2019 Stanley Cup Final - No Singing the Blues - Boston is Going Back to Backes

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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NHL penalty rules are fucking stupid. Grzelcyk gets his head drilled into the boards, perhaps ending his season, and that is a 2 minute minor. An accidental high stick draws a cople of drops of blood and it is a double minor? Idiotic. Is there a player in the league who would prefer to experience what happened to Gryz over getting a little cut?
IIRC "drawing blood" used to be an automatic 5-minute major.

The biggest issue I saw was the constant rotation of d-men, which I think wore them down. You especially saw this on the two Clifton penalties. They were rotating d-men out every 20-30 seconds since there were only 3 available for the PK, given they aren't going to put Krug out there. That said, they had to put Krug out there on the double minor once they got trapped in their zone for about a minute before going on the 4 on 4, which goes to show the desperation they were in to give guys a rest.
I do think its almost that simple. The remaining 5 got worn down by the extra minutes, and Clifton especially looked discombobulated with the new rotations.
And Grzelcyk's skills are especially important against the Blues.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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The first line has been a net negative thus far. If they keep that up, they're done.

They don't have to dominate to win this, but it would be much easier if they did.
The first line was invisible for the first three games of the CBJ series and then showed up with a vengence.

They'll get it going.

I was there last night, at the game. While STL has far more shots and the Bruins looked discombobulated after Gryz went down, the Bruins had plenty of chances to shoot the puck more and kept looking to pass. I expect that to change.
 

TheRealness

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The first line was invisible for the first three games of the CBJ series and then showed up with a vengence.

They'll get it going.

I was there last night, at the game. While STL has far more shots and the Bruins looked discombobulated after Gryz went down, the Bruins had plenty of chances to shoot the puck more and kept looking to pass. I expect that to change.
Marchand had one of his worst games of the entire season. Just bad decision after bad decision. Doesn't seem like he was hurt though, just out of it. Would not be surprised to learn he was sick yesterday. Or drunk. Really, really, really drunk.
 

InstaFace

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Right if Marchand doesn't lose his mind on that breakaway where McAvoy had gone forward to the boards, we win the game in regulation.
 

TFP

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Pasta still had the game (and the series) on his stick in the final minute of regulation in the slot - I'm still shocked he didn't score on that off the the faceoff. He picked the right spot (low blocker) but just didn't get enough toward the post.

I am betting he'll start burying those sooner rather than later. But the 4th line won't carry them much longer, I don't think.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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They had their moments though. There was an inability to actually get shots on net but they had chances. I didn't feel the ice was tilted or anything like that, they just didn't have much room to move. Marchand was outright bad, though, agreed with that.
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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It also seemed to me that in OT there were a bunch of strange bounces and the puck just seemed to find Blues players and stay in the zone every time. I know that's often a result of being outworked, but some of it can just be a bit of shit luck bunched together and then the players on the ice being fried because they couldn't make a line change.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Oct 25, 2007
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I wonder if Game 2 was actually more indicative of the rust we expected to see out of the Bruins.

Game 1 can be chalked up to adrenaline for the Bruins, and jitters for the Blues.

If games 1 and 2 were reversed, I doubt many of us would have complained too much.
 

cshea

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They’re getting killed by the Schwartz/Schenn/Tarasenko line. Hasn’t mattered if it is Bergeron’s line or Kuraly’s line matched up against them, St. Louis is getting ~60% and above of the attempts, shots, chances and expected goals when that line is on the ice, and actual goals are 3-1. They’ve got to figure out a way to slow that train down. The best way is for the Bergeron line to remove their heads from their asses. Chara/McAvoy have struggled against them, so I would consider moving away from that matchup but Grzelyck’s injury presents issues in doing that.
 

reggiecleveland

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Someday, a player on the team I’m rooting for will undoubtedly lay a concussion-inducing shot on an opponent like the one Grzlcek received: an intentional shot to the head when there was no need to target.

