Boston Bruins Blow Game 1 vs Buffalo | Bruins Playoff News | Ep 139

0:00 Speaker 1: Can you start a podcast with me please? I need

0:04 Speaker 1: something to do. Jack shut it out A tough a

0:14 Speaker 1: bocking to say to day, here's a chance popa right

0:21 Speaker 1: down the goalie scars, oh my one a move by

0:24 Speaker 1: the rookie to on one past not moving in shatich

0:29 Speaker 1: Oil dances in podcast at home right away corner pasterst

0:40 Speaker 1: What is that for? Bston? Welcome in everyone to another

0:51 Speaker 1: episode of Bruin's Tape to Tape. I'm your host today,

0:55 Speaker 1: Caroline with a K, and our Boston Bruins road woes

0:59 Speaker 1: continue into the playoffs, where they've lost Game one to

1:02 Speaker 1: the Buffalo Saber after only playing fifty five minutes of

1:06 Speaker 1: a sixty minute game. But before I continue my rant,

1:09 Speaker 1: let's welcome in our guest co host this week, Mary Beth.

1:14 Speaker 1: Welcome in.

1:15 Speaker 2: Thanks so much for having me. I was thinking that

1:17 Speaker 2: before the game last night, I was looking forward to it.

1:20 Speaker 2: Now I'm not so sure I know.

1:22 Speaker 1: So the funny part is, as you said before we

1:25 Speaker 1: started recording today, because today is the last day of

1:28 Speaker 1: Maria's fantastic vacation, that I get to play the role

1:32 Speaker 1: of Maria today and you get to be the optimistic,

1:35 Speaker 1: nice one. So this would be a fun change of

1:37 Speaker 1: pace for both of us. Certainly, somebody's got to.

1:40 Speaker 2: Play the role of Maria. She is well missed this morning.

1:43 Speaker 1: Yes, and I'm going to do my best. But before

1:46 Speaker 1: we get even further into that nonsense, let's a little

1:50 Speaker 1: quick tour around the rink. Playoffs have started, obviously, since

1:54 Speaker 1: we last chatted, we've already had almost every single series kickoff.

1:59 Speaker 1: We have just one more series that has yet to

2:02 Speaker 1: have a game won. So today we are recording on Monday,

2:06 Speaker 1: April twentieth, and the Boilers and the Ducks are the

2:09 Speaker 1: last ones to actually start the playoffs this evening at

2:13 Speaker 1: ten pm Eastern. But everybody else has already gotten their

2:16 Speaker 1: feet wet. The excitement of the first day of the

2:20 Speaker 1: high Holidays has happened. We've also had our first overtime

2:24 Speaker 1: for those new hockey fans. That is their baptism, so

2:28 Speaker 1: to speak. So what a wonderful experience for all those

2:31 Speaker 1: new folks joining us and joining the hockey community. And

2:35 Speaker 1: of course it's no surprise that first overtime happened in

2:39 Speaker 1: the East, So Marybeth, any surprises thus far. I'm checking

2:45 Speaker 1: my chart. The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Habs played.

2:49 Speaker 1: That was our overtime game. That game.

2:52 Speaker 2: Actually, that was a little bit of a surprise, I'll

2:55 Speaker 2: tell you. And this pains me to say it. I

2:57 Speaker 2: am a Boston fan, or let's be clear, but I'm

3:01 Speaker 2: also a huge hockey fan, and there is a part

3:04 Speaker 2: of me that's just routin for Montreal, that younger Habs team.

3:08 Speaker 2: They haven't had success, their tails off this year, and

3:12 Speaker 2: quite frankly, because of recency bias, I hate the Lightning

3:16 Speaker 2: a little more than the Canadians. Ring from my soul.

3:20 Speaker 2: We don't love the Canadians here in Bossy.

3:22 Speaker 1: We had a great conversation in our discord yesterday because

3:25 Speaker 1: we've been watching all of the gates, A great hockey

3:27 Speaker 1: conversation if you want to join us, But we had

3:29 Speaker 1: this whole conversation, where is there ever a time when

3:34 Speaker 1: a Boston Bruins fan, or vice versa, if you're a

3:37 Speaker 1: Habs fan. Because I had this conversation on threads with

3:40 Speaker 1: some folks too, is it ever acceptable to root for

3:43 Speaker 1: the Habs? And we've decided that there is one circumstance

3:48 Speaker 1: and one circumstance only, and that is when there is

3:52 Speaker 1: the possibility that the two teams could meet in a

3:57 Speaker 1: playoff round. So here's this is it's the one exception.

4:01 Speaker 1: And we've said this on our podcast many times. We

4:04 Speaker 1: are also hockey fans, and it's just good for business

4:09 Speaker 1: when the Bruins' traditional rivals do really well. The Leafs

4:13 Speaker 1: have been that villain for probably the last what twenty

4:18 Speaker 1: five years, and it's now Montreal's turn. And to your point,

4:23 Speaker 1: this is a young team. They've been working towards this

4:27 Speaker 1: for a number of seasons. Last year, I believe it

4:30 Speaker 1: was the first time they've made it into the playoffs

4:33 Speaker 1: with this new core, with this retooling, rebuild, whatever it

4:37 Speaker 1: is that they're calling it. They squeaked in last year.

4:39 Speaker 1: This year they came in with a much firmer hold

4:43 Speaker 1: on the situation and I think that they are going

4:46 Speaker 1: to be a harder out. But also they're playing a

4:49 Speaker 1: team from Florida, and screw Tampa. That's what it boils

4:53 Speaker 1: down to.

4:54 Speaker 2: We do not want a team from Florida to continue

4:57 Speaker 2: to advance. That's where we love. Florida is the achilles

5:00 Speaker 2: of the Bruins. Both teams, both Tampa and Florida Panthers,

5:04 Speaker 2: just have our number. And so if we can get

5:06 Speaker 2: them knocked out, then I can happily root for Montreal

5:09 Speaker 2: because I'd like to knock out Tampa Yeah.

5:12 Speaker 3: Yeah.

5:12 Speaker 1: Look, Also, as a hockey fan, my fear is that

5:16 Speaker 1: this season playoffs result in a Stanley Cup Final that

5:20 Speaker 1: is again a copy paste of twenty twenty two. Now,

5:23 Speaker 1: I know you would not be too mad about that

5:25 Speaker 1: because Colorado's your West Coast team. However, considering the last

5:31 Speaker 1: five years, there hasn't been that much diversity in who

5:36 Speaker 1: is making it to that final. And I am tired.

5:39 Speaker 1: I am bored of a Florida team in the Stanley

5:43 Speaker 1: Cup final because you had Florida Panthers for the last

5:48 Speaker 1: three years, and then prior to that you had Tampa

5:51 Speaker 1: Bay for three years. So little bit over it and

5:55 Speaker 1: I don't want to see the same matchups anymore. I don't.

5:58 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Edmonton, I want to see you in the

6:00 Speaker 1: Cup final. I can't. I don't want to see Colorado

6:04 Speaker 1: versus Tampa Bay. If Colorado makes it, fine, but please God,

6:07 Speaker 1: then don't let it be Tampa.

6:09 Speaker 2: Now I have to agree with you. Now, I still

6:11 Speaker 2: am okay with seeing Edmonton in the finals. As we know,

6:14 Speaker 2: they're my third team, but I would prefer Colorado over that.

6:17 Speaker 2: I do also think just from a business perspective, it's

6:21 Speaker 2: better for the sport if we're spreading out the wealth,

6:24 Speaker 2: if we've got more fan base auged, if we've got

6:27 Speaker 2: more teams doing great things. I think a lot of

6:30 Speaker 2: people get bored seeing the same teams over and over

6:32 Speaker 2: making it to the finals. It is interesting, in this

6:36 Speaker 2: world of the salary cap, with so much parody around

6:40 Speaker 2: the league, that the same teams keep making it. I

6:42 Speaker 2: find that fascinating on a whole bunch of levels, just

6:45 Speaker 2: again as a hockey observer, as somebody who is a

6:48 Speaker 2: fan of the sport in general. Yeah, I just find

6:51 Speaker 2: that really interesting.

