If you were at Saturday’s early April matinee between the Bruins and Panthers at TD Garden, you can be excused for thinking you’d dropped smack dab into a Stanley Cup playoff game.
Face-washing scrums after nearly every whistle, high sticks to the face that went uncalled by referees losing track of so many things happening on the ice at once and Matthew Tkachuk getting booed lustily as he skated to the penalty box after hammering Parker Wotherspoon from behind and then having the audacity to passionately complain about it. This game had everything as Bill Hader’s Stefon character from SNL used to say, so Saturday’s 3-2 overtime Bruins win on a Jesper Boqvist short-side snipe felt like an extension of last spring’s first-round playoff series between the B’s and Panthers.
Jesper Boqvist with a LASER to win it in OT 🥵 pic.twitter.com/7NQ412HnsX
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 6, 2024
And with a few regular season games left to go, it had everybody craving for more again this postseason.
“The physicality of it and the intensity from the players – especially after the whistles – you could tell that we’re getting close [to the playoffs],” said Jim Montgomery. “The physicality and the scrums…you can tell that there’s hate between both teams.”
Playoff vibes with all these post-whistle scrums in Bruins-Panthers 😳 pic.twitter.com/B40XnKJhT6
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 6, 2024
Credit the B’s for keeping cool heads, however, as they turned the high-temperature game into five power play chances before finally cashing in during the latter moments of the second period after getting plenty of reps with both units.
Given the way things are going, both teams will obviously have to take care of business in the first round of the playoffs – with the B’s looking like a lock to play the wild-card Lightning in a tough draw and the Panthers hosting the Maple Leafs – but it was definitely in the backs of the collective minds of the Boston players after it was all over.
“These are the games you want to play. That’s what makes it fun is these types of games,” said Charlie Coyle, who popped in a big power play in the second period for his career-best 25th goal of the season. “Of course against a team like that, they play hard and it’s never a dull moment against [the Panthers]. We thrive on those games, and we love playing them. We’re usually up for them, but if we’re not then it gets you involved and into it right away. That’s why you play hockey right there.”
Really, though, it comes down to the seething hate on the ice.
Those strong emotions are involved with the best playoff matches in the Cup playoffs, and they will be there with hardnosed opponents like Tkachuk and Sam Bennett (game-high seven hits) suiting up for the other team. That will get the best out of key Bruins players like Charlie McAvoy, who was a monster on Saturday with a goal, nine shot attempts, three hits and four blocked shots in 25 plus minutes of nasty, in-your-face ice time for the Black and Gold.
“It’s fun and it’s emotional. You don’t want to cross over, but sometimes it’s fine…it’s hockey you’re allowed to get emotional and let that bring out the best in you,” said McAvoy. “You just make sure you tiptoe up to the line and don’t cross it.
“I just thought the two teams were playing hard and it was just a good hockey game. Whether it’s Tampa, Toronto or these [Panthers] guys, we’ve had a lot of good games [against them this season].”
Hopefully the hockey gods will cooperate and give us the second-round postseason rematch between Boston and Florida because hockey fans everywhere will be better off for it given the emotion and nastiness involved, and the B’s have to feel like there’s unfinished business after what happened a year ago.
ONE-TIMERS
1. It was not encouraging to see Justin Brazeau sporting some kind of protective brace on his right hand/lower arm walking around the press box on Saturday afternoon. The good news is that it doesn’t appear to be a shoulder injury as it initially looked like it was when he first got injured against Tampa, but it also didn’t look like anything he’s going to be ready to bounce back from soon. He’s still considered “week-to-week” at this point while not on the ice and that injury has opened the door for James van Riemsdyk to get back into the playoff rotation.
2. Congrats to Danton Heinen on being the 2024 Boston Bruins nominee for the Masterton Trophy awarded to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Heinen showed great perseverance in pushing through a summer when he didn’t have a guaranteed contract and earning a spot with the B’s after being given a training camp tryout. It’s an even greater story that he’s become a key top-6 player for the Bruins over the course of the season that’s skating with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak right now. He also had the nomination in perspective while talking about it afterward. “It is mentally grinding at points. But it’s hockey adversity. You kind of have to take a step back and get some perspective. It’s a game we play,” said Heinen, who has 16 goals and 35 points in 70 games. “Yeah, it’s your life and stuff, but at the end of the day, we’re lucky to do it. There’s a lot worse problems than trying to make a hockey team, but in saying that, I’m grateful to be here. It’s a fun group to be a part of.”
3. Great to see a local kid like Lincoln, Mass. native Collin Graf really see success with his free agent signing with the San Jose Sharks. A product of programs like the Junior Bruins and the Rivers School, Graf had a dozen teams chasing after him following a productive career at Quinnipiac University where he answered any doubts about his game after not getting drafted in his teenage years. He had an inauspicious NHL debut with a shot on net in 13:36 of ice time and said the honesty of Massachusetts guys like San Jose GM Mike Grier helped him choose the Sharks. "I think they were really honest with me," said Graf to Sharks reporters. "There are a lot of Northeast guys, as a Massachusetts guy, it's familiar. I thought that obviously added to the decision for sure. I think it was just the honesty of what they saw in me and what they thought I could do."
4. If there’s any justice in the college hockey world, we’ll get a Frozen Four final match between Boston College and Boston University for the national championship. It’s only happened once prior in NCAA hockey history with a showdown in 1978, but three of the four times they’ve met this season it’s been as the No. 1 and No. 2 team in the country. And every game has been entertaining outside of the latter moments in the Hockey East championship showdown a couple of weeks ago. But in a banner year where both programs are fully back to their normal NCAA heights under new coaches in Greg Brown and Jay Pandolfo, this is the way it should go down while getting everybody talking about college hockey.
5. It’s amazing to see the battle going on for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with the Flyers, Penguins, Capitals and Red Wings all pulling out the stops for a postseason berth. Amazing to see that Sid the Kid and the Pens have come back from being sellers at the deadline to push into the wild card spot on Sunday morning, and just as jaw-dropping to see the Flyers lose seven in a row when it looked like they had a playoff spot wrapped up. It’s all pushed John Tortorella to be feisty and reflective at the same time, which is exactly how we like to see him when chatting with the Philly media throng.
John Tortorella is the 🐐 . What a 90 seconds. pic.twitter.com/Cnt9AensZn
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) April 3, 2024