The Boston Bruins entered Game 5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs up 3-1 in the series. It is an unfortunately familiar spot to be in for the team, as has been mentioned countless times in the past few days. At this time last season, the Bruins were also leading their first round series 3-1 against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers won Game 5 and then went on to win the series and make it to the Stanley Cup Final.
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The hope was that this would be a game to put those demons away and end the series. In the end, that did not happen. The Bruins struggled from the get-go. Say what you will about the reffing, but besides that, the team did not play as well as they could have. The fact that it went to overtime is a testament to Jeremy Swayman’s abilities in net.
A Rough Start Set the Tone
The Bruins were outshot 12-2 in the first period. The fact that they came out of it with a tie was frankly a miracle. It unfortunately set the tone for the game. They played sloppily with plenty of turnovers and failures to clear out of their zone, they were not good in the face-off circle, and realistically did not play like they came to end a series. They had their moments and good stretches. Guys had good plays and guys had bad ones, but there were very few moments where they genuinely looked like a team that had come to win.
Champions are teams that can rise to the pressure. While I don’t think the Maple Leafs played entirely great either, they had their backs against the wall and were able to pull out the win, even without Auston Matthews. Joseph Woll was also incredible in net once the Bruins started shooting on him. He had a number of remarkable saves that Boston wasn’t able to recover from.
Whatever mental block the Bruins roster seemed to have collectively shown up with for Game 5, they need to figure out how to get past it for Game 6. Toronto is only going to play hungrier, and if they get Matthews back, they’ll be an even scarier opponent. Boston has generally been an excellent first period team all season, and unfortunately, they played one of their worst first periods in the worst possible game and they were never really quite able to get into their rhythm for the remainder of it.
Trent Frederic Underrated MVP
Trent Frederic has been one of the best players for the Bruins in this series so far. He had the tying goal off of a great forecheck by him and Pat Maroon that was able to get the team some hope going into the first intermission and kept them in the game until overtime. He also had a great shot in the third period that could have been the game-winner.
His Game 5 goal was his third of the series. Prior to this, Frederic had never scored a goal in the postseason, but coming off his best offensive season in the NHL yet, the hope was that he’d finally get that first goal. Now though, he’s tied with Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk for the most on the team in the playoffs so far, and who would have seen that coming? He has more goals than David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, and Pavel Zacha.
This series so far has been marked by strong play from guys outside of the elite core. Outside of Marchand, there have been relatively disappointing performances from the top guys, whom we’ve all come to expect more out of. But guys like Frederic and DeBrusk have stepped up to pick up some of the slack. It didn’t work in the Bruins’ favor in Game 5, but it is still good to see guys like him putting up points even in a disappointing game overall.
The Matt Grzelcyk Debate Continues
Matt Grzelcyk has become a bit of a punching bag in Boston. He has had plenty of great moments in his eight seasons in the NHL, but after the last postseason and not the strongest of regular seasons, the focus has been on his weak points. I don’t know if he is necessarily a top-four guy, especially in the postseason when he seems to struggle with more physical play, and part of the fault has to be on the front office for not addressing their top-four on the blue line earlier.
After being benched in the playoffs last season and not dressing in the last two games, Grzelcyk was put in for Game 5 and it wasn’t very pretty. Despite a decent third period, he was beaten by John Tavares in overtime, leading to the game-winner from Matthew Knies. He also had a number of turnovers early, like the majority of the team. While he wasn’t the only guy not playing his best, there is extra scrutiny on him given his history.
Grzelcyk did not play well enough to guarantee him a spot in the lineup for Game 6. So the debate now becomes whether he stays in or Kevin Shattenkirk goes back into the lineup. There is also a chance Derek Forbort, who has been on long-term injured reserve since March, could come back in Game 6. He is back practicing with the team and there even seemed to be a chance he’d go in for Game 5. But is he a better option than Grzelcyk or Shattenkirk? He too had his issues this season, but could that be chalked up to the injuries he was battling for most of the regular season?
Expect plenty of debate over the next day on who will be the sixth defenseman in the Bruins lineup for Game 6. Unfortunately, Andrew Peeke, who played very well in Game 1, still seems to be unavailable after an upper-body injury in Game 2.
Moving on From Game 5
Game 5 was not a good showing from the Bruins, but it needs to be put behind them as they head back to an excited Toronto for Game 6. Some questions will need to be answered. Besides the questions about who should be the sixth defenseman, there is also a question about goaltending. Swayman played great in Game 5, but should they go back to the rotation and give Linus Ullmark a chance?
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Additionally, what lines is head coach Jim Montgomery going to put forth? He made quite a few changes in Game 5, but will he go back to the standard lineup for Game 6? Also, given how bad the Bruins were in the face-off circle all night, does Johnny Beecher come back in for Game 6? And who goes out then?
This is not a fun place for the Bruins to be as questions also arise about whether or not they’re destined to make the same mistakes as last season. They can win this series in Game 6, and put those questions to bed. But to do that, they need to play like they did in the first four games and not like they did in Game 5.
