Ryan: In need of a solution to slow down Leafs, Bruins have to turn to David Backes in Game 2

David Backes knew since the start of the work week he was going to be on the outside looking in at the Bruins’ lineup for Thursday’s Game 1 matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A 13-year NHL veteran with 67 playoff games under his belt, Backes understands the nature of the business at this point — with the power forward scratched from regular-season action for the first time since 2007 during a prolonged stretch in January.

But that didn’t make the news any easier to bear at the time for Backes.

”It’s frustrating,” Backes said. “I was told on Monday, so I think I had a couple days in a dark place. But I got over it by Wednesday, wanted to be a supportive teammate and try to help guys prepare and get a win.”

Such wasn’t the case on Thursday, as the Leafs capitalized against a gaffe-prone B’s blue line and general malaise by Boston en route to a 4-1 win and a 1-0 series lead for Toronto.   

While costly giveaways and faulty defensive structure put the Leafs off to the races on numerous occasions against Tuukka Rask, the B’s were also frank postgame when noting how Toronto managed to beat Boston at its own game — bullying Boston all across the ice and clamping down on any extended stretches of O-zone time for Bruce Cassidy’s club.

“I think that’s the most physical we’ve seen that group this year,” Brandon Carlo said of Toronto’s defensive effort. “Their guys were stepping up on all of their lines even their more skilled guys in kind of putting bodies on us.”

Outhustled — and perhaps on a more concerning note, outmuscled — on Thursday night, the Bruins have to right the ship in a hurry or risk heading up to Scotiabank Arena in an 0-2 hole.

Backes’ days of being a consistent top-six, two-way force in the NHL might be long gone. But what the 34-year-old winger provides away from the stat sheet might be just what Boston needs to hit back against a confident Toronto club.



“I’m going to be honest. Separating where the pride ends and it’s just factual at some other point — I’m a prideful guy that’s played a long time in this league and I feel like I can make an impact on games,” Backes said. “But I need to be ready when called upon, but not be a distraction or negatively impact these guys who are awesome group of guys.”

There might be an opening in Boston’s lineup for Game 2 if Jake DeBrusk is sidelined, as the winger appeared to injure himself while trying to stop Mitch Marner’s shorthanded breakaway on Thursday. While DeBrusk did not practice on Friday, Cassidy labeled it as a “maintenance day” and did not rule out No. 74 for a return on Saturday.

Even if DeBrusk is cleared to a return, inserting Backes into the bottom-six role is certainly worth a look — a notion that Cassidy agreed with, even if he wasn’t willing to confirm his lineup for Game 2 quite yet.

“I thought about going with Backes in Game 1, too,” Cassidy said. “We just made a decision that we had to check fast against Toronto. ... Obviously, David adds the physicality piece. We’ll have an internal discussion, see (if that's) that a better plan of action."

While Backes may not be winning any foot races in this series, his 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame could provide plenty of value this series, especially when it comes to wearing down Toronto’s skilled forward over the course of a seven-game series.

His offensive production has obviously dipped since signing his five-year, $30-million contract with Boston back in 2016 (seven goals, 20 points over 70 games this year), but Backes’ willingness to bully skaters on the forecheck and slow down the opposition in front of him has been evident in terms of opposing chances generated when he’s out on the ice.

Among Bruins skaters that have logged at last 100 minutes of 5v5 time on ice this season, Backes leads the pack when it comes to suppressing opposing goals generated — placing first in goals against per 60 minutes of play (0.94) while ranking fifth among B’s forwards in shots against per 60 minutes (26.67).

“If it’s something where if we were just timing guys on races between the blue lines, maybe I’m not in the top half of the guys in this series,” Backes said. “But predictability makes guys look fast and if you’re on the same page and you’re playing the same game and you’re talking and you’re communicating ... you don’t have to wait and read and react.

“You’re already anticipating and you know what your linemates are going to do and you can be there already or on your way. Now, all of a sudden, slow guys look fast. That’s kind of my mentality toward this. If we stick to our game plan and we’re more predictable — we’re getting pucks into soft areas in the corner where they’re going to break it out 30 times a game and they’re eating a little bit of glass back there, do they slow down themselves and all of the sudden, we’re occupying the offensive zone.”

Relegating Backes into a more north-south, checking role on a fourth line has often benefited both him and the Bruins as a whole.

Of the line combinations that Backes has logged at least 50 minutes of 5v5 TOI with, the results have been less than ideal when he’s skated up on a second line with David Krejci and DeBrusk (47.87 Corsi For Percentage, plus-1 shot differential) and a third line with Colby Cave and Joakim Nordstrom (41.18 CF%, minus-9 shot differential).

But when skating with some fourth-line combination of Chris Wagner, Noel Acciari, Sean Kuraly and Joakim Nordstrom over a combined 207 minutes of 5v5 TOI? Boston holds a plus-35 shot differential and plus-4 edge in goals scored. Kuraly might still be out for Game 2 while recovering from a fractured hand, but a fourth line of Wagner, Backes and Acciari might just provide the thump Boston will need to knock Toronto down a peg.

“The way I’ve always seen the league is that, over that seven games, you can really wear and beat a team down,” Backes said. “What you do in Game 1 wears on to Game 2 and 3 and 4, especially in a physicality matter. Maybe that’s changed a bit, but they’re a very skilled team, we’re a very skilled team and skill on skill — I think they made the most of more of their opportunities than we did in Game 1 and they got the win. Game 2, we’ll see what adjustments are made on both sides.”