Morning Skate: Flat

Well that didn’t go very well, eh?

In my preview of Game 5, I politely suggested that the Bruins:

1. Avoid falling behind.
2. If they do go down, limit the damage.
3. Stay out of the penalty box.

0 for 3 on the night!

While calling it a true stinker might be harsh, the Bruins had a big opportunity to grab this series by the scruff of the neck last night, and instead fell flat on their faces.

Even the pre-game return of Charlie McAvoy, whisked to Raleigh via private jet, had little impact, though it made for some cool stories.

Ultimately, this one felt a bit doomed from the first goal, one that Jeremy Swayman simply can’t allow in a game of that magnitude.

From there, when you saw Seth Jarvis’s second goal wackily find its way in...yeah. It’s not your night.

The Bruins leaned heavily on their big forwards again last night — David Pastrnak skated more than 22 minutes and landed six shots on net, Brad Marchand had four shots on goal and five hits, etc.

Obviously hits and shots aren’t goals, but the big names were at least semi-noticeable.

The same can’t be said for Charlie Coyle (one shot) and Erik Haula (zero shots). This isn’t to suggest the loss is their fault, but you’re going to struggle when the middle of your lineup has that little of an impact.

Anyways, the B’s find themselves in familiar territory: heading home in slight disarray.

It feels like a guarantee that changes will be made, almost certainly among the forward corps and potentially in net; if Hampus Lindholm can play, that’s a nice bonus.

They had stretches of great play in Games 3 and 4, even when shorthanded. They’ll need some more of that if they hope to visit Raleigh again before next season.

Today’s discussion topic

What are you doing to the lineup for Game 6?

People on Twitter are clamoring for Matt Grzelcyk to be scratched if Lindholm is back, but that seems like a stretch.

My guess (not my suggestion) would be Bruce Cassidy brings Trent Frederic back to try to spark the 11-12-13 line, and possibly Anton Blidh in if Tomas Nosek is hurt.

Have your say!