6:52 Speaker 1: And I will say the one thing I will give

6:54 Speaker 1: Tampa they're fans over Florida Panthers, is and I've been

6:59 Speaker 1: to a gain in Tampa. They are better hockey fans.

7:03 Speaker 1: It's I don't know if it's just because it's more

7:05 Speaker 1: well established, I don't know what it is, but at

7:07 Speaker 1: least they've got a better fan base. They actually go

7:09 Speaker 1: to the games. But that being said, that's just the

7:12 Speaker 1: first game. We also had a Carolina Ottawa kickoff for

7:16 Speaker 1: the series. I think that there was no surprise in

7:20 Speaker 1: regard to the outcome of that. I was a little

7:22 Speaker 1: surprised that it was a shutout Carolina one to nothing.

7:25 Speaker 1: They completely obliterated Ottawa with shots, because that's their mow.

7:31 Speaker 1: The Ottawa also is a team that this is their

7:34 Speaker 1: second year getting in after attempting to come back actually

7:39 Speaker 1: build on anything. That's the interesting thing actually about this

7:42 Speaker 1: particular playoff season. When looking at both sides of the bracket,

7:48 Speaker 1: you have obviously Buffalo, first time in a long time,

7:51 Speaker 1: so they're new this year to the bracket. Pittsburgh is

7:54 Speaker 1: new this year to the bracket, first time in three years.

7:57 Speaker 1: I don't think Philadelphia was in left last year, so

8:00 Speaker 1: they're new this year. But then you also have Boston

8:04 Speaker 1: is new this year, Montreal and Ottawa are this is

8:07 Speaker 1: only their second time, so you really only have Tampa

8:11 Speaker 1: and Carolina as repeats from last year, which I think,

8:15 Speaker 1: again great for business and it's a similar thing out

8:18 Speaker 1: west Pittsburgh Philly game. Did you catch this game?

8:22 Speaker 2: Oh? I sure did, Yeah you did. I pretty much

8:24 Speaker 2: watch as much as I can every playoff game, absolutely

8:28 Speaker 2: coasting time of year. I actually, for those of you

8:30 Speaker 2: who followed my socials you've seen my posts. I think

8:33 Speaker 2: NHL put it out, but it was a picture of

8:35 Speaker 2: the Stanley Cup. Do you have plans this weekend? I

8:38 Speaker 2: have plans until June.

8:40 Speaker 1: I'm busy every night till the Cup final because they're

8:45 Speaker 1: every night.

8:46 Speaker 2: Now. For people who followed me my origin story, it

8:49 Speaker 2: started with the Flyers. It started in the seventies when

8:52 Speaker 2: the Flyers were winning the Stanley Cup. That's my hockey

8:54 Speaker 2: origin story. So there's a part of me that really

8:57 Speaker 2: roots for the Flyers, low key under around there, but

9:00 Speaker 2: I think there's this other part of me that always

9:03 Speaker 2: roots for Sid. So do you not now? Again, my

9:06 Speaker 2: Philly people, I get it, they're not rooting for Sid,

9:09 Speaker 2: but I just the guy deserves another cup. I wouldn't

9:12 Speaker 2: be sad if he got another Cup. I would because

9:15 Speaker 2: it would be at our peril. But also I root

9:18 Speaker 2: for Sid. I think that he has carried that team

9:21 Speaker 2: on his back. I think the fact that they made

9:23 Speaker 2: the playoffs is amazing. But you watch that game and geez, Louise,

9:29 Speaker 2: how could you not root for the Flyers In that game?

9:31 Speaker 2: They came out with so much energy and so much

9:34 Speaker 2: enthusiasm and they were just amazing to watch. You know that. Now.

9:38 Speaker 2: That is the kind of a game that you can

9:40 Speaker 2: just watch as a hockey fan and enjoy the game.

9:43 Speaker 2: Because I don't really have a dog in the fight.

9:45 Speaker 2: I will always find something to like on almost every team.

9:50 Speaker 1: It's great to watch a game like that. Again, we

9:53 Speaker 1: were joking I think last night where really, oh, I

9:55 Speaker 1: forgot this is how it feels to be stressed out

9:58 Speaker 1: during this time of year, because last year was the

10:00 Speaker 1: first time in a long time that all of us

10:01 Speaker 1: are just watching all the hockey and enjoying it and like, huh,

10:04 Speaker 1: this is not stressful at all, but watching That's one

10:07 Speaker 1: of the wonderful parts about what I like to call

10:09 Speaker 1: the high Holy Days of hockey, because you can consume

10:12 Speaker 1: so much hockey, and if your team is in it,

10:16 Speaker 1: you're not going to be stressed by every single game

10:18 Speaker 1: that you watch. Because for me, if I had more

10:21 Speaker 1: free time during this regular season, I would watch more

10:25 Speaker 1: other games. I have a pretty busy life schedule. I

10:29 Speaker 1: am just barely able to watch the eighty two games

10:32 Speaker 1: that the Bruins play, so I can't take on more.

10:35 Speaker 1: But this is like the time of year where I

10:37 Speaker 1: get to watch all the hockey and you get to

10:40 Speaker 1: really appreciate just how fun the sport is, especially when

10:43 Speaker 1: you've got rivals playing like the Pennsylvania teams. I will

10:47 Speaker 1: say my one observation because I try to stay generally informed,

10:51 Speaker 1: but again without actually watching these games, sometimes you just

10:55 Speaker 1: don't know how a team plays in real life outside

10:58 Speaker 1: of when they play Ruins. But I think this Pittsburgh team,

11:02 Speaker 1: they're obviously very elite. They've got some young blood in there,

11:06 Speaker 1: but they're really being driven by their core. Unfortunately, their

11:09 Speaker 1: core is older, and compared to Philadelphia, they are a

11:16 Speaker 1: lot younger and just have that special something that you

11:20 Speaker 1: see with these really young, quote unquote kid teams like

11:24 Speaker 1: you see with San Jose or you see with Anaheim.

11:26 Speaker 1: You see it in Philadelphia. So I don't like you.

11:29 Speaker 1: I don't have a dog in the fight. I don't

11:31 Speaker 1: know who I'm rooting for. I love SID, but I

11:33 Speaker 1: think Philadelphia is really fun to watch. They've got Porter Martone.

11:37 Speaker 1: He literally has played nine regular season games, b had

11:41 Speaker 1: ten points already, which blew my mind. When I saw

11:45 Speaker 1: that stat and to watch him play, I literally said

11:49 Speaker 1: out loud as I'm watching, Oh my god, what did

11:52 Speaker 1: I just see as a star?

11:54 Speaker 2: What not even a star in the making. That kid

11:56 Speaker 2: is a star. And that was the debate with this

11:59 Speaker 2: particular was is it going to be this experience of

12:02 Speaker 2: the Penguins against this inexperience of the Flyers, And how's

12:07 Speaker 2: that going to win out? For the first game. Anyway,

12:09 Speaker 2: it's always going to be goaltending. It's the Stanley Cup.

12:12 Speaker 2: The Stanley Cup is all based on goaltending. Without a

12:15 Speaker 2: good goaltender, you're out goltly Do Skinner.

12:19 Speaker 1: If Pittsburgh had a good goalie, I wouldn't be surprised

12:21 Speaker 1: if they had a deep run. I could not imagine

12:24 Speaker 1: them going super far with Skinner, But then again, I

12:27 Speaker 1: don't know.

12:27 Speaker 2: He did it within but in the finals last Cup,

12:30 Speaker 2: but they couldn't ever win with him. No, I agree,

12:34 Speaker 2: And I do think from watching that first game we

12:37 Speaker 2: could see that, Yeah, the Flyers have inexperienced players, but

12:40 Speaker 2: their play is aggressive, they follow through on stuff, and

12:45 Speaker 2: I think as you're watching that they were organized and

12:48 Speaker 2: thoughtful in the way they were playing. And I think

12:50 Speaker 2: that's what people thought. We weren't going to see. We're

12:53 Speaker 2: going to see a little more scattered, and we didn't

12:54 Speaker 2: see that.

12:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a fun game to watch out West again.

12:58 Speaker 1: I missed the Vegas and Utah game, although I believe

13:02 Speaker 1: I saw a fantastic little clip that they scored on

13:06 Speaker 1: their own goal of the day, you deserve her to her.

13:09 Speaker 1: And then the Dallas in Minnesota game I did watch that.

13:12 Speaker 1: That was shocking and a little embarrassing, I have to say,

13:18 Speaker 1: very surprising.

13:20 Speaker 2: That was one of the games I thought was going

13:22 Speaker 2: to be one of the series that I thought was

13:24 Speaker 2: going to be fairly well matched. I saw we were

13:27 Speaker 2: going to be seeing a little bit more back and

13:29 Speaker 2: forth there, a little bit more of either team could

13:32 Speaker 2: take this, and that is not at all what we saw.

13:35 Speaker 1: No, they do seem to struggle with stopping the rush

13:41 Speaker 1: in the neutral zone, and I was reminded of that

13:44 Speaker 1: fact when the Bruins played Dallas not too long ago.

13:48 Speaker 1: Boston did a fantastic job of taking over that game.

13:51 Speaker 1: But the time, I think we all thought that's just

13:53 Speaker 1: because Dallas was already in the playoffs. How hard were

13:56 Speaker 1: they really trying? But then I was listening to someone

13:59 Speaker 1: talking about the preview and they talked about how Boston

14:03 Speaker 1: has this ability to really control the neutral zone and

14:06 Speaker 1: then have these good zone entries and that's exactly how

14:09 Speaker 1: they beat Dallas, because Dallas clearly struggles with that, and

14:13 Speaker 1: I didn't realize at the time when Boston beat them,

14:16 Speaker 1: that was apparently their achilles heel, and holy cow, is

14:20 Speaker 1: their achilles heel because six to one is a crazy

14:26 Speaker 1: first of all six goals in a playoff game, that's

14:28 Speaker 1: a really high numbering team.

14:30 Speaker 2: That's yeah, that's beyond embarrassing. By the time you get

14:33 Speaker 2: to the play.

14:34 Speaker 1: And then the goal differential being a five goal spread,

14:37 Speaker 1: you're going to be seeing a lot more one goal

14:40 Speaker 1: two goal games, and that's exactly what we've been seeing.

14:43 Speaker 1: Carolina was a two goal game. I think was Pittsburgh. No,

14:46 Speaker 1: Pittsburgh was a one goal game, right, that game was

14:48 Speaker 1: a one goal game. The Tampa game one goal game,

14:51 Speaker 1: Boston one goal game, Colorado, La was a one goal game.

14:54 Speaker 1: I think it was a two goal game for Vegas,

14:56 Speaker 1: Like this is what is normal. And I will be

14:59 Speaker 1: very curious to watch that game because I want to

15:01 Speaker 1: see how they respond, because I think that there was

15:03 Speaker 1: a lot of criticism over the fact that he didn't

15:06 Speaker 1: pull Outter and it brought up this whole conversation online

15:10 Speaker 1: about this is what happened last year, and I kind

15:13 Speaker 1: of jokingly said online, of course the new coach, he's

15:16 Speaker 1: not gonna pull Ottinger because Dubor did it and he

15:19 Speaker 1: got fired for like I said it a little tongue

15:22 Speaker 1: in cheek. But now you're nerve right now, you're watching

15:25 Speaker 1: this and you're like, wait a minute, is that really

15:27 Speaker 1: a thing where people aren't gonna pull otter because he

15:32 Speaker 1: should have been.

15:33 Speaker 2: Pull should have been pulled. He is a little inconsistent,

15:35 Speaker 2: quite frankly, and he's on. He is on man. I

15:38 Speaker 2: was at the Colorado Stars game a couple of weeks ago,

15:41 Speaker 2: and my gosh, it was like poetry on ice. He

15:44 Speaker 2: was so good that game. That was not what we

15:46 Speaker 2: saw the other night. And the thing was it not

15:49 Speaker 2: only should it have been closer just in general, but

15:51 Speaker 2: like the Stars were pretty significantly ahead of the wildman standings.

15:56 Speaker 2: It was only there were two and three, but one

15:58 Speaker 2: hundred and twelve points compared to four points. That's a

16:01 Speaker 2: pretty big difference. Is so the fact that they basically

16:04 Speaker 2: got creamed yet pull the goalie, and.

16:07 Speaker 1: This is again an outsider's perspective, they did not come

16:10 Speaker 1: prepared to play in the playoffs. I think that is

16:14 Speaker 1: an excellent example for new folks, especially when we say,

16:20 Speaker 1: after eighty two games, you throw away all of your

16:23 Speaker 1: knowledge of how that season went. To Sea playoffs day

16:27 Speaker 1: one game, one whole new ball game, it'd be a

16:30 Speaker 1: completely different situation. They play it differently, they approach it differently.

16:35 Speaker 1: A lot of players prepare differently. So to see a

16:38 Speaker 1: team that both teams Minnesota and Dallas have a good

16:44 Speaker 1: balance of veteran players who have been in the situation

16:48 Speaker 1: before in the very recent past, and to watch a

16:52 Speaker 1: team like the Dallas Stars, they didn't choke, They just

16:56 Speaker 1: were completely unprepared.

16:57 Speaker 2: They show up.

16:59 Speaker 1: They didn't.

17:01 Speaker 2: We'll get home later from last night, but they just

17:03 Speaker 2: really no. I think they weren't prepared. They didn't show

17:06 Speaker 2: up to play the playoffs. And this is why though

17:09 Speaker 2: the playoffs are so much fun. Yes, people say it

17:13 Speaker 2: all the time. Anything can happen in Stanley Cup playoffs.

17:16 Speaker 2: This is an example of it.

17:18 Speaker 3: Now.

17:18 Speaker 2: I will be interested to see how they come back.

17:21 Speaker 2: I can't even imagine their practice the next few days,

17:23 Speaker 2: but I think that how they respond is going to

17:27 Speaker 2: tell us a whole lot about how this series is

17:29 Speaker 2: going to go.

17:30 Speaker 1: Agree both the players and the coaching staff, because while

17:34 Speaker 1: we don't tend to think about the coaching staff all

17:38 Speaker 1: that much during the season, we don't really necessarily think

17:41 Speaker 1: about their decision making as part of the play on

17:46 Speaker 1: the ice, at least I don't. They're kind of background.

17:49 Speaker 1: They become part of the competition that you see out

17:53 Speaker 1: on the ice when it comes to the playoffs because

17:56 Speaker 1: their decisions have a pretty direct impact act on what's happening,

18:01 Speaker 1: and when you are playing best of seven, there is

18:04 Speaker 1: very little room for error. You can't just say, all right,

18:07 Speaker 1: that's something we'll work on for the next game. You

18:10 Speaker 1: can't approach it that way. And so let's just dive

18:12 Speaker 1: into the circus that was the game one of.

18:18 Speaker 2: We have to.

18:20 Speaker 1: I gotta get it off my chest because I have

18:22 Speaker 1: no one else to yell at about this. But let's

18:24 Speaker 1: first talk about the coaching And I've had a few

18:28 Speaker 1: hours now to digest the game, to bring my anger

18:32 Speaker 1: levels down and think about what I watched last night,

18:35 Speaker 1: And I gotta say, and who knows is this Storm's style?

18:40 Speaker 1: Is this his inexperience being the head coach of an

18:46 Speaker 1: NHL team in the playoffs? I don't know what it is?

18:49 Speaker 1: But there was a moment last night where as we

18:52 Speaker 1: like to say, it was a level one wheels falling off. Okay,

18:56 Speaker 1: it was the jiff of the wheels are just wobbly

18:58 Speaker 1: on that wag. Yes, so the level one situation where

19:03 Speaker 1: I believe it was either either Buffalo had scored their

19:08 Speaker 1: first goal or they had scored their second. They were

19:10 Speaker 1: pretty close together, because again, like I said, the Bruins

19:13 Speaker 1: played fifty five minutes of decent hockey and then by

19:16 Speaker 1: our favorite final five, they just were like what is hockey?