I really really hope that in that moment I’m able to acknowledge the play was inappropriate and not celebrate it. Gronk’s cheap shot after the play to the head of Tre’Davious White comes to mind. Not cool, even if retaliation for a previous shot of its own.
I used to feel the same way when Pedro got pissed and drilled, or nearly drilled, some guy because he got a bad call or the previous batter hit the ball hard. Obviously there were times it was great , lik Matsuii, but sometimes it wasn't strategic, he was just angry.
 

Zososoxfan

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They’re getting killed by the Schwartz/Schenn/Tarasenko line. Hasn’t mattered if it is Bergeron’s line or Kuraly’s line matched up against them, St. Louis is getting ~60% and above of the attempts, shots, chances and expected goals when that line is on the ice, and actual goals are 3-1. They’ve got to figure out a way to slow that train down. The best way is for the Bergeron line to remove their heads from their asses. Chara/McAvoy have struggled against them, so I would consider moving away from that matchup but Grzelyck’s injury presents issues in doing that.
It almost certainly means more Heinen rather than Pasta with Bergy-Marshy. Does any other LW play inverted (soccer term, not sure what the correct hockey term is)--namely, Nordstrom or MoJo? Anyone else you would consider for RW to be a shut down defensive line--Kuraly?
 

veritas

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They’re getting killed by the Schwartz/Schenn/Tarasenko line. Hasn’t mattered if it is Bergeron’s line or Kuraly’s line matched up against them, St. Louis is getting ~60% and above of the attempts, shots, chances and expected goals when that line is on the ice, and actual goals are 3-1. They’ve got to figure out a way to slow that train down. The best way is for the Bergeron line to remove their heads from their asses. Chara/McAvoy have struggled against them, so I would consider moving away from that matchup but Grzelyck’s injury presents issues in doing that.
They don't really have much of a choice the next two games with St Louis having last change. Coyle's line is going to have to come up big, IMO. I'm guessing Krejci will get a pretty big dose of Tarasenko's line, and Bergeron will get O'Reilly. If that's the case I'd strongly consider shuffling the right wings, Backes with Bergy, Heinen with Krejci to help defensively, and Pasta with Coyle to help take advantage of the softer matchups that line should get
 

j44thor

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I'd like to see a Carlo/Mac D pairing to counter Tarasenko/Schenn. Chara doesn't have the speed and agility to stay with that line.
Of course with last change that becomes tough to manage.
 

cshea

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I don’t think that is a great idea. Carlo and McAvoy haven’t played together this year and they are both righties to boot so one of them is going to their off side. I don’t think this is the time to mess around to that extreme.

The only legitimate change I could see on D is going to

Krug - McAvoy
Chara - Carlo
Moore - Clifton

The problem with this is 2/3 pairs are super immobile and the breakout becomes chipping it the fuck out.
 

TFP

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Pretty sure Chara blocked the first rebound shot with his stick although I think Rask had it covered if it had gotten by Chara's stick.
This is correct. Chara actually made a great play on that and it ended up screwing them. Tuukka had the rebound saved and Tarasenko wouldn’t have gotten to the second rebound if Chara hadn’t blocked it.

Tarasenko made an unreal play on that second rebound too. Twisting backhand at full speed with no leverage and still managed to lift it 3/4 way up the net. Elite skill there, that’s so hard to do.
 

LordStanley88

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May 30, 2019
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We can certainly question this core group and wonder which version of the Boston Bruins will show up in this series. The group of Chara, Marchand, Krejci, Bergeron and Rask have had high and low moments. They’ve won a Stanley Cup, they’ve lost a Stanley Cup, they’ve blown a 3-0 lead, they’ve won the Presidents Trophy and been eliminated in the second round. We’ve seem this group win together, lose, comeback, choke.

The point being, they can’t be trusted. They haven’t really earned that trust outside of one Cup that was won on the back of Tim Thomas seven years ago. Their Captain, their superstar players, the group that will one day have their jerseys retired have now shown up in these first two games. It’s a legitimate question to ask...who will show up in these next five games?
 

lexrageorge

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We can certainly question this core group and wonder which version of the Boston Bruins will show up in this series. The group of Chara, Marchand, Krejci, Bergeron and Rask have had high and low moments. They’ve won a Stanley Cup, they’ve lost a Stanley Cup, they’ve blown a 3-0 lead, they’ve won the Presidents Trophy and been eliminated in the second round. We’ve seem this group win together, lose, comeback, choke.

