A hockey team needs to be playing buttoned-up hockey while keeping the mistakes to a minimum if they hope to win Stanley Cup playoff hockey games, and the Boston Bruins absolutely did not do any of that in Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They played an excellent, fast-paced first period where they led by a 2-1 score while playing simple hockey with pucks deep, taking the body physically when the situation called for it, and getting more superior goaltending from Linus Ullmark.
They just couldn’t sustain it once the mistakes started creeping in as a pair of second-period penalties led to a game-tying Maple Leafs power play strike, and then one of Toronto’s best in Auston Matthews beat Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy for the game-winning play in the third period.
AUSTON MATTHEWS SHAKE AND BAKE!! pic.twitter.com/BbweHHekfy
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 23, 2024
The Matthews goal was a straight-up superstar play with the Leafs sniper snagging the Maxi Domi stretch pass out of the air, dropping the puck on the move, and then beating Ullmark with a simple double move.
Game over.
At that point, it felt like it was going to be Toronto’s night as one of their “core four” players finally woke up and did something. The Bruins had better hope that doesn’t become a trend as the series moves to a Toronto setting where fans are perpetually waiting for the other shoe to drop in the postseason.
The B’s actually held the shot advantage in the third period but they didn’t have enough juice to tie things up with a rushed, nervous-looking late push once they pulled Ullmark from the net.
Simply stated, it looked like as Game 2 wore on the Leafs were the more desperate team trying to avoid going down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series, and that played into the 3-2 final score that evened the series on Monday night.
“I actually liked our second period until we took the penalties,” said Jim Montgomery. “Then their power play got rolling and they get juice from their power play. I thought in the third period that they were better than we were.
“I didn’t think our urgency was where it needed to be. I just didn’t think we won enough wall battles to get out of our end successfully. They’re defending well, but we are also not playing fast enough. We are slow in transition, which is not allowing us to possess pucks and it’s not allowing us to get in on the forecheck.”
For the second straight game in the series Toronto outshot Boston, this time by a 33-29 margin, but the disparity was a little closer thanks to a few desperation shots on net at the end once the goalie was pulled.
Part of the story within the story for the results in Game 2 was Andrew Peeke leaving the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury that dropped Boston down to five defensemen. That led to Kevin Shattenkirk logging some penalty kill time with Matt Grzelcyk in the box for interference, and extended minutes for McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo as they needed to dig deep late in the third period.
The use of Shattenkirk late in Toronto’s power play possession that helped lead to the John Tavares game-tying goal was perhaps inevitable under the circumstances, but it was part of the less-than-perfect circumstances for the Black and Gold in playoff defeat. Shattenkirk managed a grand total of a little over six minutes of ice time on the penalty kill during the ENTIRE regular season, which equated to averaging six seconds of shorthanded ice time per game for the Bruins.
So it makes sense that things got a little chaotic in their own end with a player on the ice that’s not usually doing PK work in any situation and couldn’t get a body in front of the Tavares game-tying score.
“I don’t think our players were in sync with what they were trying to do [on the penalty kill] so that’s why it got a little discombobulated,” admitted Montgomery.
It wouldn’t surprise anybody if, in a series against a high-powered power play like Toronto, if the Bruins adjusted to the first two games by opting for a hard-nosed, shutdown defenseman like Parker Wotherspoon in the Toronto games over the puck-moving, power-play strengths that Shattenkirk brings to the table.
The bigger question moving forward is what the Bruins plan to do if Peeke’s injury, after blocking a shot, is any kind of serious issue. Is Derek Forbort ready to play after a couple of rehab appearances in Providence and some practices with the Black and Gold, or would Mason Lohrei become an option as a callup?
That will be a question answered up in Toronto, different than those fielded by Bruins players who admitted Game 2 wasn’t their best vintage once it was over.
“I don’t think we’ve played here yet as good as we can,” said David Pastrnak, who scored his first goal of the series on a smoked one-timer at the end of the first period. “We have some work to do, get some good sleep tonight and get back to work [on Tuesday].”
The old hockey saying goes that it’s not officially a playoff series until one of the teams loses on home ice, so Toronto made sure to make it competitive after the Bruins handed it to them in the opening game. Nearly everybody had this being a long series between competitive Atlantic Division rivals, even the B’s bench boss.
“It’s 1-to-1 and it’s a series. We knew all along that [it would be tight because] we were so close in the standings all year long. They’re a good hockey team and we’re a good hockey team,” said Montgomery. “It’s the playoffs. They improved from Game 1 to Game 2 and we didn’t improve enough. We need to get better for Game 3.”
The desperation should now transfer onto Boston’s collective shoulders as they become the road team in the best-of-seven series ready to improve their overall offensive attack and intensity level while having some lineup decisions to make.