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Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets did not have a chance to qualify for the Bruins in the third game of the second round of the Eastern Conference on Tuesday.
The ads were not their friends either.
The Bruins lost 2-1 – the goal they ended up losing – early in the third period. Their fourth line, which was on the ice for Columbus's only goal in the first period, was pushing and Noel Acciari even hit the post with a top goal.
The Bruins were able to make a line change while keeping the Blue Jackets tight. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand jumped over the boards, alongside David Pastrnak instead of Danton Heinen. Coach Bruce Cassidy finally decided to bring his first line together, and it seemed like the move would be profitable.
Boston had Columbus on his heels, but when Bobrovsky erased Matt Grzelcyk's weak wrist shot by the left-hand point, 6:12 had passed and the TV's timeout had arrived. The Blue Jackets had time to catch their breath.
Momentum, however, was not totally killed. The Bruins kept the pressure and dominated the 14-7 Blue Jackets. None of their shots found the back of the net, and they are now following the 2-1 series before Game 4 on Thursday.
But the third period gave the Bruins a few reasons to hope they could equalize and possibly win this series to the best of 7.
Here's an overview of the four reasons the Bruins should feel confident before the fourth game:
1. David Pastrnak seems ready to come to life.
Cassidy may have waited too long to revive Pastrnak with Bergeron and Marchand, because not only was the right struggling to find chemistry with Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson, but he was ruining the results of this duet before the third match.
Nevertheless, Pastrnak came back with his best friends and started to look more like each other. He had some shots on goal, but more importantly, he managed to defeat the score. With just over four minutes to play, he placed the puck near the goal line at the end of Columbus and gave Marchand the advantage. The scrum that followed gave rise to a few chances, including a shot on the back of Pastrnak, which could have been the best chance of the night.
Pastrnak, whose one goal of this series is the only point Bergeron or Merchant in this series, also seemed revitalized in the 6 to 5 for the last two minutes.
He may have hurt after all the shots he took, but he does not seem hurt. And now, he may be about to play.
2. You can marvel at Bobrovsky as much as you want, but you must also recognize that the Bruins have the merit of playing tight defense. Thirty-four shots against, it's a little high, but the Bruins, led by their two best defense pairs, have kept the big arms of the Blue Jackets out of the match sheet at 5-on-5, and …
3. If you want to credit the defense, you must credit Tuukka Rask. He went too far in Boone Jenner's goal, but Connor Clifton did not help him while Jenner was shooting.
Otherwise, Rask did everything he could to keep the Bruins close at hand, especially during their second sleep.
4. Last but not least, the Bruins should be resting now. The double extension of the second match taxed them, but they had two days off. In Game 3, Cassidy rolled four lines. None of his attackers exceeded 20 minutes and Patrice Bergeron did not skate at 5:33 pm.
Cassidy should be able to shorten her bench in search of a win in the fourth game. And I hope this includes more ice time for Coyle, who only played 15:12. The Bruins' hottest hand did not even leave the bench for the 6-on-5.
Karson Kuhlman played his usual solid match from start to finish. But the Bruins need more. And if they want to commit a crime, they will have to consider transferring Coyle to the right of David Krejci. Cassidy will also have to prepare the minutes for Coyle, Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.
Although the best Bruins players have not gained extra ice time, it can no longer be a meritocracy. Cassidy must spread her ice time based on her reputation, and if that means shortening her bench in the third period, so be it. Perhaps the only way to get Boston's best players to be like them is to give them more opportunities to play.
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