In a sport like hockey, where fortune and playoff odds are about as fickle as a bouncing puck in the slot, it should come as no surprise that home-ice advantage oftentimes … doesn’t really offer a whole lot in terms of an advantage.
During the 2018-19 regular season, the Bruins were one of the hardest clubs to topple on home ice, with Boston posting a record of 29-9-3 within the friendly confines of TD Garden — good for the second-best home record in the entire NHL. During that stretch, Boston boasted a plus-40 goal differential on Causeway Street, while cashing in on 31.8 percent of their chances on the power play.
The playoffs, however, have been a different story so far for Boston, with both the Bruins and Maple Leafs posting identical records of 1-2 at TD Garden and Scotiabank Arena, respectively.
So far during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, only seven of the 16 teams in the first round have posted a winning percentage above .500 on home ice, with St. Louis managing to win three of its four necessary wins against the Winnipeg Jets up in enemy territory at Bell MTS Place.
While this postseason could have the top three teams (points wise) all bounced out of the first round in the Lightning, Flames and Bruins, struggles on home ice aren't necessarily a surprise. Even last season, home teams in the playoffs only posted a .470 win percentage in their own barn during the first three rounds of play.
Prior to winning a pair of games at Capital One Arena during the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, the Capitals had only managed to post a record of 4-5 on home ice during the playoffs — even after generating a record of 28-11-2 in the building during the regular season.
Even with having the benefit of last change to dictate matchups on home ice, Bruce Cassidy noted on Monday that having that luxury can sometimes act as a bit of a hindrance, with bench bosses getting more caught up in strategy than the actual game playing out in front of them.
“We’ve played really well at home this year,” Cassidy said. “If you get caught up in the matchups, maybe that’s something. When you’re on the road, you just put out there who you want and they have to react to it. So sometimes, it’s almost easier, as far as a coach, to coach on the road. Pick your players and trust them to get the job done.
“That could have something to do with it. Other than that, I don’t think we’re nervous in front of our home crowd. We get great juice from them. I know in Game 2, we played really well here. As for Toronto, up there, why they didn’t play as well in front of their own crowd? I don’t know. Again, I think it’s two good teams. There’s not much to pick from, regardless of where they play.”
Sean Kuraly echoed Cassidy’s sentiments when it comes to playing in front of a raucous TD Garden crowd. Still, when it comes down to it, a venue loses its significance real quick if you’re chasing the game early.
“It could be because you think it’s going to help you,” Kuraly said of the reasoning for Boston’s recent struggles on home ice. “You come in and you think you’ve got this advantage. Both crowds have been unbelievable. It’s nothing against that. No one in the stands is scoring a goal for you. You’ve got to come out and you’ve got to play.
"If you think it’s going to be a big advantage and the other team think they’re going to be at a big disadvantage and they come out like gangbusters and you come out a little slow, then it’s an issue. You can look at it any way you want. We’ve just to got to play a good game and we’ll be lucky to have our home crowd behind us. That’s what we fought for this season and we’re really thankful for that.”
A watchful eye
Bruce Cassidy didn’t think that Joakim Nordstrom’s tumble in Game 6 was due to a slew foot, per se. But something has certainly been afoot this series when it comes to players falling to the ice due to skate-to-skate contact.
On the play in question, Nordstrom’s skate gave out after Travis Dermott made contact with his skate — forcing the B’s winger to fall backward and catch Dermott in the face with his stick. Only Nordstrom was sent off to the sin bin for the sequence, as he was handed a minor penalty for a high stick.
Only Nordstrom gets a penalty on this sequence. pic.twitter.com/1iNGKXwvh9
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 21, 2019