Bruins hope stars lead way facing elimination vs. Lightning

With the Boston Bruins facing elimination against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Torey Krug thinks back to the 2019 playoffs to find a recipe for success.

The Bruins went into Game 6 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on the brink of getting knocked out in the first round, gave up the first goal 10 minutes in. They trailed for 1:41 before tying the score, took the lead by the end of the first period and won the game and the series.

“We got back to what we do best,” Krug said.

The pressure is on for the NHL’S best team during the truncated regular season, trailing Tampa Bay 3-1 going into Game 5 of the second-round series Monday night (7 p.m. EDT, NBC Sports Network). Much like that game last year — in the same arena they’re playing in now — the Bruins are counting on their best players to lead the way so they can keep playing. “You need your core guys. I believe they’ll lead us,” coach Bruce Cassidy said Sunday. “Core lead the way, support guys follow. Leaders and followers. That’s typically how we’ve been good.”

Tampa Bay has just been better. The Lightning have five players with multiple goals in the series, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has stopped 102 of 110 shots and their team game is clicking.

Outside of first-line left winger Brad Marchand’s four goals, Boston has gotten a total of four goals from four other players in the series, and one belongs to Nick Ritchie, whose status is questionable. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has allowed 13 goals on 119 shots, and without the practice time to make necessary adjustments, needs some more help from his teammates in front of him.

That’s where the Bruins’ team defense that got them to the Stanley Cup Final last year needs to come through. Halak has allowed a few soft goals, but also been on the wrong side of bad bounces and high-quality chances.

“We need to help Jaro out with the quality of shots we’re giving him,” Cassidy said. “Hopefully through the course of that game, he gets better at his areas of technique without stressing him too much and I think we’ve put too much stress on him and that’s part of the issue we need to correct.”