Bergeron knows his line needs to be more productive
Tavares-Marner-Hyman unit doing a great job of stopping top Bruins
Some have argued that Boston’s top line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand was the best line in hockey for much of the 2018-19 regular season.
But it hasn’t been the best line in the club’s opening-round playoff series with the Maple Leafs, nullified for much of three games by the Toronto line of Zach Hyman, John Tavares and Mitch Marner. And Bergeron knows it. “They’re taking time and space from us really well, keeping us to the outside, and we have to find ways to get to the inside a little more, get pucks on net, create some rebounds,” Bergeron said Tuesday after Boston practised at the CocoCola Coliseum. “When you’re kept to the outside, you’re not able to generate plays.”
The Tavares unit is winning battles incrementally — a few more goals, a few more faceoffs, a few extra shot attempts, one or two more high-danger chances — and it is adding up in Toronto’s favour as the Leafs have a 2-1 series lead. The addition of Tavares in the off-season has made a big difference in how the Bruins play against the Leafs.
“We all know about him as a player, and how gifted he is, and the plays that he can make,” Bergeron said. “He’s a smart player and positions himself properly and plays hard. I didn’t expect anything else.”
The Leafs have played a slightly different brand of hockey than Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy had expected. Fewer line rushes and more defensive stability, especially against Bergeron’s line.
“It’s been a battle that way, with two good offensive lines playing good defensively. We can’t seem to get anything going on offence,” Cassidy said. “(Marner, Tavares and Hyman) are reloading well. They’re coming back into their own zone. Any chances off the rush are pretty limited. They’re not letting us get late guys to turn up, or get inside ice. They’ve done a real good job like that.”
Ayear ago, Pastrnak, Bergeron and Marchand combined for 30 points in a seven-game series. So far this series, the unit has one goal at even strength, from Marchand. They are collectively minus-6. Pastrnak, who had a coming-out party at the Leafs’ expense last year, has one assist.
“We’ve been in similar situations before,” Bergeron said. “You have to rely on that experience. We believe in ourselves. We know we’re playing a good team, against a good line. It’s tight right now. There’s not much space. But I think that’s on both sides.”
Boston’s top line spent some extra time with assistant coach Jay Pandolfo on Tuesday.
“Every two to three weeks, they like to get together,” Cassidy said. “Sometimes Bergeron likes to reel his wingers in and get them back on the same page. This isn’t some five-alarm fire meeting with them. It’s revisiting basics: What can we do against Toronto?”
It’s not that the Tavares unit is doing a great deal at even strength — one goal each from Marner and Tavares — but given how much the Bergeron line dominated the Leafs last spring, Toronto would gladly sacrifice offence from one line to nullify the Bruins’ top line. Cassidy chose to put the Bergeron line out against Tavares’s in Game 1, but it backfired as Toronto took the win. Cassidy avoided the matchup in Game 2 and the Bruins won. With the series switching to Toronto, Leafs coach Mike Babcock went back to Tavares against Bergeron.
“It’s a lot about tendencies,” Bergeron said. “You feel each other out early on. But I’ve played against them for many years now. You know what’s in front of you, you know what the challenge is. You know what you need to do and you try to find ways, you look at videos, you prepare mentally, to be facing the same guys every other day basically.”