We have a lot to cover here. Here are the extraskater stats. Here is the boxscore.
Bruins 3, Leafs 4 (OT)
First and foremost: what the hell is Claude thinking with these coaching decisions? Carl Soderberg is out (BIRTH OF BABY YETI), so why not insert Ryan Spooner, who is with the team, into the third line center slot? Why is he even with the team if you're just gonna use Jordan Caron as the 12th forward, which screwed up the entire lineup? That, paired with Reilly Smith's poor play that led Claude to throw Loui Eriksson onto the Patrice Bergeron line, is a good example of why it is stupid not to play Ryan Spooner. #FREESPOONER
Now let's get back to recapping the game.
The overtime game-winning goal gives us reason to be irritated. The post-game quotes coming out of the Bruins locker room are all the same right now - they are pissed about the reffing. Dougie was cut in the face with a high stick (below) and many other blatant penalties went unpenalized, then the referees called Torey Krug for THIS (second below) in overtime:
Dougie had a pretty enormous gash on his face, got stitches on the bench, and returned to the game. Good work Douglas.
Absolutely no penalty was committed here.
It felt like the reffing in this game was straight out of a Mighty Ducks movie. Krug's reaction to his penalty was pretty spot on, as was Lucic's response to a penalty called against him in the first period:
But complaining about reffing is annoying so let's move on and look objectively at this game (haha, as if we are capable of objectivity). Okay, let's look at it in bullet points and GIFs!
The Good
- BABY YETI! WELCOME TO THE WORLD (I think)
- They fought back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game.
- They had a good penalty kill up until overtime.
- "Facing adversity and challenges...is always good before the playoffs" - Zdeno Chara after the game (courtesy of NESN post-game). Okay, I agree with yu. Get all the suck out now before it really matters.
- Solid third period.
- Bergeron rules
Best Bruin was, naturally, Bergeron at 77% (20-6). Not to mention the goal and assist.
— Extra Skater (@ExtraSkater) April 4, 2014
- The Bruins were superior in possession
The Bad
- Solid third period, not so solid first or second periods.
- Caron over Spooner continues to enrage me
Best Leaf player in terms of possession was Kadri at 43% CF%. Worst Bruin was Caron at 61%. http://t.co/QF9KsRUZad
— Extra Skater (@ExtraSkater) April 4, 2014
- The absense of Soderberg really messed up the role of the third line and made them basically useless.
- Reilly Smith was demoted to the third line.
- The Bruins were unable to score on the power play (0/2).
- Jonathan Bernier was injured (this isn't bad for the Bruins, but nobody likes to see injuries).
- They lost. That's bad. Losing to the Leafs is the worst.
- I didn't think Chad Johnson was great. But I may just be saying this to rile everyone up and get responses.
- They have lost multiple games in a row :((((((
- They did not clinch the East (actually who cares about that)
The Excellent
- While in the penalty box serving a fighting major, Lucic was bickering with a Leafs fan. He can be seen here saying "what happened last year?"
Thanks to @PeteBlackburn for this.
The Goals
- Brad Marchand scored to tie the 1-1 in the first period
- Milan Lucic scored his 22nd of the year - and first goal in 10 games - to make it 3-2
- Patrice Bergeron scored his 28th goal of the season to tie the game and nearly gave us a repeat of game 7
- Here is the game winning goal from Kadri //cringe:
The Tweets (I couldn't pick just one)
Patrice Bergeron's face will be the real winner tonight, regardless.
— Andrew (@searexx) April 3, 2014
The Bruins have NEVER WON AN APRIL GAME with Andrej Meszaros on the roster. #MesOhNoicEra
— Dan Ryan (@bruinshockeynow) April 4, 2014