Boston Bruins: Who Steps Up in Game 2?
By Scott Roche
Following Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round series, the Boston Bruins look to bounce back in Game 2 tonight at Capital One Arena.
It’s safe to say that Game 1 was there for the taking for the Bruins. Washington lost goalie Vitek Vanecek 13:10 into the game after getting injured trying to make a save on Jake DeBrusk’s first-period goal. He was replaced by veteran Craig Anderson and all the 39-year-old netminder, who played in all of four games this season, did was stop 21 of 22 shots the Black and Gold fired at him.
The Bruins also failed to capitalize on a third-period power play and finished the game 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Two missed opportunities that Boston failed to take advantage of.
Bruins need performances from top-six forwards that they got in the last 16 games.
Following the trade to acquire Taylor Hall from the Buffalo Sabres on April 11, the Bruins played some of the best hockey in the NHL. Their top two lines took off and were producing nearly every night. Saturday night was not one of those nights.
It was a forgetful night for the top-line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak as they struggled for the first time in a long time. The second-line of Hall, David Krejci, and Craig Smith also failed to get on the scoresheet 5-on-5. Heck, the only one of the six to record a point was Pastrnak, who picked up an assist on Nick Ritchie’s second-period power play goal.
Arguably, their best line was the trio of DeBrusk, Curtis Lazar, and Chris Wagner, who brought energy, solid forechecking, and the team’s first goal. Overall, it was a pretty good night for them. If the Bruins got anything from either of their top two lines, then it most likely would have been a different outcome.
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Tonight, the Bruins are going to need one of their top two lines to step up and help them try and even the series before it heads back to Boston Wednesday night. If the Black and Gold are going to even the series, then one of the two lines needs to step up tonight as they have late in the regular season.