Bruins KO Rangers

It was very important for the Bruins to win this series as quickly as possible. When they won the Cup in '11, they probably wouldn't have had enough gas to play 7 game series against the Lightning and Canucks if they didn't sweep the Flyers and get a few extra days off (about a week off). Now the Bruins and Penguins will wait until the Western Conference semifinals wrap up.

The Bruins were close to losing many of the games in this series, the Rangers were rarely close to winning them. I'm not taking credit away from the B's, just pointing out that the Rangers are not a team that knows how to win tough playoff games or series. John Tortorella overcoaches, the forwards don't have any creativity, the defensemen don't get involved in the play, and as a whole the team lacks spirit. They have effort, just no soul. They're like the frozen meatballs you get at the store, while the Bruins played like made-from-scratch meatballs made with Grandma's old recipe. The Bruins played with heart and soul. The Rangers just played.

Tortorella's decision to change and focus on his 4th line was a fatal mistake. I might write a blog post devoted entirely to how bad of a coach he is. Anyway, he decided to send his 4th line to antagonize the Bruins 4th line. In other words, he decided to force Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell act like Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. Good call, Torts. Tortorella made the Bruins 4th line extremely comfortable by choosing to play their brand of hockey. And as if Derek Dorsett had a chance to win a fight against Thornton. "I'll beat your ass all day," Thornton yelled to Dorsett after their fight in Game 5.

Dorsett also committed some stupid penalties. Every Tortorella tactic in this series made the Bruins play better. Thanks, coach.

Tuukka Rask redeemed himself for his Game 4 debacles. He made a game-saving stop on a Callahan breakaway with 8:37 left in the 3rd. It was a 2-1 game at the time, and if Callahan scores that changes everything. That's what a timely save is. In a 2-1 game in the 1st period, that save isn't as important. Hockey is like any other sport. What you do in the 4th quarter or the 9th inning means so much more than at the start of the game.

Torey Krug was the other hero of the game for the B's. I was thinking about why the Bruins haven't called him up before. The problem was that the B's were all set with defensemen. Chara, Seidenberg, Hamilton, Ference, McQuaid, Boychuk. Those are 6 quality guys. And Hamilton couldn't go to the AHL it was either stay in Boston or go back to his Juniors team. There was no room for Krug to earn a spot, with 5 good veteran defenseman and a rookie who couldn't be sent to Providence.

I think the Penguins will play tighter on Krug. The Rangers chose to collapse more, which was dumb against Krug, and clog the middle of the ice. This gave Krug acres of space to wind up and fire shots. Pittsburgh should cover him tighter. Which could open up other areas of the ice that the forwards will have to exploit.

Milan Lucic was skating like a psychopath in the 3rd. That freight-train needs to keep rolling against Pittsburgh.

Almost everyone is contributing, or has contributed. And that's what needs to continue against the Penguins. Compared to Toronto and New York, Pittsburgh is on a completely different planet. The Penguins scored 35 more goals than the Rangers in the regular season (0.72 more per game), and 34 more than the Bruins. They allowed only 10 more goals than the Bruins allowed. Only the Blackhawks had a better goal differential.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Fourth Line to the Rescue

I really thought the Rangers were going to steal this game. Fans up here in Boston had been feeling cocky about the Bruins "beating" Lundqvist for 8 goals, when he actually hadn't played that bad. I thought maybe the players would feel a little too overconfident as well. Lundqvist came out and made some Vezinian saves, and this game looked like it would end as a 1-0 Tortorella special. It would have if not for the play of the Bruins' 4th line.

Some people, such as 98.5's Michael Felger, like to complain about the 4th line. And even I sometimes get annoyed when they're on the ice in a potential scoring situation. The fact is, they play their roles and occasionally add a little more. Thornton is the enforcer. Paille is a speedy penalty-killer. Campbell also kills penalties and is sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. Sometimes they go above and beyond their roles. Like last night when they generated 2 goals. Shawn Thornton's numbers speak volumes to their contribution...

6:42 time on ice, 11 shifts, 2 assists, +2, 2 shots on goal, 3 hits, 1 blocked shot

He only played in 11% of the game, and he did all that.

You never fail to notice that the 4th line is on the ice. Sometimes you don't notice Lucic or Horton or Peverley. But you never fail to notice the 4th line. And they won the game last night. So from me, and from the 4th line, suck it, Felger...

Tuukka Rask's play made it so the 4th line was in position to win the game. The goal Rask allowed in the 2nd possibly could have been saved, but apart from that he was flawless. His 3rd period right-pad stop on Rick Nash during a 4-on-2 breakaway when the game was 1-1 was the biggest save of the game. Bigger than any saves Lundqvist made. It was also a timely save. And it could prove to be the biggest save of the series. That save is probably the difference between a 3-0 series and a 2-1 series. And just like the ball-strike count in baseball, that's a huge difference. The Bruins now have a 3-0 count in their favor, and a green light to swing away.

Continuing the baseball comparison, Rask was like a pitcher who gave up a solo homerun in the 2nd inning, but retired the last 9 batters he faced, starting with striking out the side with the bases loaded in the 7th.

Rask was an Ace last night.

And let's not forget Johnny Boychuk, who scored his 4th postseason goal. That's second most on the Bruins (behind Krejci's 5 and tied with Horton), and the most of any defenseman in the playoffs. He has 10 career playoff goals in 55 games. That's not bad at all for a defenseman.

I do have a question to pose: if the Bruins get all their defensemen healthy, should they put Torey Krug on the 3rd line as a winger? Obviously this is not a serious question. Or is it? It isn't.

Or is it?

Game 4 Thursday night. Expect a desperate Rangers team to fight tooth and nail. It could be the hardest game of the series for the Bruins. Or maybe the Rangers will quit on their coach and get blown out 5-1.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Seth Wenig