The bitter taste of defeat and the sobering reality that comes with another season unfulfilled strikes the same nerve year after year, but the manner in which a promising campaign is dashed does hold some weight when it comes to crafting the narrative of just what went wrong for your favorite team.
For most of us, disappointing ends to both the Bruins’ 2018 and 2020 campaigns at the hands of some loaded Lightning teams linger as failed chances to capitalize on some of the final chapters of this fruitful Bergeron era, but the narrative surrounding those losses and the reasons why those playoff runs split at the seams is a bit easier to digest than say, a missed call or bad bounce.
Take your pick of the reasons why Boston’s seasons came to a close against Tampa — a lack of secondary scoring, struggles getting into Grade-A ice against larger D, a lack of depth. All misgivings and ‘what-could-have-been’ musings, no doubt. But simply losing to a better club — both on paper on especially on the ice — is a fate that can be accepted, as painful as such a reality is.
What chills the souls of any sports fan is for the fate of a series, season and even era to be augmented and dismantled by other forces outside of the personnel on the field/ice or the simple X’s and O’s. You know what I mean — the seasons felled by a fluttering puck or a ref doing his best impression of that weary cop from “The Town”.
For Bruce Cassidy, the hope is that the narrative of this 2021 season won’t be woven with a similar fabric — in which a season filled with so much hope was undone by calls (or lack thereof) out on the TD Garden ice. Boston’s bench boss certainly voiced his displeasure following Monday’s Game 5 loss to the Islanders — and his wallet is now $25,000 lighter in the process.
"I guess most of what I thought I said was more in reference to the Islanders. … Listen, we're in front of the cameras a lot in the media, it's an entertainment business. It's been a good series, so there's a little bit of that back and forth," Cassidy said Tuesday morning. “That's where a lot of that was directed. Obviously, I felt there were some calls that didn't go our way that have gone against us when it comes to high sticks…I voiced that and I was held accountable for it.
“Usually when you get fined, you say something to the effect of embarrassing or a joke. I didn't say any of that. I actually think those two officials are excellent officials. I think they missed a couple of high sticks along the way here in this series. I pointed that out. "We were told before that we have to keep our comments civil, I thought it was. They didn't see it that way.”
Listen, I get it. As Greg noted, it’s only natural to harp on external forces like officiating when it comes to airing out grievances after a loss. As incendiary as emotions can be following games like Monday night, it sometimes can be more comforting to place the blame on the refs for the predicament facing your favorite club, as opposed to taking a hard look at the shortcomings on one’s own roster.
But with Boston’s season hanging on by a thread ahead of a Game 6 showdown on Long Island, it’s time to accept some hard truths.
Yes, Cassidy’s criticism of the officials is valid. But it’s far from the primary reason why Boston finds itself in a 3-2 hole to the Islanders.
A depleted D corps
As pivotal as Monday’s Game 5 defeat was toward pushing Boston to the brink, the true turning point of this series was not Monday’s officiating fiasco — but rather, it was the hit from Cal Clutterbuck that put Brandon Carlo on the shelf in Game 3.
Clutterbuck hit on Carlo pic.twitter.com/r9Qzjcn6pG
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) June 4, 2021
With Boston already without Kevan Miller after the rugged blueliner was knocked out of Game 4 of the B’s first-round series against Washington, the Bruins’ D corps is without two of its six regulars — and arguably their top netfront defenders both at even strength and especially on the penalty kill.
Add in injuries to depth pieces like Steven Kampfer and John Moore — coupled with the diminished returns for youngsters handed early-season reps like Jakub Zboril and Urho Vaakanainen —and you have a perfect storm in which pillars of Boston’s success this season in its team defense and PK are now weak links.
With Carlo and Miller out of commission, the Isles — a team that ranked 20th in the league in power-play percentage during the regular season — smell blood in the water, with New York countering the lopsided shot totals that Boston has managed to generate by burying the limited looks that they’ve found in Grade-A ice.
It’s been quality over quantity when it comes to the Islanders’ chances in Boston’s zone — with the low slot suddenly open now that both Carlo and Miller aren’t on the ice to patrol those areas of the ice.
(A look at the shot map through five games between the Bruins and Islanders. As you can see, a whoooole lot of even-strength tallies from the Isles have come in the slot and Grade-A ice.)
