By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
In Game 3, the Boston Bruins were primarily unenergized from both a player and crowd perspective. Although there was stick-to-itiveness to the team structure, the team’s lack of pace on the forecheck gave a midweek crowd nothing to be consistently loud about.
More imposingly, the new starter in net for the Buffalo Sabres played a great game to halt any momentum the Bruins had from the prior game. Fans have seen this movie before, ironically with Sergei Bobrovsky after he came in mid-series for Alex Lyon while with the Florida Panthers.
Hot Goaltender + Underdog Opponent = Consistency Required
It may be too much to consider the Bruins an “underdog,” but with a roster that’s forced to boast more teamwork than individualism, playing a hot Lyon will require that much more. If the team shows the same type of slow and uncalculated forecheck from last night going forward in various stretches, the series will be over.
Forwards and defensemen have to come into Game 4 with the same decisive, drawn-out forechecking plan that they had in the first two games. The natural push up ice from Boston’s unit was previously much higher towards the opponent’s zone.
There is additionally a “constipated” home-ice perspective when listening to head coach Marco Sturm‘s comments, but that isn’t an excuse. The Bruins have the benefit of dictating the matchups in these home situations, which only points to a greater responsibility to more urgently press on the gas.
This series is just another potential situation where the roster has to pepper a hot goaltender just enough; the remaining games will determine which iteration of the team best attacked this theme. Ultimately, you might not be the only one with a Jeremy Swayman in net, and that should scare you.
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