Hurricane warning posted
B’s use makeshift lineup to end regular season; get Carolina in playoffs
After 82 regular-season games, the Bruins finally have their playoff opponent.
A mostly JV Bruins’ squad dropped a 5-2 decision to a similarly assembled Toronto Maple Leafs lineup on Friday at Scotiabank Arena, earning the B’s a date with the Carolina Hurricanes. The ‘Canes, of course, swept the season series, 3-0, by a combined score of 16-1. But with the way the B’s approached Friday’s regular-season finale, it doesn’t appear that they feared Carolina any more than they would have the Leafs, who also swept the season series against the B’s and would have been the other potential opponent if the B’s could have beaten them on Friday. But as it turned out, a win in Toronto would not have mattered because the Lightning came back to beat the Islanders, which earned the Bolts a date with the Maple Leafs in the first round.
There’s no doubt the Hurricanes would like a crack at the B’s. While the Black an Gold have tormented the Leafs with three Game 7 victories in the last decade, the ‘Canes have learned some hard lessons at the B’s knees, too. In 2019, the B’s swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals. Then in the bubble playoffs in 2020, the B’s bounced the ‘Canes from the first round in five games.
The series will open at PNC Arena on Monday.
“Strong team, obviously. They had their way with us this year. Some of that was a while ago and I think our team is in a much better place than when we played them earlier in the year, so we’re not going to take too much stock in that,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “We have had success against them in the playoffs recently. Again, two different teams, so we can’t take too much stock in that, either, other than that it does give some experience for you. I’ve said that no matter who we got, Toronto, Carolina, the Rangers or Tampa, whatever, it doesn’t matter. They’re all good teams. They all have certain strengths. We expect Carolina to be a difficult opponent. They press, they’re a great skating team, they check well. We feel we can do the same thing, so it should be a great series.”
While the season series has been lopsided in the Hurricanes favor, there were some extenuating circumstances that have to be factored in when handicapping this series. The first game was back in October when the B’s had not yet hit on the line combinations that turned their season around in January. In the last game on Feb. 10, the B’s were without both Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. And Hampus Lindholm, who has added a different dynamic since being acquired at the deadline, was not yet a member of the Bruins for any of the matchups.
“We love our lineup. We love everyone we have in that locker room, even guys who are out of the lineup,” said Charlie Coyle. “We have plenty of ammo that if there’s injuries or whatever happens. You never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. Guys come in and step right in and make an impact. That’s what good teams have. We have a lot of depth that way. But we love what we have in there. We’re really confident and we’re just itching to get going.”
The B’s, sitting five of their top six forwards and three of their top four defensemen, started out just fine on Friday. The third line — the B’s de facto first line on Friday — got on the board just 1:10 into the game. Trent Frederic jammed home a loose puck between Erik Kallgren’s pads for his eighth of the season.
That was it for Bruins highlights in the first.
The Leafs scored three times to go into the break up 3-1. Marc McLaughlin had a rough period. First, he clipped Mark Giordano in the face with his stick and drew blood, earning a double-minor. Three seconds into the second penalty, Ilya Mikheyev deflected home a Giordano shot to tie the game at 3:51.
The Leafs took the lead on a second McLaughlin miscue. Carrying the puck out high in the offensive zone, McLaughlin got stripped of the puck by William Nylander, who took off on a breakaway. Nylander went backhand-to-forehand and tucked it around Jeremy Swayman’s left pad for the 2-1 lead.
Then the B’s bugaboo, the last-minute goal, raised its ugly head again. With time ticking down, Jack Studnicka’s weak clear attempt was stopped by Morgan Rielly at the left point. Rielly’s shot was tipped past Swayman by Nicholas Abruzzese with 6.7 seconds left in the period. It was then a chase game and the B’s never quite caught up.
A scary moment occurred early in the second period. With a head of steam going, Jake DeBrusk tried to reach around Justin Holl for a loose puck, but Holl bumped him. DeBrusk lost his balance and crashed heavily into the boards back-first. As his stick went flying, it appeared as though he may have been injured. But after being attended to by the medical staff, DeBrusk skated off under his own power and did not miss a shift. He scored his 25th of the season in the third on the power play.
Cassidy feels good about his team’s health.
“Jake went down awkwardly. We talked about it and he said he felt fine so he stayed in the game. No one else (got hurt) tonight that I’m aware of,” said Cassidy. “Things could crop up (Saturday). Couple of bumps and bruises, some guys are just maintenance days today. Other guys needed a breather. I expect us to be 100% healthy on Monday.”
Perhaps the only noteworthy performance from the B’s on Friday was from veteran Chris Wagner. Sent to Providence at the end of training camp, he played in his first
NHL game of the season and he looked like he appreciated it. He dished out 11 hits in 15:57 of ice time and he may have earned himself a spot on the Black Aces with the big club.
“I thought he played very well, played to his strengths, finished every check, he was around the front of the net. He played some PK minutes. We know he can contribute there. He’s willing to block shots and has a good stick,” said Cassidy. “But yes, I liked his game a lot. We kept Marc around here a while. He’s a young guy and we gave him some looks and he responded early on, so a little bit of that was evaluating where he was in his pro career. But that’s a big ask to go in in the playoffs, but he was here to get some experience. Wags we know has played in those situations before. So we have that in the back of our mind. We’ll make those calls in the next couple of days, but I certainly think he was one of our better players in terms of playing a complete 200-foot game.”