May 10, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Tyler Seguin (19) reacts to being defeated by the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Before this series began, I predicted that the series would go six games. Going into game five last night, I was kind of hoping I was wrong. The Boston Bruins had an opportunity to finish off the Toronto Maple Leafs last night at the TD Garden. The Bruins knew they were going to be facing a desperate team, but I don’t think they were prepared for what was going to come at them. The first minute of the game found the Leafs huddled in their own zone with the Bruins applying enormous pressure. After that, the next forty minutes looked like the Toronto show.

Tuukka Rask kept the Bruins in this game by playing like he was a Vezina trophy winner. He stopped nineteen shots in the first period alone. Rask found himself under fire early and often and made some career worthy saves last night. In the end though, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the best of opportunities presented to them, and the Boston Bruins found themselves facing a James Reimer who played his best game to date this season.

I can’t really recall anything ever being easy for any team,” said Andrew Ference.  A sloppy play by Ference in the second period led to a Tyler Bozak breakaway and the Bruins giving up a short handed goal.  ”Like I said, wins are difficult to get this time of year and they have to be earned. If you don’t match a team at the beginning of a game like that, you spot them a couple of goals, it’s a tough win this time of year.”

The other Toronto goal game from another breakaway, this time caused by a sloppy pass by Nathan Horton. Clarke MacArthur earned that breakaway opportunity, and that second goal was enough to take the Bruins out of this game.

The Bruins did play a much better third period though. David Krejci added to his playoff point total by scoring an assist on Zdeno Chara‘s first goal of the playoffs. There was significantly more pressure in the offensive zone. The Bruins were making their plays and doing well on the forecheck. They just didn’t have the “puck luck” to pull it out in regulation.

“Just trying to do a little bit too much,” said Johnny Boychuk, on the errors that cost the Bruins the game. “We had a lot of turnovers and they had more time in our zone because we kept turning the pucks over at the bluelines, instead of getting it deep.”

Coach Claude Julien summed up the evening’s events and Toronto’s impressive play. “Every once in a while the hockey gods will take care of the people that deserve it. Obviously they played forty strong minutes and they deserved to win tonight. We have to lick our wounds and get ready for next game.”

Game six will be played Sunday night at the Air Canada Centre.  Toronto will be playing not only to keep themselves alive to force a game seven, but to win their first playoff game at home against the Bruins since 1959. The puck drops at 7:05 pm, and will be covered by NESN. As always you can find us on Facebook at www.facebook/pages/causewaycrowd

May 10, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) reacts to being defeated by the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in game five of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. The Toronto Maple Leafs won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Mar 11 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; Boston Bruins center Chris Kelly (23) during warmup prior to game against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

I love being a member of the Nation, but there are times that the Black and Gold drive me up a wall. In some games, the Bruins are playing with the intensity and tenacity that won them the Stanley Cup back in 2011. In other games, it sort of looks like the Mighty Ducks went to the NHL.  I don’t possess the amount of knowledge and experience a lot of the other members of the nation have, but it’s got to be wearing on a lot of you as well.

Well, there was an optional skate after practice. Several high profile members of the squad chose not to participate in it. (Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, David Krejci and Milan Lucic were the forwards who opted out, along with defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference. Tuukka Rask also sat the optional out.) I know the team’s record is good enough, but with another loss to Montreal on the books, one would figure that the B’s wanted to get the extra time on the ice.

The projected line up for tonight’s came against the Carolina Hurricanes:

Lucic-Krejci-Horton

Marchand-Campbell-Jagr

Paille-Kelly-Seguin

Caron-Peverley-Thornton

OK, the only line that didn’t get a face lift was the Krejci line. They have emerged from hibernation to be the dominant line we hoped they were going to be. Jagr and Marchand stay together. I thought they’ve worked out well so far. Gregory Campbell gets a double bump up. Campbell’s a good player, and his physicality should give this line a presence on the ice tonight. Daniel Paille is on the third again.