19:21 Speaker 1: They should have called a timeout, if not to regroup

19:26 Speaker 1: in the moment, at least to use it as a

19:29 Speaker 1: strategy to bring the stress levels down of the situation.

19:35 Speaker 1: You can use it strategically. And he didn't, And I

19:37 Speaker 1: was a little bit surprised, And I can't tell you

19:39 Speaker 1: if it would have made a difference. But what else

19:42 Speaker 1: do you have? What else do you have to lose?

19:44 Speaker 1: If you're going to lose, you're going to lose. Call

19:46 Speaker 1: the time out, regroup, figure out what's happening. Because all

19:51 Speaker 1: of a sudden, Boston, they had zero control over the game.

19:54 Speaker 1: And this is a team that has been slowly irritating

19:58 Speaker 1: me more and more in the we know that the

20:01 Speaker 1: Boston Bruins have struggled offensively since the break, at least

20:08 Speaker 1: cannot rely on them to score goals when they need

20:11 Speaker 1: to score goals. It doesn't matter who, whether it's your

20:14 Speaker 1: top line or your depth lines, nobody seems to be

20:18 Speaker 1: able to take advantage of opportunities or just make things happen.

20:23 Speaker 1: Some of it is bad puck luck. Right last night,

20:26 Speaker 1: open net, broken stick.

20:27 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's puck luck.

20:29 Speaker 1: That's hockey gods, they hate us all. But you cannot.

20:32 Speaker 1: While we say that you have to have good goaltending,

20:35 Speaker 1: you have to have good goaltending who go deep into

20:37 Speaker 1: the playoffs, you also still have to score more goals.

20:41 Speaker 2: The whole point of the game, just in case anybody

20:44 Speaker 2: is listening, is to score more goals than the other team.

20:48 Speaker 2: That's how you win hockey. That is not what we

20:50 Speaker 2: saw last night. Consistently, this team has been inconsistent from

20:55 Speaker 2: day one at the beginning of the season. They've been streaky,

20:58 Speaker 2: and this is to a play We are consistently inconsistent.

21:02 Speaker 2: So I think that what we saw last night was

21:05 Speaker 2: really an embodiment of that inconsistency. We were really on

21:09 Speaker 2: it for fifty to fifty five minutes somewhere in there,

21:13 Speaker 2: and suddenly we were not. We had some good stuff

21:16 Speaker 2: from our big guys I received. We saw the goals

21:18 Speaker 2: from the people that we wanted to see goals from. Yes,

21:21 Speaker 2: but we also saw some big turnovers from those same

21:26 Speaker 2: kinds of players. That Macvoid turnover, My god, that changed

21:30 Speaker 2: the course of the game. And I to your point,

21:32 Speaker 2: having a time out, having a minute, having a break.

21:35 Speaker 2: I feel like this a lot at the end of

21:37 Speaker 2: a period that's not going well. Thank god, this period's over.

21:40 Speaker 2: We're going to go in the locker room. They're going

21:41 Speaker 2: to take a break, they'll come out, and sometimes it

21:44 Speaker 2: works well and sometimes it doesn't. But you take a beat, Yes,

21:47 Speaker 2: would it make a difference, Maybe not. But they didn't

21:50 Speaker 2: get a chance to catch their breath, to regroup and

21:53 Speaker 2: to put a stop to the momentum on the sabers.

21:56 Speaker 2: Either way, that's what that timeout is for, and we

21:59 Speaker 2: didn't get it. Yes.

22:00 Speaker 1: What I will say that the Bruins did really well was,

22:03 Speaker 1: first of all, they had a fantastic first period. They

22:05 Speaker 1: came in, they were cool, calm, collected, Geeky did his thing.

22:10 Speaker 1: Thank god he is back. Just for his own sake,

22:13 Speaker 1: if not our own. They clearly were the team dictating

22:18 Speaker 1: the pace of play. It was a good physical game.

22:21 Speaker 1: They had a good first period. Second period, as we expected,

22:25 Speaker 1: was the bumpy ride. They held on defensively. If it

22:29 Speaker 1: were not for Jeremy Swayman, they would have been probably

22:32 Speaker 1: more embarrassed than the Dallas Stars were in their skin.

22:37 Speaker 1: Their defense was okay, their goaltending was spectacular, and their

22:42 Speaker 1: offense was mediocre at best. They had barely any offensive

22:48 Speaker 1: z own time in that second period. They really struggled

22:50 Speaker 1: to get in and maintain, but they held on and

22:55 Speaker 1: for me, the game. The very first goal that Buffalo scored.

22:59 Speaker 1: I'm not saying this necessarily as an insult. They only

23:02 Speaker 1: scored that first goal on a broken play by sheer luck.

23:05 Speaker 1: Like you want to talk about puck luck. That was

23:08 Speaker 1: a puck luck goal because that situation, and for those

23:12 Speaker 1: of you who don't remember, this was a situation where

23:15 Speaker 1: for some unknown reason, our two defencemen were below the

23:18 Speaker 1: goal line, and it reminded me so much of the

23:22 Speaker 1: first time that the Bruins played the Ducks in the fall.

23:27 Speaker 1: You know what, let me actually go back and play

23:30 Speaker 1: this little clip from Maria from a snapshot back in

23:33 Speaker 1: October from that Anaheim game, Because I think you're all

23:36 Speaker 1: going to be a little bit shocked at just how

23:39 Speaker 1: applicable what she said in October applies to what we

23:44 Speaker 1: saw last night. Take a look.

23:45 Speaker 3: The Bruins lost against a team that they should be

23:49 Speaker 3: able to be. Stop me if you've heard that already.

23:52 Speaker 3: Thursday night's game was an embarrassment. Cam Neely needs to

23:57 Speaker 3: take this so called vaunted defensive structure where he thought

24:02 Speaker 3: that this team would be so difficult to play against,

24:05 Speaker 3: and light it on freaking fire, because at this point,

24:10 Speaker 3: what I see is I see defenceman and forwards who

24:14 Speaker 3: look lost in our own end. And when I tell

24:17 Speaker 3: you lost, they don't seem to have a clue who

24:21 Speaker 3: is supposed to be doing what, which might leave our

24:24 Speaker 3: goaltenders wondering what the hell is going on here? Is

24:28 Speaker 3: someone going to play the man? Is someone going to

24:31 Speaker 3: take care of the puck, make a play on the puck.

24:34 Speaker 3: It seems to me I'm not sure where this team

24:37 Speaker 3: goes from here. I'm sorry, that is excusable, in my view, excusable.

24:43 Speaker 3: And the so called leaders on this team, and I'm

24:46 Speaker 3: talking about Charlie McAvoy and David Pasternat and ever else

24:51 Speaker 3: in that locker room thinks that they're a leader, they

24:54 Speaker 3: had better start playing like leaders. There's lots of blame

24:58 Speaker 3: pie to go around.

25:00 Speaker 1: I see forwards who are unwilling to backcheck and to

25:04 Speaker 1: make a play in their own end. Both Chucky and

25:09 Speaker 1: Lori were below the goal line.

25:12 Speaker 2: Mm hmm, I remember that now.

25:14 Speaker 1: That should never happen. That should never happen. This is

25:18 Speaker 1: the second time, I'm sure. Look, I don't know if

25:20 Speaker 1: it was actually the second time, but this is a

25:22 Speaker 1: second time that I remember distinctly. That also involves Charlie McAvoy,

25:28 Speaker 1: So I don't know. Maybe that first time wasn't the

25:30 Speaker 1: Lowris problem. Maybe the issue was Charlie McAvoy, but it

25:34 Speaker 1: wasn't even just the Chucky, And in this case it

25:37 Speaker 1: was asked Broro, we're both below the goal line, which

25:39 Speaker 1: again big no no. What also pissed me off was

25:44 Speaker 1: that our forwards were then also not taking over in

25:49 Speaker 1: a defensive position. I'm assuming, based on the two wingers

25:53 Speaker 1: who were out there, that Zaka must have been the

25:55 Speaker 1: center that was out there, but maybe he wasn't because

25:57 Speaker 1: of ship change. But Arvidson was at the bottom of

26:00 Speaker 1: a circle. Middlestat was at the bottom of the other circle.

