No, the absence of David Pastrnak was not the primary reason Bruins fell short in Game 2

Bruce Cassidy stated the obvious minutes after Boston fell to the Hurricanes, 3-2, in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series. 

"You don't replace Pasta," the B's bench boss noted.

Indeed, for as many potential mixes and matches available to Boston with the likes of Anders Bjork, Ondrej Kase and even a youngster like Jack Studnicka in line for a look next to Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand — there's only so much one can expect for any winger looking to fill the offense void left with the absence of David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak, who appeared to be in some serious discomfort when celebrating Bergeron's double-overtime winner on Wednesday afternoon, was not given the green light to play on Thursday — with Cassidy noting postgame that the ailment is not expected to lead to a "long-term" absence.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1294069031117496325

A new-look first line of Marchand, Bergeron and Bjork certainly seemed like an adequate replacement, at least for a game — with the trio generating an 58.47% shot share and outscoring opponents, 4-1, in 59:40 of 5v5 ice time together.

But, to the surprise of very few, Boston's 5v5 offense took a step back in Thursday's loss to Carolina up at Scotiabank Arena.

Bjork managed to land a shot on goal against Reimer in his opening shift, but that was all the 24-year-old winger was able to muster on the night. Even though that first line still managed to hold a commanding edge in terms of shot attempts (17-9) and shots on goal (10-3) in their 7:34 of ice time together, it only resulted in one high-danger scoring chance — and zero points on the board.

In total, after generating nine 5v5 high-danger scoring chances through the first three periods of Wednesday's win, Boston ended with just five of the same quality looks in 47:20 of 5v5 ice time Thursday.

That being said, even without Pastrnak peppering James Reimer in net with his patented one-timers, the loss of Boston's top sniper was not the primary reason the B's suddenly find themselves in a 1-1 stalemate with the Canes.

Of course, this Bruins offense is not nearly the same without Pastrnak in tow, and an extended absence is going to cause serious issues for a team already far too reliant on its top line when it comes to providing 5v5 offense. But all things considered, Boston's offense was able to do enough (headlined by a revived power play) to give Cassidy's club a 2-0 lead in this series.

What truly did them in was not Pastrnak's absence, but rather, the lack of cohesion down the other end of the ice.



Even though names like Sebastian Aho, Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov headline a young, but talented Hurricanes crew, Rod Brind'Amour's team can beat you with just about any forward trio or defensive pair he opts to roll out on the ice — namely because Carolina adheres to a collective strategy of swarming the attacking zone, stymieing clearing attempts and giving their gifted defenseman a chance to activate and jump into the play during extended O-zone shifts.

Whereas in Game 1, where Boston managed to tilt the ice in its favor of snuff out any extended pushes from the Hurricanes, Thursday saw Carolina push back — capitalizing on a pressured and occasionally listless Bruins defense throughout most of the final 30 minutes of regulation.

"That's kind of what their team is predicated on," Matt Grzelcyk said. "They kind of feed off that from their coach and we knew that going in. I think it's on us, especially defenseman, to try to move it to the first guy who is available and get out of our zone cleanly. But they’re a good team and they're going to forecheck hard and mistakes are going to happen."

Carolina's eventual game-winning tally off the stick of Dougie Hamilton was case in point of how things can go off the rails in a hurry against this aggressive Canes crew.



Already hemmed in their own end, David Krejci — feeling the heat from Svechnikov and Vincent Trocheck — committed a turnover that was scooped up the Hurricanes. While a quick breakup from Charlie McAvoy and a recovery from a diving Kase gave Boston an opportunity to steer the puck out of danger, Jake DeBrusk was unable to cast the puck out of Boston's zone. With Ryan Dzingel pushing up into the play, DeBrusk flipped the biscuit along the boards by way of the backhand, allowing Martin Necas to pick it up and extend Carolina's mounting O-zone pressure.

Skating behind Boston's net, Necas waited for Hamilton to activate, with the former Bruin uncorking a laser from the right circle that sailed above Rask's glove and into twine — giving Carolina the lead for good.

"You got to punt in those situations, live to fight another day,"Cassidy said. "The puck has got to clear the zone when you're running around. Jake had the other one and then you know they didn't sort out with Krejci and Kase and ends up in the back of our net. So you know those pucks you got to find a way to live to fight another day. That's a pretty good opportunity, tough one for Tuukka, like that plunger play, Dougie shoots the puck pretty well, so I think that's just what happened on those breakdowns."

That forecheck pressure also allowed Svechnikov to snap a puck just under the crossbar in the second period, with the Russian winger slipping past DeBrusk and generating a quality look after Necas found another seam in Boston's defensive structure.



Yes, let me once again shout it out to the masses. The Bruins absolutely need David Pastrnak back and energizing this B's offense. But this is still a roster that, with a potent power play and still elite forwards in the top six, should still be able to trade punches with Carolina.

But if this poor puck management and consistent forechecking pressure from Carolina continues, not even Pastrnak's return will be able to keep Boston off the ropes.

"It's our turn to push back," Cassidy said. "We feel that we're a good team at correcting things that as we go along that we feel that hurt us the game before so obviously we’ll look at why we give up some goals from the interior, better puck support on breakouts, how do we limit them getting through the neutral zone to get on the forecheck so it usually starts at one end leads down to the other."

OTHER NOTES: 

While Cassidy did not rule out Pastrnak for Game 3 on Saturday afternoon, he did add that the noon start time does complicate things, as the winger will not be afforded a morning skate to test out whatever is ailing him ahead of puck drop. Regardless of Pastrnak's availability, Cassidy did say on Friday afternoon that Boston is likely going to switch a few skaters around ahead of Game 3.

“We’ve thought it through," Cassidy said. "We had some guys go on the ice today. There's always the day-to-day bumps and bruises, so to sit here and (say) our lineup (now) may be inaccurate because of that, but we’ll be making some changes at forward and D. Again, some of that is to get some energy in the lineup and change the look of our forward group.”

On defense, the only name that realistically makes much sense in terms of getting swapped up is Jeremy Lauzon, who, while not a liability, hasn't been quite as steady as what he provided during the regular season. With Boston looking for some more energy, don't be surprised if Connor Clifton gets the nod on Saturday.

Up front, Nick Ritchie could be sitting out Game 3, as the power forward only landed two hits in 10:45 of ice time in Game 2, while failing to log a shift for the final 13 minutes of regulation. Who Cassidy puts in could vary quite a bit. If he's simply looking for a dependable, bottom-six option, a NHLer like Par Lindholm could get the nod — perhaps allowing a winger like Chris Wagner to slot up — while another option could be to give a youngster like Jack Studnicka another go.

While Studnicka's willingness to drive to the net and generate quality looks could be a way for Boston to generate some of the 5v5 offense lost without Pastrnak, the 21-year-old forward still needs to round out his overall game — and could be targeted by that same frantic Carolina forecheck if he does get the call.