Round 1 Bruins-Leafs
- Thread starter The Napkin
- Start date
One day someone will explain to me this organization's love of Forbort. Today will not be that day.
I just don't understand it.
I just don't understand it.
steve conroy
@conroyherald
6m
Looks like Grzelcyk is back in. Forbort, Shattenkirk and Lauko are out late with Ullmark
@conroyherald
6m
Looks like Grzelcyk is back in. Forbort, Shattenkirk and Lauko are out late with Ullmark
That makes a little more sense. Grzelyck and Shattenkirk are like-for-like. If Forbort was returning, I think it would be for Wotherspoon.
This is another weird one. I assume he'll play, especially since their season is on the line.
Odd sequence though. I know teams aren't forthcoming with details, but I believe I read that he got sick prior to game 3. Played all of that game, then got 2 days off before being playing in game 4 and being pulled after 2 period despite not missing a shift (~14 minutes TOI through 2). I kinda wonder if he would've continued to play had the Bruins not scored the 3rd goal. Even still, two more days off and his availability still seems a bit in doubt. I know illness' can kick everyones ass but the handling seems a bit weird.
Might have caught one of those stomach bugs, thought he could do it, then turns out he was wiped. I wonder if we will hear after the series is over that Matthews dropped 10 lbs... I forget who it happened to on the Bruins last year, but I do remember it coming up at one point.
Yeah, or COVID and respitory issues. I'm not saying he's faking or whatever just the handling has been odd.
Kinda like whatever happened to Nylander. Played all 82 regular season games then suddenly out for 3 games, including 2 after he had been skating/practicing.
What's odd to me is the "it's up to the doctor" comment. If it's the usual "sick" (flu, stomach bug, feeling shitty, puking, whatever) the player will play if he can convince the coach he can make it through the game. The involvement of a doc to make the call suggests the possibility of further damage if he just "goes out there and gives it everything he has." Like some kind of thing affecting an organ. I'd pay a dollar to hear Al Michaels say that Matthews is "out with a liver."
I seem to recall a story of an NHL player passing a kidney stone during an intermission and playing the next period. Can't find the story, though, so maybe just an urban legend.
I don’t know, and I’d pay good money to find out. It’s been a very long standing problem. Everyone loves the highlights against Toronto in 2013 but they blew a 3-1 lead in that series too.
I think it’s the mentality of players that they like to acquire. Good guys that really care about winning, good in the community etc. Great guys to have in your organization representing the city.
Problem is guys like that tend to tighten up in big games. They could use a couple of dick heads in the room. Just my opinion.
I have no doubt that they want to win really badly, they just need a couple of guys that think “fuck you” instead of “were fucked” when things start going south, and lead the room.
And honestly the coach seems to tighten up as well. They should probably start addressing the choking problem by replacing him.
That being said, I don’t think they’re that far away roster wise from changing the DNA of the team.
Probably two or three changes.
Isn’t this why they went out and got Maroon? A guy who’s been through this that can settle the room down and get the team playing right?
Scratching Beecher, the only dependable LH faceoff man, in favor of Brazeau who hadn't played in weeks or JVR who can no longer skate and doesn't give you anything on the forecheck was such a bad decision. What kind of message are you sending to the team when they just come off a dominate effort in TOR that you feel the need to change up the lineup?
Maybe the message was, we can beat this team with whoever we put out there, and some guys we may need down the road need to get a chance to play, and we're up 3-1 so what better time to do it than now?
I'm not saying it was the right call, but that could have been the message.
So who is in net game 6? Sway has been incredible. But he's not used to playing a bunch of consecutive games. If they lose game 6, then he's playing his 5th straight game in game 7.
I said before the game that I'd play Ullmark the next game regardless of opponent or venue. I'm sticking to it.
I said before the game that I'd play Ullmark the next game regardless of opponent or venue. I'm sticking to it.
There is no reason to play Maroon or JVR.
Bench both of them and get Beecher and Lauko back on the ice so you can actually skate with the other team and have someone other than Coyle try a face-off now and again. Thank God the Leafs are kinda slow themselves. Brazeau deserves to be in the line-up. He certainly adds an element they are not getting anywhere else.
I don't think Lohrei and Grz. can both be in the line-up. I mean, it is a miracle the Bruins have only given up the goals they have, but if they lose any of Carlo, Lindholm or McAvoy for even a few minutes it feels like they are really exposed on the back side.
Bench both of them and get Beecher and Lauko back on the ice so you can actually skate with the other team and have someone other than Coyle try a face-off now and again. Thank God the Leafs are kinda slow themselves. Brazeau deserves to be in the line-up. He certainly adds an element they are not getting anywhere else.
I don't think Lohrei and Grz. can both be in the line-up. I mean, it is a miracle the Bruins have only given up the goals they have, but if they lose any of Carlo, Lindholm or McAvoy for even a few minutes it feels like they are really exposed on the back side.
Broader thought: Is coming out flat a modern athlete kind of thing? I don’t recall Celtics games when Bird played well, but I have to think they had playoff games where they were flat.
Think about the modern Celtics who routinely do this. The Bruins did this with Claude, Cassidy, & now with Monty.
I don’t think this team is special in that regard. I think teams just come out flat. Sure is annoying and frustrating as a fan though.
Think about the modern Celtics who routinely do this. The Bruins did this with Claude, Cassidy, & now with Monty.
I don’t think this team is special in that regard. I think teams just come out flat. Sure is annoying and frustrating as a fan though.
No, it's a human thing. Sometimes you just don't have it. I'd be hard pressed to think guys weren't coming out flat when they were flying commercial and showing up to the rink hungover.
