created shutdown line kept the B's top line in check while scoring two goals themselves.
THREE OTHER THINGS THAT STOOD OUT
Toronto's long stretch passes on the breakout: Right from the start, Toronto was catching the B's forwards in no-man’s land. It was obvious that Toronto's defensemen were going back and almost firing it blindly to the far blue line. The best example was Patrick Marleau’s first goal. Even though the puck took a lucky bounce through Kevan Miller’s legs, Mitch Marner and Marleau were both flying and would have created chaos had Miller handled it cleanly.
MITCH MARNER FEEDS PATRICK MARLEAU WITH A BEAUTY! LEAFS LEAD!#TMLTalk 2 - 1 #NHLBruins
(Bruins Lead Series 2-0) pic.twitter.com/zJUardNDTF
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) April 17, 2018
TWO UP FOR BRUINS
— Even though Patrick Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak were held off the sheet, they still created offense. Pastrnak had great chances and with a few centimeters left or right, he would have had himself another multi-goal game.
— For large portions of the game, Toronto was on its heels as was shown by the B's 40-plus shots. If the Bruins get 40 shots in Game 4, they’ll be coming back to Boston up 3-1 in the series.
TWO DOWN FOR THE BRUINS
TWO UP FOR THE LEAFS
— Matthews, Marner and Nylander all got going and were involved. Marner’s speed put the pressure on Miller that led to Marleau’s transition goal. The Leaf’s transition game is their bread and butter moving forward.
— Has Mike Babcock found the role Plekanec has been searching for since the Leafs traded for him? If so, then Kadri’s return in Game 5 will give the Leaf’s coaching staff much more depth on their top three lines.
TWO DOWN FOR THE LEAFS
— The Bruins still generated time in the offensive zone off of neutral zone transition. In general, the B's defensemen did a good job of keeping tight gaps, creating turnovers and getting the puck into the forwards' hands quickly. I thought Miller had a tough night, but there were more than a few times where he won a 50/50 puck, took ice laterally and made a quick outlet to the streaking forward. Toronto’s D is going to have to hustle up the ice to keep a tighter gap or else this is going to come back to bite them.
— Giving up 42 shots and having Anderson make a Superman save is not going to happen every night.
FREDERIK ANDERSEN MAKES THE SAVE OF A LIFETIME, DIVING WITH THE BLADE OF THE STICK! OH ME, OH MY WHAT A STOP!#TMLTalk pic.twitter.com/Vgx8dQotw3
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) April 17, 2018
TUUKKA TICKER
His play is always a topic, so we’re asking an expert to assess him.
PATRICK MARLEAU WITH HIS SECOND OF THE NIGHT! LEAFS UP 2!#TMLTalk 4 - 2 #NHLBruins
(Bruins Lead Series 2-0) pic.twitter.com/m1bbIDNTbf
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) April 17, 2018
I’m sure he wants Marleau’s second goal back, but Marleau has over 500 goals for a reason. Although the camera angle made it look like Tuukka was way off angle, I really don’t believe this was the case. Marleau generated speed through the neutral zone and Tuukka has to respect that, especially on a 2-1.
PARTING THOUGHT ON THE BRUINS
I expect the Bruins to keep playing the same way ... even though they lost. They dominated play for the majority of the night and one ridiculous save was the difference down the stretch.
PARTING THOUGHT ON THE LEAFS
Babcock has his young guns believing they’re back and can win the series, as they should. Over the next few days, I would think the Leafs are going to be watching video of how they need to protect the house. And by House, I don’t mean The ACC. I mean the area directly in front of Anderson that extends from the goal line to the faceoff dots to the tops of the circles. If the B's continue to get 20 uncontested shots from the house, they will score more than two goals.