26:02 Speaker 1: Now again, when we're talking about hockey logistics and plays

26:06 Speaker 1: and where positions are supposed to be, obviously your wingers

26:09 Speaker 1: you want them a little higher up because if the

26:11 Speaker 1: puck squirts out, they continue to go fine. That is

26:15 Speaker 1: then the role of the center to play. That's why

26:19 Speaker 1: it's important that a center can play to a two

26:21 Speaker 1: hundred foot game. It means he is both an offensive

26:23 Speaker 1: position and a defensive position. I remember watching that replay

26:28 Speaker 1: over and over again and the fact that I knew

26:30 Speaker 1: where the two defencemen were and the two wings were,

26:32 Speaker 1: and I cannot tell you I have no idea who

26:35 Speaker 1: the center was out there, where he even was. But

26:38 Speaker 1: if your two defencemen stupidly go below the goal line,

26:41 Speaker 1: your centerman then needs to take over the position of

26:43 Speaker 1: the defenceman and be in front, clear in traffic, watching

26:48 Speaker 1: the back door. Instead, all I saw was Victor Arvidson

26:51 Speaker 1: standing there, and then I saw Middlestack come into the frame.

26:55 Speaker 1: Why was Arbitson just standing there? Where was the center?

27:00 Speaker 2: And my problem with this team for the whole season

27:03 Speaker 2: is we do not seem to know what our positions

27:07 Speaker 2: are and where we should be on the ice. Based

27:10 Speaker 2: on that position, you're seeing one guy either end by himself,

27:15 Speaker 2: like no player unless they're on a breakaway, should ever

27:18 Speaker 2: be by themselves. There's five players, you're generally paired up

27:22 Speaker 2: with at least one other person. You want to spread

27:25 Speaker 2: out a little depending on what the other team is doing.

27:27 Speaker 2: But as a rule, you've got a place on the

27:30 Speaker 2: ice that you are supposed to be, and if you

27:33 Speaker 2: are in that place, then people can find you, people

27:36 Speaker 2: can pass you, you can make a play, you become

27:39 Speaker 2: that playmaker depending again on your position, or you are

27:43 Speaker 2: in the position to stop any other plays from happening. Again,

27:48 Speaker 2: we're not seeing that. We're seeing a lot of people

27:51 Speaker 2: floating around by themselves, or we're seeing people standing there

27:54 Speaker 2: waiting for something to happen. Now, if he was in

27:58 Speaker 2: the place that is going to allow him to be

28:02 Speaker 2: part of the play, great, But he wasn't, which Arvidson,

28:06 Speaker 2: when you're talking about Aran just staying there, he wasn't

28:09 Speaker 2: in position for something else to happen. You sometimes are

28:13 Speaker 2: in position right in front of the goal. Great, then

28:15 Speaker 2: you know what stay there because somebody will bring you

28:18 Speaker 2: and feed you the pup. That's not where he was,

28:20 Speaker 2: That's not the position he was in because the puck

28:23 Speaker 2: was not in a place to get to him.

28:26 Speaker 1: Look, obviously, there's a lot happening and in that kind

28:29 Speaker 1: of play, in that situation that led to Buffalo's first goal.

28:32 Speaker 1: That was we call it a broken play because it

28:34 Speaker 1: all of a sudden became a chaotic moment that there

28:37 Speaker 1: was no set play. There's no like you get into

28:40 Speaker 1: a formation and you do X, Y and Z no.

28:42 Speaker 1: In that moment, it is a mad scramble and there's

28:45 Speaker 1: a lot going on. But again, it just drives me

28:48 Speaker 1: bonkers that in a moment of chaos where the heck

28:51 Speaker 1: was the center. I'm gonna have to go watch that

28:53 Speaker 1: again because now it's going to bother me. But to

28:55 Speaker 1: just be standing there and waiting for what this is

28:58 Speaker 1: where I'm still learning and trying to understand exactly the

29:01 Speaker 1: system at Sturm is all about, because it is very

29:05 Speaker 1: different from what we have seen Boston Hockey b for

29:08 Speaker 1: the last decade. I don't know, was he doing what

29:11 Speaker 1: he was supposed to be doing and that was just

29:13 Speaker 1: a bad coaching decision. I don't know, but I can

29:17 Speaker 1: tell you that people not being where they needed to

29:20 Speaker 1: be obviously, is the reason why that goal went in.

29:22 Speaker 1: Not because Swayman was necessarily beat in the moment. He

29:26 Speaker 1: did not receive the support during that play he should

29:31 Speaker 1: have received. Now, I will say Buffalo's second goal one

29:35 Speaker 1: hundred percent got beat. But you know what, what particularly

29:40 Speaker 1: pissed me off about this game is the fact that

29:43 Speaker 1: it felt like the Bruins players forward skaters were just

29:49 Speaker 1: hanging on and hoping to what beat out the clock

29:54 Speaker 1: because Swayman was having such a good game.

29:57 Speaker 2: That's exactly what we did. We didn't play to win.

29:59 Speaker 2: We played not to lose once we had those two

30:01 Speaker 2: goals in the end, for those first two goals, we

30:04 Speaker 2: were playing to win. Yes, we came out with aggressiveness,

30:07 Speaker 2: We came out with some fira belly. They played well, yeah,

30:12 Speaker 2: and they were playing to win once we had those

30:15 Speaker 2: then they started playing not to lose, and that is

30:18 Speaker 2: not a winning formula.

30:19 Speaker 1: Quite frankly, no, especially if you consider the fact that

30:22 Speaker 1: Jeremy Swiman faced thirty eight shots. Thirty eight shots. Now,

30:28 Speaker 1: I didn't look at the breakdown of when these shots occurred.

30:31 Speaker 1: I believe majority of them happened in the second period,

30:34 Speaker 1: which was again the holding on for dear life period. Fine,

30:38 Speaker 1: if we're going to have one period of the three,

30:40 Speaker 1: that's got to be a hold on for dear life,

30:42 Speaker 1: and a defense can play their position correctly, that forwards

30:46 Speaker 1: can back check. That was another thing, the backcheck. It

30:49 Speaker 1: did not feel like they were backchecking until the final

30:55 Speaker 1: two minutes. Yeah, once Buffalo took the lead and got

31:00 Speaker 1: that third goal. Only then did I feel like Boston

31:05 Speaker 1: was hustling back to back check.

31:07 Speaker 2: Only then.

31:08 Speaker 1: Now, the start of the game was very fast. I

31:11 Speaker 1: thought the pace of play was very good. I think

31:13 Speaker 1: that was again just game one. Period one, everyone's high

31:17 Speaker 1: on life. Second period, both teams really settled in. It

31:22 Speaker 1: became more of an even keeled play. Third period again

31:26 Speaker 1: Boston fantastic start, did exactly what we want to see.

31:30 Speaker 1: To your point, you go, you have the break, you

31:32 Speaker 1: come out and hoh Linholm fantastic. Then they were just

31:37 Speaker 1: all right, we gotta hold on. We don't need to add.

31:39 Speaker 1: We just need to hold on because Swayman's got our back.

31:42 Speaker 1: But you didn't have Swayman's back because you only had

31:47 Speaker 1: twenty shots on goal. To thirty eight. You cannot expect

31:53 Speaker 1: a goaltender to carry a team to a win when

31:57 Speaker 1: he faces thirty eight shots because his physical mental state

32:02 Speaker 1: after three hours of that.

32:05 Speaker 2: Now, the difference would be if we were also peppering

32:09 Speaker 2: on the other end, correct, because now both goaltenders are

32:13 Speaker 2: equally worn out. But that's not what happened. UPL was

32:17 Speaker 2: down there by himself for a majority of the game.

32:19 Speaker 2: We didn't have a lot of ozone, and then when

32:21 Speaker 2: our defense collapsed, that was the end of us.

