Mike Felger reacts to Bruins’ Game 6 loss: ‘Their worst period of hockey all season’
"They’re a team that just doesn’t play well in the biggest moments," Felger said following Boston's 2-1 loss in Toronto.
The Bruins took just one shot on goal during the first period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Maple Leafs Thursday night. The single shot came from left winger Jake Debrusk on the penalty kill, marking Boston’s lowest shot total in a playoff game since they started tracking the statistic in 1959.
“The first period of Game 5 back in Boston was unconscionable… their worst period of hockey all season long,” NBC Sports Boston’s Mike Felger said after Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Toronto. “But how can you then come out the next game and be worse? I didn’t even know it was possible.”
Felger accused the team of “not being able to rise to the occasion” after they failed to put away the best-of-seven series for the second time in a row.
“It’s not just this year, it goes back to last year,” Felger said. “I think it’s what they’ve been in the Chara-Bergeron now Marchand era.”
At just around this time last year, the Bruins were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs after posting a record-setting 135 points from 65 wins, 12 losses, and 5 overtime losses in the regular season.
According to Felger, the issues Boston faces in clutch moments go beyond coaching.
“They’re a team that just doesn’t play well in the biggest moments. That was something under [Jim] Montgomery, that was under Cassidy, that was under [Claude] Julien.”
Felger points to just one instance – the Bruins’ 2011 playoff run led by goalie Tim Thomas, which gave Boston their last Stanley Cup – when they performed well in the postseason.
“They broke through once, but let’s face it, when your goaltender pitches a shutout in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and then pitches a shutout in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, it’s kinda easy to be clutch or come through,” Felger said.
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