3 Game 1 Takeaways From Bruins OT Loss to Washington

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May 15, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) stands on the ice during warmups prior to the Bruins’ game against the Washington Capitals in game one of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

3. First-line struggles.

It’s no secret that as the first line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak goes, so do the Bruins. Saturday night was not their best game of the season.

The trio struggled not only offensively, but they struggled with the puck. Marchand seemed to be fighting the puck and Bergeron had the puck poked away from him multiple times.

Pastrnak did finish with six shots on the net, Marchand had one and Bergeron had zero. Actually, Bergeron attempted five shots but missed the net in each chance or had it blocked. At the faceoff dot, Bergy won 64% of his faceoffs, going 14-for-22, which ended up being his lone bright spot in the game.

It was not only on the first line that struggled but when the Black and Gold struggle, the first thing asked is, “How did the first line play?” Saturday night, it was not their best performance of the season and it came at the wrong time.

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The good thing is Game 2 is tomorrow night and the Bruins still have a chance to do what their goal was to do when the series began last night, get a split in the Nations Capital before returning home for Games 3 and 4. Expect the top-line to have a better game Monday night.

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