32:24 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the other thing that's really frustrating about watching

32:29 Speaker 1: UPL play is, Look, I'm not meaning to insult any

32:34 Speaker 1: of these I actually personally like that player. I think

32:37 Speaker 1: he's he entertains me. But I think he's benefited from

32:42 Speaker 1: a team in front of him that can be very aggressive.

32:46 Speaker 1: And again, the key for Boston to beating the Buffalo

32:49 Speaker 1: Sabers is to maintain their control of the neutral zone

32:54 Speaker 1: and shut things down. It's almost not a trap system.

32:57 Speaker 1: It's trap's cousin neutral zone control. I don't know what's called.

33:01 Speaker 1: But so if you are a goalie who has this

33:04 Speaker 1: team out front that's playing really aggressively, you're going to

33:08 Speaker 1: have a better season, and the goals save above expected

33:11 Speaker 1: for UPL was still ten ten and a half. He

33:14 Speaker 1: was still a decent goalie finishing what with save percentage

33:18 Speaker 1: and nine oh nine and goals against the average of

33:21 Speaker 1: two point five two. But if you've got a team

33:23 Speaker 1: in front of you that's super aggressive and they're able

33:26 Speaker 1: to go and score and stay at the other end

33:29 Speaker 1: like we saw in the second period in Boston, and

33:32 Speaker 1: he's not then seeing a lot of traffic, yeah, it's

33:35 Speaker 1: going to make him look like he's better than I

33:36 Speaker 1: think he actually is.

33:37 Speaker 2: When you look at these two teams side by side,

33:40 Speaker 2: advantage goalie goes to the Bruins, advantage team goes to

33:44 Speaker 2: the Sabers. That's just how it is, and we saw

33:48 Speaker 2: that last night quite frankly, So we can't put all

33:52 Speaker 2: of this weight on Swaymen. We just can't. He cannot

33:55 Speaker 2: carry us all the way to a Stanley Cup. We

33:57 Speaker 2: need him to at least carry us through this. And

34:01 Speaker 2: if they collapse with the defense like they did last night,

34:04 Speaker 2: Swayman can't carry that and he shouldn't quite frankly, that's

34:08 Speaker 2: too much for anyone to bear.

34:09 Speaker 1: No, Jeremy Swayman did not lose that game.

34:13 Speaker 2: The thing is, but you get peppered with thirty eight

34:16 Speaker 2: shots on goal, you can only stup so many of

34:18 Speaker 2: the law of average just says, I don't care who

34:21 Speaker 2: you are, those are good to goin. When upl is

34:24 Speaker 2: peppered with twenty throughout, then you know what. Guess what,

34:27 Speaker 2: he's gonna be able to stop more of them. He's

34:29 Speaker 2: got more juice in his tank. Still, That's what it

34:31 Speaker 2: boils down to exactly.

34:33 Speaker 1: The in game gut check is the shots on goal,

34:37 Speaker 1: and that can tell me pretty quickly what team is present.

34:42 Speaker 1: And since the beginning of April, the last time the

34:45 Speaker 1: Boston Bruins had a game where they were even remotely

34:48 Speaker 1: close to thirty shots on goal was April second against

34:51 Speaker 1: the Florida Panthers. Since then, it has been closer to

34:55 Speaker 1: twenty every game, and you're not going to win like that.

34:59 Speaker 1: You can only win with twenty shots on goal. If

35:02 Speaker 1: the other team is also only shooting and getting twenty

35:07 Speaker 1: shots on.

35:07 Speaker 2: Goal, right, you got to keep those closer. And I

35:10 Speaker 2: will tell you, I don't remember exactly how it played out,

35:13 Speaker 2: but they were ahead of us shots on goal basically

35:15 Speaker 2: the entire game. And it's surprising for a while that

35:18 Speaker 2: we were winning because they really were that far ahead

35:21 Speaker 2: of us shots on goals. So eventually that just catches up.

35:24 Speaker 2: That's what it is does.

35:25 Speaker 1: Okay, two questions. Then I got two more questions for you.

35:28 Speaker 1: I want to get your take on James Hagen's in

35:30 Speaker 1: his first game, because this is a kid who has

35:33 Speaker 1: played two games with Boston right too, He got two

35:37 Speaker 1: in and it seems like he is on this ramping

35:41 Speaker 1: up fast track. Granted, all the college kids who signed

35:45 Speaker 1: after their seasons had ended, they all had short turnaround

35:48 Speaker 1: times to sign and play and whatever, but he probably

35:52 Speaker 1: has the least amount of nh EX experience at this

35:55 Speaker 1: point of all the new kids. And then so he

35:58 Speaker 1: went from D one Hockey, then a couple days AHL,

36:01 Speaker 1: and then a couple days NHL, and then a couple

36:04 Speaker 1: of days and now he's now he's.

36:06 Speaker 2: In the puff.

36:06 Speaker 1: What did you think of him last night? I have

36:08 Speaker 1: a thought, but I want to hear from you because

36:10 Speaker 1: you are our doctor of devs, so I want to

36:13 Speaker 1: hear your take on him, and now he did so overall.

36:16 Speaker 2: I'm really impressed with how well he's doing since he

36:18 Speaker 2: came up. And again, is he set in the world

36:20 Speaker 2: on fire. Yet he is not. But here's the thing is,

36:23 Speaker 2: he took a couple of days down in Providence, a

36:26 Speaker 2: few games down there. He needed that transition. He's going,

36:30 Speaker 2: and Swingey said it, going from playing with boys to

36:33 Speaker 2: playing with men. He sees he's still a little nineteen

36:36 Speaker 2: year old. I joke about the baby sharks. They are

36:38 Speaker 2: still the baby sharks. They're great, but when you look

36:41 Speaker 2: at them, they are still young men. They were developing.

36:44 Speaker 2: So with Hagens, I was there for his first professional

36:46 Speaker 2: game and he's nineteen. But that kid is where he's

36:50 Speaker 2: supposed to be when he's supposed to be there. And again,

36:53 Speaker 2: did he set the ahl on fire? No, not necessarily

36:56 Speaker 2: in his few games, but you could see his hockey sense.

36:59 Speaker 2: You could see him being where he was meant to be.

37:02 Speaker 2: He's got his head up. He's guys, I'm right here,

37:04 Speaker 2: I'm open. Why aren't you giving me the puck. He's

37:06 Speaker 2: going to be a playmaker and he is somebody who

37:10 Speaker 2: because he is in the right spot he can receive

37:12 Speaker 2: the puck, but he can also get the puck to

37:15 Speaker 2: where it needs to go. Is a natural center, but

37:17 Speaker 2: he's been playing the wing, so I think future casting,

37:21 Speaker 2: I'm guessing he's going to be our one see Fraser

37:23 Speaker 2: is going to be our two c that's my future cast. No,

37:26 Speaker 2: we're going to see when that happens, but I think

37:28 Speaker 2: that's where he's going to end up getting set up. Now,

37:31 Speaker 2: did we see a whole lot from him last night?

37:33 Speaker 2: That was impressive? Not necessarily that line didn't give us

37:37 Speaker 2: a whole lot last night. I don't know what we're

37:39 Speaker 2: going to call them, but they're basically the young Kid's

37:41 Speaker 2: line that twenty one is the oldest person on would

37:44 Speaker 2: be on that line, and I think that's amazing. So

37:46 Speaker 2: what I did see for him is he kept us cool.

37:48 Speaker 2: He was in his positions, He was not intimidated by

37:52 Speaker 2: his first playoff game, and that to me speaks volumes

37:55 Speaker 2: for what we're going to see from him, So that

37:57 Speaker 2: I'm really liking from him. He's fast and a big thing.

38:01 Speaker 2: We saw last night the Bruins not fast overall, and

38:04 Speaker 2: we've known this Sabers faster than we are, So now

38:07 Speaker 2: we're seeing Higgins can beat people to the park, he

38:09 Speaker 2: can get there. I think we're going to see some

38:11 Speaker 2: good things. I think he's got his first game under

38:14 Speaker 2: his belt. I'm feeling this about the whole team. We

38:16 Speaker 2: got that first game under our belt. They generally come

38:18 Speaker 2: back pretty strong after a big loss. So I'm feeling

38:21 Speaker 2: okay about our upcoming game. But I think particularly for him,

38:25 Speaker 2: he's okay, I did this, I can do this, and

38:27 Speaker 2: I think moving forward, we're going to see some good

38:29 Speaker 2: things from him in this series.