The noticeable demotion seems to be that of Tyler Seguin. Seguin’s now on the third line. Perhaps Coach Claude Julien is just trying to find the right combination to finally see increased production out of that line. (It could also account for Peverley getting bumped down to fourth as well.) It also appears that the Seguin center experiment is over as well. (Probably for the best.) Tyler Seguin commented on him being put back on the wing.

“Obviously I feel comfortable playing the wing. It was working out, I guess, in the first game [playing center] – a few mistakes there, and then obviously the first couple of shifts in Montreal, it just wasn’t working. It just wasn’t working in our own zone. Going through the neutral zone, just where to [the puck] up, and where to go. Obviously is has a lot more responsibility in your own end just battling and finding your man. I don’t think it matters what line you’re on,” he added. “You just want to go out there and play your game. Whoever you’re playing with, I think we all know each other well enough now that we can find chemistry right away.”

Chris Kelly is back in the line up after recovering from a broken leg.  He’ll get the chance to center with Seguin, and it’s an opportunity that Kelly is looking forward to.  “Obviously, if that’s the way lines are tonight, Tyler is a gifted offensive player; it’ll be nice to play with him. I’ve played with him before and we’ve got some chemistry and work well together.”

The game is tonight at the Garden, with a puck drop at 7:05 tonight.

Apr 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins forward Jaromir Jagr (68) talks with Brad Marchand (33) before a face off against the New Jersey Devils during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports

Last night was an interesting night of hockey.  Future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr took the ice for the first time as a Boston Bruin. Tuukka Rask was trying to shake off his recent rough patch of starts, and Tyler Seguin was moved to center to shore up the second line.  Normally, a large number of variables can lead to chaos, and the play was a little chaotic.

Players were trying to figure things out on the ice, and that let to some messy turnovers, and some sloppy play. In the end, Tuukka Rask asserted himself in the crease and stopped all forty shots directed at the net.  That gave Tuukka his third shutout of the year. It also boosted his stats back into the top five in several categories. Rask’s overall record is now 16-5-4. His goals against average is back under two (1.94-3rd in NHL), and his save percentage has climbed back up to .927(4th in NHL).

Tyler Seguin had a stiff learning curve with the switch from winger to center. “The first shift I was like, ‘Bergy  [Patrice Bergeron], I appreciate you a lot more right now.’ Yeah, definitely, I don’t know,” said a relieved and joking Seguin. “I guess the first period I felt it a little bit more, but as the game progressed I felt like I could use my speed a little bit more. It was just about finding those areas. It’s one thing from being a centerman and then going to the NHL, but it’s another thing from going center to wing in the NHL and then going back to center. It’s going to take some adjustment.” That adjustment will be mitigated by having Brad Marchand, a player he has played with his entire NHL career on one wing, and a living legend on the other.

Coach Claude Julien called it a work in progress.

The only goal of the game came early in the second period. Marchand and Jagr were working on a two-on-two breakaway.  Marchand was skating high side and attempted to pass to the newly minted #68. Marchand sent it to Jagr, but it bounced off Jagr’s skate, and it directed itself thru Martin Brodeur‘s legs. That goal, which happened 1:20 in the second, was all the Bruins needed.  To quote Jack Edwards “They don’t ask how pretty, they just ask how many, and that’s 680 in the career of Jaromir Jagr, his first as a Boston Bruin!”

Jaromir Jagr who already received a standing ovation coming out onto the ice,  got to here his name chanted by seventeen thousand plus fans in the TD Garden.  After the game, he was rather surprised by the amount of affection Bruins Nation had for him. “I really appreciate it.” said Jagr. “ I didn’t know that fans loved hockey so much in Boston.”

It’s been a rough shortened season for Boston who now has a 24-8-4 record. The Bruins are still a single point behind the Canadiens. The Bruins head up to Montreal on Saturday to determine who will be in first place in the Northeast Division.