When it comes to shutting down one of Boston’s top forwards this postseason, Connor Clifton was blunt.
“It can’t be done really,” the B’s defenseman said. “Especially when he’s doing his rink turns and you never know where he’s going.”
From an opposing standpoint, there are a number of Bruins forwards that can be a thorn in your side when it comes to tying them up in the offensive zone.
Brad Marchand is one of the strongest wingers in the league when he has the puck on his stick. Both David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk have the wheels to catch even the most steady defenseman flat-footed with a quick move to the inside. Charlie Coyle clocks in at 6-foot-3, 22o pounds. Patrice Bergeron is … well, Patrice Bergeron.
But Clifton’s scouting report centered on Boston’s fourth-line pivot — a testament to the overall mismatch that Boston’s forward corps has presented so far this postseason.
On a night in which seven different Bruins skaters tallied at least a point and all but one landed a shot on goal against Jordan Binnington, it was Sean Kuraly that served as the primary offensive catalyst for Boston in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The lone Bruin to finished with two points against the Blues, Kuraly assisted on Clifton's tally at 2:16 in the second period to put Boston on the board after carrying the puck close to 150 feet down the other end of the sheet.
The 26-year-old center provided the heroics in the final stanza, knocking a puck past Binnington at 5:21 to give Boston its first lead of the night — one that it did not relinquish en route to a 4-2 win.
“Kurls’ line was unreal and really won that game for us,”
Brad Marchand
said.
He wasn’t just talking about Kuraly’s contributions on the scoresheet.
Boston tilted the ice in its favor over the final two periods of Monday’s contest, holding a 33-15 edge in shot attempts and 5-0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances over 30:33 of 5v5 TOI. But through the first 20-odd minutes, the Blues had Boston on the ropes — controlling 68.42% of 5v5 shot attempts while opening the scoring at 7:23 off the stick of
Brayden Schenn
.
For as much as “rust” was tabbed as the primary culprit for Boston’s early struggles, most of the B’s misfortunes were brought on due to matchups — as the top line of Marchand,
Patrice Bergeron
and
David Pastrnak
labored in the early going against the Blues top trio of Schenn,
Vladimir Tarasenko
and
Jaden Schwartz.
Entering Monday’s contest, the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line had only relinquished two 5v5 goals this postseason in the span of 127 minutes of ice time together. The Blues equaled that total against the trio in just 4:25 — with Tarasenko and the Blues capitalizing off of a brutal Pastrnak turnover and beating
Tuukka Rask
to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead just a minute into the second period.
Something needed to change, and fast. Without much hesitation, Cassidy turned to his checking line in an effort to slow down the Blues’ top forwards.
“It wasn’t going our way, it’s that simple,” Cassidy said. “I thought Bergy’s line had a tough time finding their game tonight and the other guys were a little bit ahead of them, in terms of their puck possession. So
. So we decided to maybe go that route.”
While they’ve had a rotating cast for most of this season due to the various bumps and bruises that a checking line sustains over the span of an 82-game season, the overall result has largely remained the same whenever Cassidy has deployed Kuraly and Co. against a top-six grouping.
Whether it be Kuraly’s ability to serve as a
, physical wingers like Acciari and
Chris Wagner
punishing the opposition with heavy checks or
Joakim Nordstrom
winning puck battles and starting breakouts with crisp first passes, Kuraly’s crew can be a lot to handle for even the most skilled forward lines.
Schenn and Co. were just the latest to come up empty when matched up with Boston’s fourth line. In the 7:15 of 5v5 TOI in which Kuraly and Schenn were out at the same time, the Blues might have held a 5-4 edge in shots on goal — but Boston had the overall advantage in scoring chances (3-2), high-danger chances (2-0) and most importantly, goals scored (1-0).
“They always answer the bell,”
Torey Krug
said of the Kuraly line. “They do it, they don’t care who’s playing across from them. I remember, last year, their rookie year, Butch gave them a matchup against (
Sidney Crosby)
and it was kind of an eye-opening experience for them and the rest of the team as well, because they did a heck of a job against them. It was like,
alright, we have something here
. They’ll look anyone in the eye, play with anyone. It’s impressive.”
With Schenn’s line neutralized for the remainder of the night, St. Louis’ offense became rudderless — generating just nine 5v5 scoring chances after Kuraly’s line received its new assignment.
Plenty of things can change over the course of a seven-game series, and Kuraly doesn’t expect to be the sole option when it comes to slowing down the Blues’ top line. But when needed, Boston’s fourth line serves as just another mismatch for St. Louis to fret over with a Stanley Cup on the line.
“We know what our job is when we’re out against a line like that,” Kuraly said of his line handling tough assignments. “It’s to make it difficult for them to create any offense, and you know, they’re a great line so it’s tough.
“But the expectation from us was just play them hard and play them honest and make them earn every inch and if they beat us with their skill – which will definitely happen at times – then so be it, but we’re not going to let them beat us with something silly that is a mistake by us.”
