Bruins Notebook: B’s aren’t taking the bait with Blues’ post-whistle antics, Berube unhappy with calls & more taken at Enterprise Center (2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Bruins Notebook: B’s aren’t taking the bait with Blues’ post-whistle antics, Berube unhappy with calls & more

By Conor Ryan

Jun 2, 2019 • 10:01 pm

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ST. LOUIS — The Blues' power play has been woefully underwhelming so far during the Stanley Cup Final — cashing in on just one of its 10 bids against the Bruins through three games.

It’s a facet of the game that’s left much to be desired for the Western Conference Champions, but based on the way this series has progressed (especially on the penalty kill), it might be St. Louis’ best avenue to land punches against Tuukka Rask and Boston.

The challenge is getting Boston in the crosshairs of the on-ice officials, which the Blues achieved to some degree on Saturday night — with Boston whistled for eight different minor penalties, including four alone in the final period of play.

It very well could have been more, as it looks as though the Blues are making a concerted effort to get under Boston’s collar in search of more power-play reps.

 Patrick Maroon managed to get Zdeno Chara to bite at 7:37 in the second period — drawing a matching unsportsmanlike conduct and sending Boston’s top PKer to the box with Charlie McAvoy already in the sin bin off of a slashing call.

“I think it’s a bit of a balancing act,” McAvoy said of matching St. Louis’ physical tone while staying out of the box. “That’s their M.O. and they’re going to play hard. I don’t know, I guess you can say it’s tempting to take penalties.

“It’s an emotional game obviously, but I think our composure as a team is very good. I don’t think we’ve been taking a lot of penalties in this series. There was some frustration for me in the second period there, just kind of seemed like a couple shifts there where it was pretty physical and a couple of battles.”

While Chara found himself whistled for two minutes, other attempts by Craig Berube’s club to ruffle Boston’s feathers managed to fall on deaf ears — led in net by Tuukka Rask. The culprit in Torey Krug’s highlight-reel hit in Game 1 against Rob Thomas, Blues winger David Perron was at it again in Game 3, practically sitting on McAvoy during a tussle while trying to get the B’s defenseman to blow a gasket.

After McAvoy did not lose it, Perron tried his best to trigger Rask, hitting the goalie late while crashing the net. While Rask took exception, they only exchanged a couple of words before the officials separated the pair — with no penalties assessed.




“I think it’s been excellent,” Bruce Cassidy said of his team keeping its composure. “Tuukka leads the way. They’ve kind of bumped into him a few times, he’s just focused on stopping the puck, not worrying about that — some of the sideshow stuff. He’s done a real good job with that — the rest of the players, too.








"They’re a physical team — they’re probably going to take some liberties,”
Jake DeBrusk
said. “(We’re) just trying to stay even-keeled and composed and (we) understand that there’s going to be times where you’re frustrated as well. … But at the end of the day, it’s just a matter about wins right now. And these hits or plays that guys have been taking, I think they understand that there’s a bigger picture and to move on to the next play.”


Berube upset with officiating




Against Boston, such hasn’t been the case — as the Blues have been sent to the box 17 times through three games,
with six tallies on the man advantage.


You can’t say the calls haven’t been warranted, headlined by
Oskar Sundqvist
ramming into
Matt Grzelcyk.
Still, Berube believes something doesn’t add up when it comes to the amount of calls going against the Blues given their standing through the first three rounds.




The case could be made that St. Louis has managed to avoid even more calls that should have led to additional ramifications — whether it be a high hit from
Sammy Blais
on
David Backes
or a dangerous attempt by
Brayden Schenn
that
David Pastrnak
was able to evade.






“I think if that connects, he’s leaving his feet, targeting upwards, I don’t know what it looks like,” Backes said of Schenn’s attempted hit on Pastrnak. “Thankfully Pasta has got great awareness and is able to duck it and its a non issue and maybe more of a heads up.




“I don't know if you can police that or penalize that or suspend that,” he said. “But that's kind of where the old school in you where you could have someone that’s much bigger and stronger and scarier come up to that guy and say, C
ool it down or someone’s got to pay the price 
 and maybe that cools it down a lot quicker than worrying about if there’s phone calls or missed paychecks or whatever else could be a penalty for something like that.”


A coaching fraternity




“I’ve gotten to know them a lot more recently,” Cassidy said of his interactions with
Brad Stevens, Alex Cora
and
Bill Belichick.
“Brad's a little different, because we share a building, so I’ve sat down and talked with him through the course of this year, last year, when we’ve had some doubleheader games or our paths cross.




"Claude (Julien) was good friends with Bill, Claude was there for years, so obviously he nurtured those relationships. Alex is relatively new, so I think
there’s always a common goal and that is the pressure to win and the expectations in Boston. So we all kind of feel the same thing, which is a good thing. You want those, and it’s bringing us closer together.  Hopefully I can join them with a championship.”

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