38:31 Speaker 1: I was very curious to see how the Bruins would

38:36 Speaker 1: manage him because during the regular season, I'll use Matthew

38:39 Speaker 1: Schaeffer as an example, for the first half of the season,

38:42 Speaker 1: the Islanders really tried to protect him and make sure

38:46 Speaker 1: he was in a good place before they really started

38:48 Speaker 1: to let him go on his own and be a

38:50 Speaker 1: little more independent and not expose him, but let him

38:53 Speaker 1: then play like the big boys. There is obviously zero

38:57 Speaker 1: time for any kind of gradual entry into the true

39:00 Speaker 1: truth of what NHL play is, and so I was

39:03 Speaker 1: a little bit surprised that he drew in first of all,

39:08 Speaker 1: just because he is so green. He's so green, I

39:12 Speaker 1: thought I wouldn't have been surprised if they said watch

39:15 Speaker 1: the first game. Just be in the building for the

39:17 Speaker 1: first game, because Freezer Mitten. This is his first time Husnadinov.

39:21 Speaker 1: Those are Higgins peers, right, but they've also played a

39:25 Speaker 1: whole year. They know what to expect generally from the

39:28 Speaker 1: other team. They played this team before. And then I

39:31 Speaker 1: was also still expecting him to not really get a

39:36 Speaker 1: ton of playing time. And actually in our game day

39:39 Speaker 1: chat someone had said, hey, has anyone seen Higgins for

39:42 Speaker 1: a while or it was after the first goal that

39:44 Speaker 1: Buffalo had scored, and so because I hadn't really seen

39:47 Speaker 1: him or heard his name, I thought, oh, they're shortening

39:50 Speaker 1: the bench, We're not going to see him again. And

39:52 Speaker 1: then sure enough, literally two seconds later, not only did

39:55 Speaker 1: I see him on the screen, but he had one

39:57 Speaker 1: of the best chances of the night. He didn't actually

40:00 Speaker 1: to get a shot on goal, but he had a

40:02 Speaker 1: shot attempt. So I was like, oh, there he is.

40:05 Speaker 1: And then just looking at his time on ice, eleven minutes,

40:09 Speaker 1: so that's legit fourth line minutes, a little bit more

40:14 Speaker 1: somewhere in between third and fourth line minutes. And I'm

40:17 Speaker 1: a little bit surprised, only because I guess maybe again

40:20 Speaker 1: comes down to the coaching and I'm not saying that

40:23 Speaker 1: it was a bad coaching decision to put him out there.

40:26 Speaker 1: He didn't do anything that would have warranted a stapling

40:30 Speaker 1: of his butt to the bench. Oh, but looking at

40:33 Speaker 1: the spread of time on ice across all the players,

40:37 Speaker 1: it was pretty even and predictable based on their position,

40:42 Speaker 1: both literal position defense, forward and position in the lineup.

40:46 Speaker 1: And so I also wonder if why then didn't Stirm

40:50 Speaker 1: at some point shorten the bench. So I think there's a.

40:54 Speaker 2: Couple of reasons for that, particularly for Higgins. When we're

40:57 Speaker 2: looking at Higgins, his season is going to be short.

41:00 Speaker 2: We don't have eighty two games like with Schaeffer. If

41:02 Speaker 2: he hadn't played this season and he comes in next

41:05 Speaker 2: season fresh, I think there's more protection that goes on.

41:08 Speaker 2: We've got eighty two games, Let's bring him and gradually

41:11 Speaker 2: let's protect him a little more. They did that a

41:13 Speaker 2: little bit with Badard, So I think because the minute

41:17 Speaker 2: that they brought Hagens up from Providence, I figured that

41:21 Speaker 2: they have decided they are playing him. And so once

41:24 Speaker 2: they did that, if they really wanted to protect him,

41:27 Speaker 2: they would have kept him in Providence at this point

41:30 Speaker 2: because he had the opportunity of three games. He only

41:32 Speaker 2: played in two and then it was going to be playoffs.

41:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the other thing that I thought that was

41:37 Speaker 1: a bit of a surprise, besides Stirm not shortening the bench,

41:41 Speaker 1: which again I'm always of two minds when it comes

41:44 Speaker 1: to that particular strategy. You do it when you have

41:47 Speaker 1: your guys who you knew are going to get the

41:49 Speaker 1: job done. And maybe he didn't because maybe he saw

41:51 Speaker 1: the writing on the wall. Because David Pasternach, every chance

41:54 Speaker 1: he had he could not score, something was not right,

41:57 Speaker 1: whether it was a stretch pass that.

41:58 Speaker 2: He just ran out of sleep playoff Pasternach.

42:02 Speaker 1: I know, And yet somehow he's still got three points. Like,

42:04 Speaker 1: I don't understand how I can watch this game and

42:07 Speaker 1: be so disappointed in David Pasternach. But then I look

42:09 Speaker 1: at the stats and I'm like, oh, no, he actually

42:12 Speaker 1: did have a good It's just different pasta. I'm not

42:15 Speaker 1: used to this pasta. This is Tortellini, and I'm used

42:17 Speaker 1: to begin right right.

42:18 Speaker 2: Yeah.

42:19 Speaker 1: You so interesting to see if Sturm stays the course

42:23 Speaker 1: or if he does anything different. I just wonder if

42:25 Speaker 1: he's going to manage his bench a little bit differently

42:28 Speaker 1: in this next game, because I do think, and I'm

42:30 Speaker 1: assuming we're in agreement that Boston has to leave Buffalo

42:35 Speaker 1: with a split series. They have to because of just

42:39 Speaker 1: how bad they've been on the road. If they have

42:42 Speaker 1: any shot of getting out of this round, they have to.

42:45 Speaker 1: I can win a game on the road. I can't

42:48 Speaker 1: just rely on home gave.

42:49 Speaker 2: We need sixty minutes of play, We need a win.

42:52 Speaker 2: I think that obviously, just in general, you need to win.

42:56 Speaker 2: But I think also from a emotional standpoint, looking out

43:01 Speaker 2: with two losses, even coming back home with you're going

43:04 Speaker 2: to play better and do better. You just can't recover

43:06 Speaker 2: from that.

43:07 Speaker 1: No, and you can't go into the next game for

43:10 Speaker 1: any team. This isn't just for the Boston Bruins. You

43:13 Speaker 1: can't go into any game thinking you have the breathing room,

43:18 Speaker 1: the time and space, because you shouldn't be making the

43:22 Speaker 1: assumption that you have seven games. You should go into

43:26 Speaker 1: every game assuming that that is the last game. You

43:29 Speaker 1: have to assume that's the last game.

43:30 Speaker 2: Now you go in expecting a four game series. Now

43:33 Speaker 2: at this point expect five game series.

43:36 Speaker 1: And Boston, like you said, they just didn't treat that

43:39 Speaker 1: game like it was an elimination game. My last question then,

43:43 Speaker 1: is what do you want to see different in the

43:48 Speaker 1: next game? Besides the obvious win, four more goals i'd

43:53 Speaker 1: like to see. Finally thought of that I could work

43:56 Speaker 1: for you, and there's a couple of things i'd like

44:00 Speaker 1: to see. One of the things I'd like to see

44:01 Speaker 1: is I'd like to see more consistency in sixty minutes

44:04 Speaker 1: of play. But I think where that starts is with

44:08 Speaker 1: our defense. Our offense needed to be better, but we

44:11 Speaker 1: lost because of defensive collapse. I think that goes on

44:14 Speaker 1: both sides.

44:15 Speaker 2: I think we need our defense to be stronger, but

44:18 Speaker 2: I think we also need to have our offensive lines

44:21 Speaker 2: backing up our defense, and we didn't see that. So

44:24 Speaker 2: for me, that's the biggest thing that I want to see.

