BRIGHTON – The Boston Bruins played hard, physical hockey, they dominated special teams play and their goalie played at his highest level in a big-time statement win at the start of their playoff series against the Maple Leafs.
So what did they do to improve on Saturday night’s 5-1 victory over Toronto in a Game 1 that effectively sets the tone for the rest of the series?
Jim Montgomery mentioned his defense doing a better job of clearing pucks from the front of the net after the initial rebound from the B’s goalie, as those were some of Jeremy Swayman’s best saves from the playoff series opener. But the biggest concern on the B’s bench boss’ improvement list is getting more puck possession time in the offensive zone after being outshot by a 36-24 margin in Game 1.
“What can we do better? We can spend more time in the o-zone,” said Montgomery following the Game 1 win where they posted five goals. “We didn’t do a good job offensively yesterday 5-on-5.”
Notable Bruins offensive players like Kevin Shattenkirk, Charlie Coyle, Morgan Geekie and Charlie McAvoy all finished without shots on net in Game 1 as Boston focuses on hanging onto pucks and making offense happen.
"We got the result we were looking for but today was a day to learn from it and as a team we still have a long way to go," said McAvoy.
Certainly, the two power-play goals were a big factor in a big spot in the game for the Black and Gold and put things out of reach in what was otherwise a fairly tight game between the two Atlantic Division rivals. Things didn’t really get lopsided with the possession until the third period when Toronto outshot the Bruins by a 12-3 margin while trying to change the game’s momentum, and that was something to focus on improving against a Leafs team that should be even better, smarter, tougher and more determined on Monday night.
NO CALL ON THE GOALIES
Montgomery was mum on the subject of naming the goalie starter for Monday night’s Game 2 against the Leafs hot on the heels of Swayman’s 35-save masterpiece performance in the Game 1 win over Toronto.
“We’re still contemplating what’s the right way to go,” said Montgomery of the starting goalie decisions.
Montgomery admitted after Game 1 that “it’s going to be hard to go away from him [for Game 2] after the way that he played” but wasn’t tipping his hand while saying the team is confident in both elite puck-stoppers.
There is absolutely an argument to going right back to Swayman after a great performance to open the series and given his now 4-0-0 record with a .961 save percentage against Toronto this season. But there’s also some kind of plan in place and perhaps that means going strict rotation for the first handful of playoff games as they have done all season, and then after that perhaps riding a goaltender if they get hot.
Either way the Bruins have to hope nobody from the Leafs follows TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette’s advice and kidnaps Swayman to try and level the playing field in the series.
ONE TIMERS
- The Bruins unveiled a pretty sweet leather Boston Bruins bomber jacket for the player of the game in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which was awarded to Johnny Beecher after scoring his first career NHL goal.
Beecher joked that he blacked out when he celebrated following the first goal of the series in what his coach described as the rookie center's “best game as a Bruin.”
“Blacked out a little bit. I was just kind of in the corner, hit the glass and I was just kind of screaming,” said Beecher. “The boys were all jumping on me. It’s one I’ll never forget, and I was just happy to get the boys going there.”
- A day after Pat Maroon threw Timothy Liljegren over the boards onto the Bruins bench with a statement hit in the first period of Game 1, his teammates were still talking about it and Maroon’s impact on the team.
“It was a good hit,” said a smiling McAvoy. “Physicality is obviously a big part of playoff hockey, so we’re going to see a lot of that.”
More must-reads: