4 takeaways from the Bruins’ Game 1 win over the Lightning
The Bruins set the tone on the road to start the series.
TAMPA —
Even against a well-rested Tampa Bay Lightning squad, the Bruins picked up right where they left off following their third period in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs Wednesday night.
From Rick Nash and Tuukka Rask setting the tone to another stellar outing from the first line, the Black and Gold established one of their better 60-minute efforts of the postseason with a 6-2 win at Amalie Arena Saturday afternoon.
Here’s what we learned, as the Bruins accomplished a big task in winning the first of two on the road to start the series.
Rick Nash shows why the Bruins added him at the deadline
Rick Nash getting us on the board in the second round. pic.twitter.com/7Ioi24bXjB
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 28, 2018
General Manager Don Sweeney acquired Nash to provide secondary scoring on the top-six, key power-play minutes, and a big body on the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. The Bruins GM also knew about his tough playoff track record with the Rangers, but he took the risk anyway hoping Nash would fill a void.
Nash’s playoff track record carried over into the first round matchup with the Maple Leafs, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The veteran fired 24 shots on goal but only one went in — during the B’s 7-3 win in Game 2. He made up for the lack of statistical success by drawing penalties and staying active in all three zones.
That effort carried over into Game 1 of this series and resulted in a two-goal afternoon. Nash set the tone early, starting with his power-play tip past 2018 Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy on a David Pastrnak point shot.
“Through my career, it seems like my goals have always come in bunches,” Nash said after the game. “The chances were there, which is good…and I finally got rewarded tonight.”
That’s a quote saved for any streaky scorer, including Nash. The Bruins are indeed hoping that Nash lights the lamp a little more often in Round 2 as he faces some of his former Ranger teammates, including Bolts defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Tuukka Rask bounces back
Tuukka Rask loses his skate blade, then throws it in anger 😳 pic.twitter.com/QGT0fTle64
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 28, 2018
He had some tough breaks on both goals he allowed, so chalk this one up as a rough night for Tuukka Rask, right? Well, even his detractors might give Rask a deserved break here, and not just for Matt Grzelcyk and Adam McQuaid screening him on Dan Girardi’s first playoff goal in four years, or for losing a skate blade leading up to Mikhail Sergachev’s second of the postseason.
Even though the rule states that play must go on in the event of an equipment issue, the animated Rask was visibly upset as he tried to draw attention toward the officials and linesmen to blow things dead. After throwing his skate blade in disgust, Rask got his blade repaired by the equipment manager, remained calm and was still dialed in going forward.
“It was fun to watch, I guess. I wasn’t sure if he should have thrown that skate blade, and I was like, ‘No, don’t do it,'” Patrice Bergeron said about the bizarre sequence. “But it’s nice to see that emotion out of him, especially the way that he stepped up in that game, and it definitely gives us a lot of confidence.”
It was also fun for Bergeron and company to see Rask bounce back from those tough goals to deliver a stellar outing. From his strong rebound control to his solid post-to-post movement, the 2014 Vezina winner outdueled Vasilevskiy en route to a 34-save outing in one of his better performances this postseason.
More importantly, the showing put Rask’s shaky performances against the Maple Leafs, including his Game 5 and 7 outings, to rest.
“It’s a new series,” said Rask, who debuted a different set of goalie pads in Game 1. “You try to come out on top in the first game and try to take the lead, and that’s where my focus was…trying to give my team a chance to win. And we knew they were going to come out hard in the first period and we were going to try to weather the storm and gain the lead, and that’s what we did.”
Top line dominates again
The boys were well fed this afternoon. 🍝🍝🍝🍝 pic.twitter.com/qZNOPOfyTb
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 28, 2018
The Lightning’s top-line of J.T. Miller, Steven Stamkos, and Nikita Kucherov are as good as you’ll find in the NHL, but if there’s one line that can expose the Lightning trio, it’s Brad Marchand, Bergeron, and David Pastrnak.
If one game is any indication, the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio is going to be hard to beat, again. The group combined for 11 points, highlighted by four-point nights from Pastrnak (four assists) and Marchand (one goal, three assists), and a three-point outing from Bergeron (two goals, one assist). Their puck pursuit in all three zones and ability to find time and space in the attacking end proved too much for Miller, Stamkos, and Kucherov, who were a combined minus-four with seven shots on goal.
“We’re having fun,” Pastrnak said about playing with his fellow linemates. “We need to keep [things] a little bit simple at the beginning, you know, putting pucks deep. We’re good when we’re fast on the forecheck and getting pucks back, so, you know, we just have to keep playing like that.”
Keeping things simple doesn’t mean that the trio can’t show creativity. Whether it was Pastrnak’s brilliant pass to Bergeron in the second or Marchand’s feed to the four-time Selke Winner in the third, the group got into a groove against another high-caliber trio.
Jake DeBrusk’s grit and empty-netter caps things off
He was one of the better performers in their first-round series against the Maple Leafs, and head coach Bruce Cassidy called Game 7 his coming out party. So, what would DeBrusk have for an encore?
Well, that encore nearly ended when DeBrusk took a high, but clean hit in the third period in the defensive end. But his grit and determination to stay with the play, block a shot, and clear the puck out of the zone after three attempts resonated with his teammates.
“That’s just playoff hockey,” DeBrusk said about his tough third-period shift. “As for the hit, I didn’t see it at all; I didn’t know it was coming. So I was just trying to regain my composure and get my stick, and I saw I think it was [Yanni] Gourde that was going to take a shot, so I needed to get in the lane and I was lucky enough to get a piece of it and it was just a puck race.”
The night ended up unfolding in DeBrusk’s favor, as he sealed the game with an empty-netter.
