The Bruins need more scoring. Is Ryan Donato part of the answer?
One question was the final obstacle before Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy could depart his postgame press conference Wednesday night and begin to prepare for Game 4.
Cassidy was asked about the struggles of the third line, and if it could get better without any personnel changes.
“That’s a good question. I am concerned,’’ Cassidy said after the Bruins dropped Game 3 by a score of 4-1 to fall behind in the series, 2-1. “We’ve got some guys that weren’t dressed tonight that have played well for this team, so we’ll have that conversation [Thursday],’’ said Cassidy. “I think it’s easier do it the next morning than it is immediately after the game. Some guys have had a tough time. If they stay in, they need to do better.’’
That would certainly seem to indicate that Cassidy is considering going with Ryan Donato or Brian Gionta, neither of whom have played in this series. Gionta joined the Bruins in February after skating for Team USA in the Olympics, and had two goals and five assists in 20 games.
Donato signed with the Bruins in March after completing his junior season at Harvard, and notched five goals and four assists in 12 games. He would seem to present the boost to the offense the Bruins need as they try to even the series Friday night at TD Garden.
Getting the first line back on track also wouldn’t hurt.
As Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak were combining for 30 points in the Bruins’ first round win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, some national pundits were quick to suggest they not only formed the top line for the Bruins, but for the NHL as well. That suggestion was further enhanced when the trio racked up 11 points in the 6-2 win over the Lightning in Game 1, and registered 16 of the Bruins’ 44 shots through the first two games of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Tampa Bay.
But in Game 3 Wednesday night, they were stymied, save for Bergeron’s power play goal, the lone score for the Black and Gold. Pastrnak wasn’t just held scoreless, he failed to register a shot on goal, while Marchand’s frustration boiled over, resulting in two trips to the penalty box.
“I don’t think we played that bad,’’ said Marchand. “Just a couple of bad bounces didn’t go our way. We’ve been able to claw our way back from that all season, so we never really feel like we’re out of it when we are down by a couple. It just didn’t happen tonight.’’
It’s not as though they are being outplayed by their Tampa Bay counterparts. The Lightning’s top line of J.T. Miller, Steven Stamkos, and Nikita Kucherov scored seven of Tampa Bay’s 18 goals in a 4-1 series win over the New Jersey Devils in the first round, with Kucherov scoring all five of his goals at even strength. But all they have to show for their effort against the Bruins is an empty-net goal by Stamkos Wednesday night.
That Tampa Bay’s first line didn’t do further damage was a testament to the play of Tuukka Rask, who made a sprawling save on Miller, diving to his right to block a sure goal with his stick. The Bruins’ goalie was up to the task in the third period too, stonewalling Kucherov’s breakaway bid to keep his team in the game.
Tuukka Rask denied J.T. Miller’s bid to keep the Bruins within striking distance.
Where Tampa Bay has had the edge is in the rest of the team providing enough offense to grab two wins in a row. In Game 3, it was Ondrej Palat, who scored twice in the first period to push the Lightning to an early 2-0 lead.
The Bruins have not been getting that kind of offense the last two games, particularly from their third and fourth line. Cassidy tried to shake things up a bit on the fourth line by having Tommy Wingels in for Tim Schaller at left wing on the fourth line. It did not appear to work.
The third line did not fare much better, with David Backes limited to little more than six minutes on the ice thanks to a couple of penalties.
“It’s been one of those things where it’s just kind of a battle right now,’’ said Riley Nash, the center on that third line. “You have to keep doing the right things. I don’t think we’re getting the chances that we had late in the season, so I think it starts there. You start getting a little more chances, a little more zone time, and, you know, once one goes in for you and you start to feel a little bit better about yourself and your confidence grows, then maybe a couple more follow.’’
Marchand was not about to push the panic button
“We had some pushes, we had some good zone time, a couple of opportunities,’’ said Marchand. “Their goalie made some saves, so we just have to keep going. It’s 2-1, it’s not over yet.’’