Ullmark. The rotation / associated rest is part of what makes them both good. If you go w Swayman, it’s got to be for games 6 AND 7. Whereas if they go Ullmark and there’s a Game 7, the move to Swayman in 7 is not a panic move. We have a rested Sway.
Colorado, Carolina, and Florida have all just taken care of business when up 3-1 by pounding their opponents into fine paste in Games 5. Florida and Carolina did it at home, Colorado did it on the road.
Vancouver did not but to be fair they are 1) one of the softest teams in recent memory, and 2) playing their 3rd string goalie due to injuries.
So why can't the Bruins take care of business when up 3-1? Especially at home? It's just so incredibly frustrating.
Goddamn. I love this team a lot. But there are so many days/weeks/years where I don't like them, if you get my meaning.
Vancouver did not but to be fair they are 1) one of the softest teams in recent memory, and 2) playing their 3rd string goalie due to injuries.
So why can't the Bruins take care of business when up 3-1? Especially at home? It's just so incredibly frustrating.
Goddamn. I love this team a lot. But there are so many days/weeks/years where I don't like them, if you get my meaning.
I am very frustrated as well, but those 3 teams are better to much better than this Bruins team, and their opponents are worse than the Leafs with Tampa being the closest once Hellebuych lost his ability to stop the puck.
This is true, but I have to think they are in their own heads right now. They wouldn't be human if they weren't thinking back to last year's implosion when getting ready for last night. So instead of taking it to the Leafs and firing away at a cold goalie, they decided to try to avoid mistakes and play tentatively. And naturally it didn't work and they compounded that by making a terrible mistake on the winner by having two defensemen stare at the puck with their backs to the eventual goal scorer.
McAvoy in particular seems to be prone to this kind of brain fog.
Id go with Linus. Feels like a tossup on who gives you a better chance to win game 6. If you go with Linus and lose you've got Sway with some rest, at home (oy vey?), ready to go...if you go with Sway and lose Monty is forced into a corner I dont think he wants to be in.
The Leafs are worse than Winnipeg for sure, they have far worse goaltending and defense. Hell, the Jets had more points than Colorado did this season.
I’d tell the team to pack for a multigame road trip. If they come back for a game 7 move them right into a hotel. Need to change the pattern. Sleeping in their own beds hasn’t done anything for them.
Linus gets the net. Beecher and Lauko back in. I’ll go against the grain and keep Maroon over Brazeau. For the 7-8 minutes either of those guys will get, I’d rather have Maroon’s presence on the bench. I can’t see rolling out both Gryz and Lohrei again. Shattenkirk isn’t the greatest of options, but they won with him in there.
Linus gets the net. Beecher and Lauko back in. I’ll go against the grain and keep Maroon over Brazeau. For the 7-8 minutes either of those guys will get, I’d rather have Maroon’s presence on the bench. I can’t see rolling out both Gryz and Lohrei again. Shattenkirk isn’t the greatest of options, but they won with him in there.
The intensity that Toronto played with in the first isn't sustainable. Sometimes you just need to weather the storm. I remember in 2013 vs the Penguins, almost every game the Penguins came out flying and looked like the clear better team in the first 10-20 minutes. Bruins easily swept them.
I'm not saying the Bruins can't start better. But they're not going to dominate every period of a playoff series vs a similarly talented team, especially when the other team is playing to stay alive.
I'm not saying the Bruins can't start better. But they're not going to dominate every period of a playoff series vs a similarly talented team, especially when the other team is playing to stay alive.
I'm hard pressed to connect the start of the game to the end of an OT which, between the short OT and last half of the third, they largely ran until a funky bounce and lazy defense did them in. I can squint and make the connection.
Broadly I find this narrative pushing bullshit tired and trite. They lost a game to a good team that went all out. I'm sorry they didn't go 16-0 but the speculation about Monty being on the block and them being soft all while the series is currently 3-2 WITH THE BRUINS LEADING is fucking laughable to me. This place has turned into talk radio when they lose a single game where the sky is falling. 3-2 feels right to me for the series. I don't know if I just care less or am in a more relaxed state about sports but between this discussion and the constant whining about the refs in the game threads, this place becomes unreadable for large stretches.
No one expects them to go 16-0.
I think it's a reasonable expectation that they not repeat the same patterns and mistakes year after year. Last year they had a 3-1 lead and Monty made lineup changes and the team came out flat and they lost in OT at home in Game 5 and they went on to blow the series. This year, they got a 3-1 lead and Monty made lineup changes and they came out flat and lost in OT at home in game 5.
Toronto was desperate but they were also without their best player, and they absolutely outplayed and outshot the Bruins for the majority of the game.
As a fan, it's incredibly difficult to see the same thing play out again. And this isn't referring to 1976 or some bullshit, it's the very next year and it's largely the same core group with the same coach.
It's absolutely accurate that Monty will be on the block if they blow this series. I don't see anything wrong with that. There are numerous people questioning his decisions again and to me that is fair. He seems to be an excellent regular season coach, but his postseason resume is not inspiring confidence right now.
Those teams do have much better players. But your overall point about choking in close out games is evident. It’s an organizational problem and has been for years. They’re much better off being underdogs on the road then they are favorites at home, and it’s something that I’m sure that they’re aware of.
Problem is you need great players that also have a killer instinct and that’s really hard to find. You usually have to suck for years (like Florida, Colorado, Carolina did) to get those guys.
I mean what do you do trade McAvoy? That’s the same mistake that they made with Joe Thornton.
No, you don't trade McAvoy, of course not. But your point about killer instinct is well taken. How the hell do you instill that in a team that has consistently been unable to find it? I have no idea. How do you get them to stop playing so tight in such situations? No idea.