The point being, they can’t be trusted. They haven’t really earned that trust outside of one Cup that was won on the back of Tim Thomas seven years ago. Their Captain, their superstar players, the group that will one day have their jerseys retired have now shown up in these first two games. It’s a legitimate question to ask...who will show up in these next five games?
The Orr-Esposito teams lost one Cup final, lost 4 times in the first round, including one broom job and once after securing the league's best record, and once more in the 2nd round. The Bourque-Neely teams lost two Cup finals, and had their own share of playoff disappointments as well.

Hockey is a game of bounces, momentum swings, injuries, and hot goalies. The "they can't be trusted" take after they lost for the first time after winning 8 straight is a take worthy of Felger & Mazz.
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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These guys beat the better team (Vancouver), and lost to the better team (Chicago) when their best player was playing with a punctured lung, and "choked" when they were young and lost their best player (at that time) for the series. They never give up and they're not going to fold now after one bad game.
 

Jordu

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The drop-off from Grzelyck to Moore is significant. They’re both good skaters, but Grzelyck reads the game far better. No one in the Bruins D corps is as good at getting the puck up and out as Grzelyck.

It’s an even greater loss against St. Louis, whose offense is built on an aggressive forecheck. Bruins are going to need a lot more D zone support from the forwards.
 

Red Averages

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It is amazing to hear how negative a few people are on this team after losing their first game in the last 9, in OT, after one of their defenders went down early and they had to play a man short. Granted, most of this was right after the game ended, and I'm just reading it now. In OT.

The Bruins are 6-2 on the road in the playoffs, including winning their last 6 of 7 games, and 4 in a row. The Blues are 5-5 at home in the playoffs. The Bruins last looked dominated as recently as... the prior game. Or even the first 10 minutes of Game 2.

Every time this team has encountered some adversity this year they have responded. The Bruins have started down 1-2 in their first two series and still won. Let's give them some benefit of the doubt. It won't be easy, but let's get out of the fear habit of taking one data point (Brad looks bad!) extrapolating it (and if this continues...) into the worst case scenario (we're screwed!!). Vegas has the Bruins as 50% odds to win game 3 and series favorites to win it all still. Just need to take one out of the two games in STL to remain in control of the series. Given the gambling odds, it's only about 25-35% probability that the Blues win both. Deep breaths!

Saturday looks like a Beer Garden afternoon day to ease the nerves.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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We can certainly question this core group and wonder which version of the Boston Bruins will show up in this series. The group of Chara, Marchand, Krejci, Bergeron and Rask have had high and low moments. They’ve won a Stanley Cup, they’ve lost a Stanley Cup, they’ve blown a 3-0 lead, they’ve won the Presidents Trophy and been eliminated in the second round. We’ve seem this group win together, lose, comeback, choke.

The point being, they can’t be trusted. They haven’t really earned that trust outside of one Cup that was won on the back of Tim Thomas seven years ago. Their Captain, their superstar players, the group that will one day have their jerseys retired have now shown up in these first two games. It’s a legitimate question to ask...who will show up in these next five games?
I prefer to question whether the Earth is flat or cylindrical.
It's a better use of time than "questioning" this team in the manner you suggest.

Edit: and what muppet said
 

wiffleballhero

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It is amazing to hear how negative a few people are on this team after losing their first game in the last 9
I've been puzzled by this reaction too. I wonder if maybe some people were maybe a wee bit too confident after game one?

Despite the various ways in which people trash St Louis around here, they did navigate through the entire Western Conference, and really throttled San Jose (who were the team to be feared by many of the geniuses in SOSH).

With Tampa Bay self immolated, the Bruins are the best team playing hockey since around March 1, maybe earlier. But you don't win every damn game. Relax.
 

