Bruce Cassidy rips into officiating following Bruins’ frustrating Game 5 loss

For most of the past week, the second-round series between the Bruins and Islanders has been as advertised. 

The Islanders have stuck to their gameplan — grinding the Bruins down thanks to great goaltending, a heavy forecheck and a rigid defensive structure. The Bruins have countered with standout performances from their star players in Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and others. 

And yet, for as much as New York is at its best when it’s throwing its weight around and wearing down its opponent, the first few games of this series didn’t flash the same venom found in previous playoff bouts involving the B’s and foes like the Blues, Canucks, Maple Leafs or Lightning. 

Perhaps some of it was a byproduct of New York’s reputation as the type of lunch-pail team that’s easy to root for — and stays within the rulebook despite thriving off of a bruising style of play. 

But after a frustrating Game 5 loss in which officiating has now been rooted into the narrative of this series, Bruce Cassidy has more than a few qualms with New York’s standing across the league — and perhaps more importantly, within the circles of the NHL's refs.

While some of the mutual respect and pleasantries exchanged between the Bruins and Islanders have dissipated over the last few days as both Cassidy and Barry Trotz have resorted to displays of gamesmanship via media-facilitated airings of grievances — those declarations via Zoom are a regular exchange, a shot across the bow, some would say, from bench bosses looking to carve out a competitive edge for their club.

But with his club’s season hanging on by a thread following Monday’s disheartening result — Cassidy did away with warning shots and instead uncorked a salvo against both officiating and the reputation crafted by their second-round opponent. 

"This is my take on it: We're playing a team that has very well-respected management and coaching staff. They won a Stanley Cup,” Cassidy said before twisting the knife. “But I think they sell a narrative over there that it's more like the New York Saints, not the New York Islanders. They play hard and they play the right way, but I feel we're the same way. And the exact calls that get called on us do not get called on them, and I don't know why."

Harping on the officiating on a night in which the Bruins’ (albeit shorthanded) defense and PK let an Isles power play ranked 20th overall in the regular season bury three goals on its first four shots might seem to be a case of Cassidy not seeing the forest for the trees — his frustrations do have some merit. 

For Cassidy, the primary point of consternation isn’t exactly with the calls whistled against Boston — but the lack of a similar judgment doled out by the officials for the same infractions from Trotz’ club.

Cassidy took umbrage with the lack of calls on what were clear instances of a high stick, cross-check and boarding against Jeremy Lauzon, David Krejci and Charlie McAvoy in what was another frustrating defeat in Game 4 — and those frustrations boiled when a similar script played out on Monday. 

Whether it be the lack of a whistle when Craig Smith got struck up high in the second period (Chris Wagner was whistled for a high stick less than two minutes later - leading to a New York power-play strike), a missed cross-check from Brock Nelson that caught Bergeron in the face or an uncalled delay of game on the Isles, Boston’s power play was denied a number of chances to try and claw out of its deficit on a night where the B’s came up just a goal short.

“These are very good officials. They’re at this point in the season for a reason. You’ve got continuous high sticks every game, the exact same high sticks - Bergy from Nelson behind the net. That one that came up on Smith. Marchy got called for that in Game 1. I could go on and on. Wagner the other day in front of the net. Maybe we need to sell them more, flop. But that’s not our style. 

"You’d just hope they’d see them. The same calls go against us. It’s not like I’m saying every call against us sucks. It’s not true. At the end of the day, they’re similar plays and they need to be penalized on those plays. But like I said they’ve done a great job selling that narrative that they’re clean. They play a hard brand of hockey. I love the way they play. But they commit as many infractions as we do.”

Trotz pushed back on Cassidy’s comments during his own presser, noting that the results speak for themselves when it comes to New York’s propensity for staying out of the sin bin. 

“You’ll have to ask him what he means by that," he said. "I just looked at where we ended up during the year, we were one of the least-penalized teams in the whole league. I don't know what he means by that. You'll have to ask him."

The least-penalized team in the league? Where have we heard that before? 

But Cassidy was not done when it came to bemoaning his club getting tangled up by the narratives woven in this series — especially when it came to Bergeron getting kicked out of the faceoff dot on multiple occasions Monday night, shortly after Trotz stated that the top-line pivot can “cheat” during those sequences. 

“It’s like with Bergeron today. He’s thrown out of what, the first two? three? four faceoffs he takes because some mentioned - Have a little respect for Patrice Bergeron,” Cassidy said. “He’s up for the Selke. He’s been a warrior in this league, a face of the franchise. He does everything right for hockey. Sells the game. And that’s the way you treat him? C’mon. ‘Cause someone speaks out and says something?

"They just need to be better than that. Call the game that you see. Quit listening to these outside influences and get it done right. Cause I don’t think they were great tonight, I’m not going to lie to you.  But they have been. And they're good guys and good officials. I just felt tonight they were off."

Again, Boston’s woes on Monday were not all tied to the calls (or lack thereof) by the officials on the TD Garden ice. If the Bruins want to extend their season for a few more days/weeks, it’s going to need more secondary scoring — along with a much more stout defense in front of either Tuukka Rask or Jeremy Swayman. 

But, as much as it pains all of us, the influence of on-ice officials is set to loom over however long this series will endure — and is sure to be etched as a key factor in whatever fate befalls the Bruins in the days ahead.