Bruins Need to Get Back to Basics in Game 6 Against Panthers

In their Game 2 loss, the Bruins had 15 turnovers. In their Game 5 loss, they had 17.

“Well, in Boston there has been, that’s for sure,” Montgomery said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t start on time…we tend to make big mistakes right now, I don’t know why, the last two games at home. We don’t manage our ice or manage the puck, it’s one of the two…when you’re chasing the game like we did all night, 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, and then obviously you can’t chase the game anymore, you spend a lot of energy.

“I thought the energy that we spent in the second and the third trying to tie the game up … I didn’t think we were as sharp in overtime.”

That was not really the case in the regular season, but it has been against the Panthers. In their two wins at FLA Live Arena, the Bruins played more their style, strong zone breakouts, the defense getting involved in the offense, and playing with confidence, something they have done in spurts at home, just not consistently like the regular season.

Bruins Need More Depth Scoring

If some of the Bruins’ other players played as well as Marchand and Taylor Hall have in this series, it would be over and they would be getting ready for the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. Marchand has four goals in the series, one shorthanded, and two on the power play. Hall has looked like a different player after returning from an injury that kept him out from late February until the final week of the regular season.

In five games, he has five goals and three assists, but his skating game has been an issue for the Panthers to handle. It was on display in Game 4 when he scored on a breakaway, then in Game 5 when he had several strong zone entries that created chances for teammates. He used his big frame midway through the third period to gain possession of the puck in the slot, turn and beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a wrist shot to tie the game.

On the other hand, some of the Bruins’ top players have found it to be a tough series. David Pastrnak has just two goals, the first goal of the series in Game 1 and a third-period goal in Game 3. Other than that, the Panthers have focused on the 61-goal scorer during the regular season and taken him out of his comfort zone. Shutting down Pastrnak goes a long way toward shutting down the Bruins in the postseason. 

During the regular season, when Pastrnak and other top-six Bruins went into scoring droughts, they got production from their depth players and many times, it was the difference between winning and losing. That has not happened as much in the playoffs as it did in the regular season. Jake DeBrusk (three goals) and Bertuzzi (two goals) are the only other players with more than one goal in the series.

Bruins Need to Get Back to Basics & Get Depth Scoring in Game 6

Let’s be honest, there is very little pressure on the Panthers as they head home trailing 3-2 in the series. They are playing with house money. The Bruins on the other hand? They are going to be feeling the pressure after the regular season they had and the case could be made that they are playing like it during different portions of the series. All season long when the Bruins hit a rough patch, they were able to get back to their basics and they were all right. They need to do that again in Game 6.