Game 5 was the latest result of Boston’s shorthanded D corps not being up to snuff against a generally pedestrian offense in New York — headlined by a putrid showing on special teams in which the B’s second-ranked PK relinquished three goals.
“Carlo and Miller are great on the PK. Now you got Cliffy in there, not as long," Cassidy said. "On the Palmieri (goal) the backdoor one — he's just not able to get it done there. … We missed (Carlo & Miller) back there, we had some breakdowns we need to correct. Guys don't have their abilities on it, but we've got to coach them up, make sure they're better. So that's what's in front of us that sticks out right now. Obviously some five-on-five things, but I thought five on five, we were dominant (in Game 5). But the PK let us down and we got to get better.”
For as much as the decision between Tuukka Rask and Jeremy Swayman might loom large ahead of Wednesday’s do-or-die showdown, the fact of the matter is that both goalies could be left out to dry if Boston’s D corps continues to cough up so many quality looks in Grade-A ice.
"We got to be better in front of Tuukka defensively, we got to tighten up on a penalty kill, we've got to clean some of those areas up,” Cassidy said. “We can't be giving up those point-blank chances and when we do, we need him to make some saves for us. And that's the formula and that's always been the formula, especially in the playoffs. Every team needs that. You need some key saves, they're not going to be perfect. You also have to be good in front of your goaltender, right? So we've got to fix those two things. That was the biggest takeaway from the game last night that we need to do better and where we need to coach better."
Poor clears
New York has tilted the series back in its favor thanks to the sizable real estate now in front of Tuukka Rask in the low slot, but Boston has also made things difficult by failing to clear pucks when the opportunities present themselves.
Of course, some failed clears are the byproduct of hurried passes and split-second decisions generated via a frantic Islanders forecheck. But if Boston wants to limit the amount of chances that New York can generate against an already ailing B’s D corps, they’re going to need to get off the ropes by getting the puck out if a window is afforded to them.
(A poor turnover by Kuraly on what should have been an easy clearing opportunity led to a turnover — and an eventual Isles power-play tally in Game 5.)
“We had opportunities to clear on every PK. Some of them on the D are tough. They're under pressure. Kuraly had one, he just has to shoot down the ice. He should know better than that. He's been on our team a long time, big part of our PK, you're not making plays there, get it down the ice. … You're not going to get every puck down. But having the mindset of clearing it first, you know, get it out of the zone. Then worry about what you have on your plate next has got to be our mindset first and foremost.”
Secondary Scoring? ... Bueller? Bueller???
As has been the case for … years ... now, the Bruins have once again been carried offensively by their top line in Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand — with Boston holding an 8-2 edge in goals scored and a 91-50 advantage in scoring chances during their 120:49 of 5v5 ice time this postseason.
And while Boston’s struggles on both the third and fourth lines have been well documented at this point, a second line that was looking like a O-zone juggernaut during the previous month has suddenly gone quiet at the worst possible time.
David Krejci might have scored on Monday night to make it a one-goal game in the third period — but the Hall-Krejci-Smith line, despite plenty of O-zone looks, have not provided the supplementary scoring that Boston has desperately needed in this series.
In total, during the 48:34 of 5v5 ice time that the B’s new second line has logged against the Isles, that Krejci Game 5 goal has been the lone tally that they’ve been able to generate.
Obviously, the Bruins will welcome any and all offensive contributions from what has been a largely disappointing bottom-six unit, but what was expected to be the B’s trump card in Krejci’s new linemates has yet to put Boston over the top in this series where an extra goal or two can make all the difference against a team that’s at a major disadvantage when asked to crawl out of a deficit.
As soon as Game 5 ended in the manner it did, it was pretty much a given that discourse surrounding officiating was going to linger over the rest of this series — and likely carry over into the offseason if Boston’s season comes to a close at Nassau Coliseum.
But if yours truly is going to have to pen the obituary for the Bruins’ 2021 season later tonight, the bitter truth is that this talented roster will likely only have itself to blame for coming up short against a team it should vanquish in a best-of-seven series.
The good news? The Bruins still have time to and correct and overcome these intrinsic flaws — and potentially force a Game 7 back on home ice.
The ball (err- puck?) is in their court.
“Fourth one is the hardest one to win,” Charlie McAvoy said. “We’re going to New York to win a game. That’s all that’s on our minds. We want to put our best foot forward and win a hockey game. That’s it. That’s all we’re thinking about right now. This thing isn’t over.”