44:27 Speaker 2: I want to see more play from all four lines

44:31 Speaker 2: throughout the season. We've been seeing that different lines seem

44:34 Speaker 2: to get hot at different times, and again that's just hockey,

44:38 Speaker 2: but I would like to see a little bit more

44:40 Speaker 2: production from the other three lines and not just the

44:43 Speaker 2: top line. It's interesting, though, because we have not been

44:46 Speaker 2: able to count on our top line all the time

44:48 Speaker 2: in past years. You've been able to say, yeah, we'll

44:50 Speaker 2: throw out the perfection line and something's going to happen.

44:53 Speaker 2: I really want to see some new dad strength. We

44:56 Speaker 2: have two new dads. I did not see any evidence

45:00 Speaker 2: of that. Normally, you have a baby, you score a goal,

45:03 Speaker 2: that's just the way it goes. We did not see that.

45:06 Speaker 2: We actually saw the.

45:07 Speaker 1: The opposite that second line, which has arguably been the

45:13 Speaker 1: best line for the Bruins, or very long stretch, to

45:16 Speaker 1: use Maria's go to statistic, they were a minus three,

45:21 Speaker 1: so they were on the ice for all of the goals.

45:24 Speaker 1: For me, here's a couple of things then, that I'm

45:26 Speaker 1: going to be looking for in areas of improvement that

45:30 Speaker 1: might give me some hope because this is maybe a

45:32 Speaker 1: little bit more nitty gritty, This is a little deeper dive.

45:35 Speaker 1: One thing that Boston did relatively well that I know

45:38 Speaker 1: they can be better in face off percentage. So in

45:40 Speaker 1: the last game Boston won face offs fifty point eight

45:44 Speaker 1: percent to Buffalo's forty nine point two. We've got some

45:48 Speaker 1: really excellent face off centers. They did a fine job.

45:51 Speaker 1: I want to see just a tiny bit more, so

45:53 Speaker 1: I'm going to be keeping track of that stat to

45:54 Speaker 1: see how the game is progressing. I thought one thing

45:57 Speaker 1: that I was worried about at a certain point point

46:00 Speaker 1: was the penalties situation because it was getting a little feisty.

46:05 Speaker 1: There were a couple of the stupid penalties that we

46:09 Speaker 1: have railed on all season, those stick infractions that are

46:12 Speaker 1: a result of lazy back checking. David Pasternach. I'm open

46:18 Speaker 1: with there being penalties in a game when they are

46:22 Speaker 1: game appropriate, right. Sean Corally loved his game last night,

46:26 Speaker 1: loved his response to what was happening on the fantastic

46:29 Speaker 1: worth It David Pasternach with the reach, dude, No, so

46:33 Speaker 1: I don't want to see any of those. Is that

46:34 Speaker 1: going to change? Probably not, because that's how they've been

46:36 Speaker 1: all season. The other thing that I want to see.

46:38 Speaker 1: The game started off really physical in an even way,

46:41 Speaker 1: but I was surprised. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised

46:44 Speaker 1: to see that. Ultimately, the Sabers just annihilated Boston. When

46:51 Speaker 1: it comes to the hits, it was fifty three Saber

46:53 Speaker 1: hits to thirty eight.

46:55 Speaker 2: But yeah, that was actually a really surprising stat I

46:57 Speaker 2: saw that too.

46:58 Speaker 1: But then you look at the time on ice and

47:01 Speaker 1: your guys who are basically designated tough guys whatever the

47:06 Speaker 1: modern equivalent is of that enforcer Tanner Janea. He played

47:10 Speaker 1: eight twenty one. Mark Castilik played ten to fifty one. Now,

47:14 Speaker 1: granted they both had a few moments during the game

47:17 Speaker 1: where they were very noticeable in that regard, but what

47:19 Speaker 1: are we doing here?

47:20 Speaker 3: Right?

47:21 Speaker 1: Nikita Zadorov was a much more effective hitter, and that's

47:25 Speaker 1: not surprising because of the man's but we need him

47:29 Speaker 1: to be focusing on the defensive aspect of the game,

47:33 Speaker 1: and like we have Castle in Janeau for a reason,

47:36 Speaker 1: So what's going on there? The blocked shots? I'm of

47:40 Speaker 1: the ilk that you only have a lot of block

47:43 Speaker 1: shots if you're not playing well defensively, and so having

47:47 Speaker 1: a lot of block shots isn't really a stat that

47:50 Speaker 1: you want to have a high number of.

47:51 Speaker 2: You're going to be stopping before we get that because

47:54 Speaker 2: and if you're throw in your body, then you're not

47:56 Speaker 2: on your feet to get it out of the zone.

47:59 Speaker 1: That's the idea. So I want to see maybe fewer

48:01 Speaker 1: of those, but not at the expense of then allowing

48:04 Speaker 1: more shots on goals. So I don't really know what

48:06 Speaker 1: the answer is there. So those are kind of my

48:08 Speaker 1: big things, and better zone entry and taking control of

48:13 Speaker 1: the pace of play right away. I want to see

48:16 Speaker 1: a little bit more balanced to play in that regard.

48:18 Speaker 1: But some of these things I think they more control over,

48:21 Speaker 1: and some of these things they don't. At the end

48:24 Speaker 1: of the.

48:24 Speaker 2: Day, we can beat UPL. They're going to keep him in.

48:27 Speaker 2: We can beat him and we should.

48:29 Speaker 1: Yes, I just got a pepper and more shots on goal.

48:31 Speaker 1: Buck somebodies to the net, as Brick likes to say,

48:34 Speaker 1: we need to fuck somebodies to the net.

48:35 Speaker 2: I want to end on a hopeful note, which is

48:38 Speaker 2: we weren't even supposed to be here at the beginning

48:40 Speaker 2: of the season.

48:41 Speaker 1: True.

48:41 Speaker 2: Now, I said we would just more records somewhere, you

48:45 Speaker 2: and me both, But as a rule, we weren't necessarily

48:48 Speaker 2: supposed to be here. Buffalo wasn't supposed to be this good.

48:51 Speaker 2: Lots of things have changed here. Buffalo is number one

48:53 Speaker 2: in the division. We're a wild card. So the fact

48:57 Speaker 2: is we're coming in behind the eight ball. Some might

48:59 Speaker 2: say we're playing with house money. I don't think so,

49:02 Speaker 2: because we had one hundred point season. I think we

49:04 Speaker 2: still deserve to be here. I think we've shown again

49:06 Speaker 2: and again that we deserve to be here, even though

49:08 Speaker 2: some people say, oh, we barely got in. Nope, we

49:11 Speaker 2: got in solidly as a wild card. Yes, I do

49:14 Speaker 2: think that the fact that we're here though, based on

49:17 Speaker 2: the beginning season, based on where we're supposed to be, Hey,

49:19 Speaker 2: that's pretty good. But now that we're here, it's going

49:22 Speaker 2: to make me very sad if we don't get it

49:23 Speaker 2: out of this round and all of those things I

49:26 Speaker 2: think are the place where we all are right now.

49:28 Speaker 1: Yes, if they can just organize their chaos a little

49:33 Speaker 1: bit better like they were engaged, this team has what

49:37 Speaker 1: it takes to have a respectable playoff presence.

49:42 Speaker 2: Yes, there we go.

49:42 Speaker 1: I'm that's all we asked for, That's all we're asking for. Yeah,

49:46 Speaker 1: thank you again, Mary Beth for joining me today. Maria

49:49 Speaker 1: will be back again next week. We might be doing

49:52 Speaker 1: a couple of updates throughout the playoff series as the

49:56 Speaker 1: games continue on. I'm optimistically hoping for a lengthy first

50:02 Speaker 1: round with Bruins on top as the outcome, but you

50:06 Speaker 1: never know. But as always, thank you everybody for listening.

50:10 Speaker 1: Make sure that you like and subscribe, leave us a

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50:16 Speaker 1: Bruins fans and hockey fans. You can find us on

50:19 Speaker 1: all of our socials at tape to tape MK and

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50:25 Speaker 1: dot substack dot com. Any final thoughts, just

50:29 Speaker 2: Go bees, Go Bees,