Game 6 Preview
Projected line up for the Bruins :
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- David Krejci -- Craig Smith
Jake DeBrusk -- Charlie Coyle -- Karson Kuhlman
Nick Ritchie -- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
Jarred Tinordi -- Connor Clifton
As clichéd as it is , its lay it all on the line tonight. After dropping a frustrating 5-4 game in Boston , with the referring playing a real factor in the outcome which Coach Cassidy was critical of and cost him 25 grand , they find themselves 1 game away from elimination. The penalty kill was not good enough and Rask was not quite right . The 1st line again had a great game but the rest of the lines have failed to step up in the goal department. So here we are at the brink of the season being over.
A Storm Bruin Key Thoughts . The Islanders are going to key in on Bergeron, Brad and Pasta. With last change , they can get the players they want on the ice against them . Plus if I'm their coach , I would feel quite confident if they get shutdown , you win. That line represents almost 60% of all Bruin goals. So having said that , the 2nd line of Krecji ,Hall and Smith have to be better and get on the score sheet . That line has had decent stretches and have been solid in taking the play over but have not been very good at finishing. That needs to stop.
The 3rd and 4th lines need to more consistent. Both have had moments but often they have been caught in their own zone and have stopped the momentum that the top lines have created by allowing the Islanders too much offensive zone time . The 4th line will be without Lazar who suffered a leg injury and Richie slides back to play on the wing with Kuraly taking over center again. DeBrusk ,after being a healthy scratch, slides onto his left wing again on the Coyle line with Kuhlman , which should give that line solid speed . Depth scoring is a must for any deep run and the Bruins have not been getting enough.
The D pairings stay the same as the other night with Miller and Carlo still out . McAvoy will be leaned on heavily tonight and he has shown he rises to these situations . Grzelcyk will have to be a bit better with puck decisions as well . The other night he had shooting lanes and passed instead. The rest of the D hopefully will play to their basic strengths and keep it very simple . Moving the puck quickly and clean will be needed because of the Islanders forecheck . Reilly needs to be much harder on the puck and with his board play.
Tuukka gets the start after some speculation because of an nagging injury . He wasn't as sharp last game and didn't play in the 3rd .They need a big night from him to keep this going and hopefully he rebounds with a stellar outing.
Players to watch: The two players I think need to have impactful games are Hall and DeBrusk. Hall has only an empty net goal in the 1st game and DeBrusk has struggled all playoff to stay in the line up. Bruins need them big tonight.
Game Predictor : 40/60 split . As much as I want the Bruins to extend the series , I'm at 40% Bruin victory to 60% Islander victory. I still have hope , but its slim . But hope is still hope. Go Bruins !
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