Causeway Crowd
Fansided

Boston Bruins: 3 Keys to a Game 5 Win

By Scott Roche

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: Lars Eller #20 of the Washington Capitals chases the puck between Curtis Lazar #20 and Mike Reilly #6 of the Boston Bruins during the second period during Game One of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs May 15, 2021 at Capital One Arena on May 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: Lars Eller #20 of the Washington Capitals chases the puck between Curtis Lazar #20 and Mike Reilly #6 of the Boston Bruins during the second period during Game One of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs May 15, 2021 at Capital One Arena on May 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
May 19, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Taylor Hall (71) scores on Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov (30) during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
May 19, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Taylor Hall (71) scores on Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov (30) during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

2-Keep shooting on whoever is net for the Capitals.

As strange as it sounds, the Capitals have had three different goalies start in the first four games. Vitek Vanecek started Game 1 and left with 6:50 remaining in the first period when he was injured trying to make a save on a Jake DeBrusk goal.

Veteran Craig Anderson replaced Vanecek and won Game 1, but started and lost Game 2 in overtime. Ilya Samsonov, who has taken off of the COVID-19 protocols list before Game 1, started Games 3 and 4 and lost both.

In Game 3, he had some miscommunication with defensemen Justin Schultz, which led to Craig Smith stealing the puck and wrapping it under Samsonov in double-overtime. Friday night, he was beaten four times, three times in the third period, in a 4-1 loss.

The last game action Samsonov saw before Game 3 was on May 1. He’s a young goalie and he has recently shown why there were some rumors going around at the trade deadline that the Caps might be in the market for a goalie. They stood pat.

Anderson and Samsonov have both left some juicy rebounds in this series and will continue to do so. Pucks and bodies to the net still have to be the Bruins mentality. It worked in Game 2 when Taylor Hall stuffed home a rebound late in the third period to force overtime, which led to a Brad Marchand winner 39 seconds into the extra session.

Home/Bruins News