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

Murby

New Member
Mar 16, 2006
1,790
Boston Metro
That was such a BRUTAL loss. Right up there with the Scottish game. And you know if PSK got tossed from the GARDEN for flipping the bird (assuming that is all it took), then the world has truly tilted off it’s axis.

TBS, I do think the better team won last night, although I wouldn’t say the better team won the Cup.

As a casual hockey fan, I do think the NHL as a league is in trouble if this is the product they want to endorse on the ice. The officiating has been horrendous these playoffs and they seem to be going backwards as far as player safety. That game 5 was a fucking joke, and the officials and the league allowed the headshots and goonery to take over the series.

The boys deserved better. Man, that game sucked!!
What a really bad sports week in Boston
This stings far worse than 2013. Even if they had won Game 6 then, Bergeron would've been in the hospital for a Game 7 and he was their best player.

This one had a record-breaking one seed removed from your path in the second round, and having survived the Leafs yet again, they only had to beat the #8 and #7 seeds with home ice to get to the SCF.

And then when you reached the Final, you were matched up with arguably the least skilled/talented team from the West with a rookie goalie.

They lost this series because the first line was clearly not physically (injured or not) ready for the Blues' style, which the officials let them play with relative impunity. They lost this series because they lost a key defenseman in two different games, where they were forced to play 2 full periods (and one OT) with 5 D in games where they gave up the lead late in the game. They lost this series because Kelly Sutherland handed the Blues a two-goal lead in Game 5, which was ultimately decided by one goal.

Had this series been officiated like the regular season (e.g., Sundqvist's hit is a 5 minute major), Bruins win this series in 5. However, it wasn't, and they didn't.
This happened last year too when the Caps won. Tom Wilson cheap-shotted his way through the playoffs including getting a 3-game suspension for a hit to Penguins' Zach Aston-Reese, which broke the rookie's jaw and caused a concussion. I suppose I should've remembered that and the Bruins should've been more proactive on calling out the cheap-shots earlier. I agree with DebSox here. If the league wants to get serious, then the last two post-seasons have demonstrated they're doing a really awful job of showing it. Both teams were rewarded for the nasty hits.
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
This stings far worse than 2013. Even if they had won Game 6 then, Bergeron would've been in the hospital for a Game 7 and he was their best player.

This one had a record-breaking one seed removed from your path in the second round, and having survived the Leafs yet again, they only had to beat the #8 and #7 seeds with home ice to get to the SCF.

And then when you reached the Final, you were matched up with arguably the least skilled/talented team from the West with a rookie goalie.

They lost this series because the first line was clearly not physically (injured or not) ready for the Blues' style, which the officials let them play with relative impunity. They lost this series because they lost a key defenseman in two different games, where they were forced to play 2 full periods (and one OT) with 5 D in games where they gave up the lead late in the game. They lost this series because Kelly Sutherland handed the Blues a two-goal lead in Game 5, which was ultimately decided by one goal.

Had this series been officiated like the regular season (e.g., Sundqvist's hit is a 5 minute major), Bruins win this series in 5. However, it wasn't, and they didn't.
Blues had the best record in hockey from January to the end of the year. They were the hottest team.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
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Dec 12, 2002
44,476
Melrose, MA
One thing that hasn't' come up - at some point Cassidy should have broken up his top line. They were dismal all series. He bet the season on their ability to eventually break through and they didn't. I don't just mean try Pastrnak on line 2, Krejci was also pretty unproductive. If the Blues strategy was to shut down line 1 and bank on the other lines not coming through, and it worked, then at some point before elimination the Bruins needed to try something else. Maybe Marchand with Coyle and Johansson, for example. Something to at least make the Blues wonder which line to focus on shutting down.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,291
One thing that hasn't' come up - at some point Cassidy should have broken up his top line. They were dismal all series. He bet the season on their ability to eventually break through and they didn't. I don't just mean try Pastrnak on line 2, Krejci was also pretty unproductive. If the Blues strategy was to shut down line 1 and bank on the other lines not coming through, and it worked, then at some point before elimination the Bruins needed to try something else. Maybe Marchand with Coyle and Johansson, for example. Something to at least make the Blues wonder which line to focus on shutting down.
They were both so shaky on the puck. Really made that line stick out with basically a 2/3 chance that one of them would turn the puck over in a bad spot.
 

RIFan

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Jul 19, 2005
3,087
Rhode Island
One thing that hasn't' come up - at some point Cassidy should have broken up his top line. They were dismal all series. He bet the season on their ability to eventually break through and they didn't. I don't just mean try Pastrnak on line 2, Krejci was also pretty unproductive. If the Blues strategy was to shut down line 1 and bank on the other lines not coming through, and it worked, then at some point before elimination the Bruins needed to try something else. Maybe Marchand with Coyle and Johansson, for example. Something to at least make the Blues wonder which line to focus on shutting down.
He had Pastrnak with Krejci to start the playoffs. That obviously wasn't working. Cassidy never showed that he was reluctant to shuffle lines so it is at least puzzling why he didn't do more of it. I do think he saw that they were getting chances but just weren't finishing. If they were not getting anything he might have been more aggressive. In the end, betting that they'd get it done wasn't the worst bet given their history.
 

kenneycb

Hates Goose Island Beer; Loves Backdoor Play
SoSH Member
Dec 2, 2006
16,090
Tuukka's refugee camp
Plus Krejci and Debrusk finally showed some signs of life in Game 6, so it would be tricky to break them up then. And you weren't going to break them up after the first. Maybe into the third but I don't think that was a line combo issue as much as a Blues playing amazing defense issue.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

critical thinker
SoSH Member
Dec 19, 2009
9,386
Marchand played through SCF with multiple injuries, including a re-aggravation of his hand injury that happened during (of course) the scrimmage. Based on the other injuries, though, it seems unlikely that the hand injury was what really took him off his game, so the scrimmage shouldn't be held up as any kind of reason why they lost. The oblique and groin injuries seem like they'd be far more limiting. The constant pain he must have been in might explain why he made some of the questionable decisions he did; probably wasn't thinking straight because he was in such agony. May have been why he needed to get off the ice when he did in Game 7 too, but that's just my speculation.

Chara has multiple jaw fractures too and played through it. Dude is a beast. I really hope he goes out on top next season but they have to get back there first. We'll see.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
6,131
Given how beat up the first line was, perhaps the best play was to ride their reputation to bait the opposition into using their best defenders and try to give the other three lines better matchups? The problem was that the 4th line finally met its match against St. Louis, and the other two lines were inconsistent.
 

mwonow

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Sep 4, 2005
7,095
Sitting in the emergency room with my wife - likely here for hours - while the Jordan Binnington parade is broadcast on the TV over my head. The only way this could be more painful is if it was *my* ankle