LordStanley88

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May 30, 2019
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The success they were having on the power play and production from the 4th line during that 9 game winning streak really masked the ineffectiveness of the top two lines, until they finally showed up in Game 4 vs Carolina.

You can’t dent the inconsistency of the perfection line in these playoffs.
 

veritas

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Jan 13, 2009
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Somerville, MA
We can certainly question this core group and wonder which version of the Boston Bruins will show up in this series. The group of Chara, Marchand, Krejci, Bergeron and Rask have had high and low moments. They’ve won a Stanley Cup, they’ve lost a Stanley Cup, they’ve blown a 3-0 lead, they’ve won the Presidents Trophy and been eliminated in the second round. We’ve seem this group win together, lose, comeback, choke.

The point being, they can’t be trusted. They haven’t really earned that trust outside of one Cup that was won on the back of Tim Thomas seven years ago. Their Captain, their superstar players, the group that will one day have their jerseys retired have now shown up in these first two games. It’s a legitimate question to ask...who will show up in these next five games?
Listen, you're new here and I don't want to discourage you from posting further -- but this is fairly delusional. Albeit not an uncommon sentiment in Boston (thanks Belichick for ruining sports in this city forever)

This is one of my favorite teams ever, whatever happens in this series. They have hall of fame veterans, young stars on the upswing, and a bunch of really likable and interesting players in between. A team that makes it to the Stanley Cup final should never have their character questioned. They outlasted 29 of 31 teams at the highest level of professional hockey in the known universe. Both of the teams playing right now are great teams, and only one of them can win. They *especially* shouldn't have their character questioned after losing a single game of a Stanley Cup final series.

If you'd like to call out a specific player for a specific reason, please do so and we can have some discourse about him. I have a feeling you don't want to do that though.
 

Marciano490

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Nov 4, 2007
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I'm shocked there's any negativity about this team or its chances. Hell, to segue a bit from @veritas post above, even the Patriots look like total horseshit at times and they just won the SB.

The Bruins have looked sloppy at times in the playoffs, but so has every other team. The difference between the Bruins and every other team but St. Louis is that the Bruins have moved past their occasional sloppiness and put things together when they've needed to.

St. Louis has not been manufacturing goals against Boston, besides the OT winner. I think it's fair to argue, that the other 4 goals they scored in the series were more or less given to them by Bruin mistakes. We have the better goalie. We have the deeper team. We took them to OT despite losing a major defensive cog midgame. Adjustments will be made, talent will win out and we'll win in 6.
 

McDrew

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If "someone" was to buy ad space on the digital billboards on the way to, and around the St Louis Enterprise Center, sayyyy...from lunch until puck drop on...sayyyy Saturday (cough cough)....

What should said billboards read?

GO.

EDIT: Yes I'm serious. Space is scheduled. Just need to lay out the ads by Tomorrow afternoon.
We occasionally have losing seasons. You occasionally lose teams.
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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If "someone" was to buy ad space on the digital billboards on the way to, and around the St Louis Enterprise Center, sayyyy...from lunch until puck drop on...sayyyy Saturday (cough cough)....

What should said billboards read?

GO.

EDIT: Yes I'm serious. Space is scheduled. Just need to lay out the ads by Tomorrow afternoon.
Final is like Christmas in June.
Noel. (with a particular famous picture involving a Blue named Noel).
 

biff_hardbody

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Apr 27, 2016
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I thought the Bruins were in trouble after game 3 against Colombus - they needed to find another gear. Then they didn't lose for a month.

This team has responded to adversity all year. Win or lose, I love this team. The Patriots gave up a kick return TD on the last play of the game against the DOLPHINS (costing them home field against KC) and all they did was go on to win the Super Bowl.

This Bruins team will respond and they will fight to the final whistle. Go Bruins! (Is it Saturday night yet?)
 

Dummy Hoy

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Tarasenko made an unreal play on that second rebound too. Twisting backhand at full speed with no leverage and still managed to lift it 3/4 way up the net. Elite skill there, that’s so hard to do.
Arms fully extended...that was all wrists. Just a sick play.