Boston Bruins: So Far, So Good With These Moves

Following an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals on April 11, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney knew he needed to do something to improve his roster if his club had any thoughts of getting into the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs and making a run.

Sweeney wasted little time in making additions to his roster with a pair of trades. In adding two forwards and a defenseman, the Black and Gold had a new look and strong finish to the regular season. Despite the strong finish to the 56-game season, there were still some questions as to whether or not the additions could carry over their play to the postseason when it mattered most.

In their first series, over the same Capitals team that routed them on April 11, the results were just what Boston hoped for in what they were getting in return at the trade deadline in a five-game series victory.

Bruins blueline addition fit right in.

The first deal Sweeney made late in the night on April 11 was acquiring defensemen, Mike Reilly, from the Ottawa Senators for a draft pick.

Against the Capitals, Reilly was paired with Brandon Carlo. After collecting eight assists following the trade to the Bruins, Reilly picked up two in the five games against Washington, but they might have been the two biggest in the series by anyone.

In the second period of Game 5, he set up David Pastrnak for the first goal of the game, then later in the same period, he picked up the primary assist on Patrice Bergeron’s first of two goals in the series-clinching win.

The 27-year-old left-shot blueliner, who is a free agent this summer, average just over 20 minutes a game against the Capitals and fired 10 shots on the trio of Washington goalies in the series. Not too bad for a draft pick.

Bruins’ get timely goals from Hall

Sweeney’s second deal at the deadline was the biggest move he made. He sent Anders Bjork and a draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar.

Hall had himself quite the series. He only scored two goals, but it was the timing of those goals and in one case, how he scored it. In Game 2 with the Bruins trailing 3-2 with just under three minutes left in regulation and looking at a 2-0 series deficit, Hall scored his first of two goals to force overtime. With a ton of bodies in front of Caps goalie Craig Anderson, Hall was able to stuff the puck into the net off a wild scramble to tie the game, which led to Brad Marchand’s game-winning goal 39 seconds into overtime to even the series 1-1.

In Game 3, Hall once again found the back of the net, but this time, with an incredible move on Capitals rookie goalie Ilya Samsonov. Fifty-six seconds after Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a 1-0 lead, Hall took a pass from Craig Smith, made a move on Samsonov, and roofed his shot under the crossbar.

For the series, Hall also had an assist with his two goals and finished with 12 shots on the net. He averaged just over 18 minutes a game, but more importantly, turned the series in Boston’s favor with his two timely goals.