What changes do the Bruins make for Game 3? | Pucks with Haggs
Joe Haggerty is joined today by Mark Divver and Conor Ryan following the Bruins 1-1 split of the first games of their series with Toronto, and look to how the team can improve for Game 3 as they head to Toronto.
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This episode of the Pucks with Haggs Podcast is brought to you by PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy! Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it’s Tournament Season or the fight for playoff homecourt, there’s no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePicks the #1 daily fantasy sports app!
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00:00If it's Swainman and Game 3, which you imagine it will be, and he wins, creates another interesting
00:05debate.
00:06I feel like, you know, depending on how long this playoff run goes, we're going to have
00:08this conversation, win or loss, especially after a win.
00:12That's when it gets really complicated.
00:13So.
00:14No, it's true.
00:15And the NHL is watching, right?
00:17The rest of the NHL is watching how the situation plays out with the Bruins, because it's so
00:22unique to have two equal goalies like this that are both brilliant and both basically
00:27could be number one.
00:33Welcome to another edition of the Pucks with Hags podcast, powered by PrizePicksGift, the
00:37exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS Media Network.
00:41I believe this is the 84th episode of the Pucks with Hags podcast.
00:45We'll be talking about the Bruins-Leafs playoff series today.
00:48I'm your host, Joe Hagerty.
00:49You can find my work at joehagerty.substack.com.
00:52Sign up for a premium membership to get all of my NHL and Bruins writing sent straight
00:56directly to your inbox.
00:57I also write columns and I'm writing daily during the playoffs for the bostonsportsjournal.com,
01:02our Boston Sports Journal.
01:03So check out bostonsportsjournal.com for all of my Bruins writings.
01:07We do a live game blog, all kinds of good stuff going on over there.
01:10With me today, I have Boston.com's Connor Ryan and the New England Hockey Journal's
01:15Mark Diver.
01:16Thank you to both of you guys for joining us.
01:18And let's just give a little love real quick before we get into it to our sponsor, PrizePicks,
01:22the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America and the easiest and most
01:27exciting way to play daily fantasy sports instead of battling thousands of other players
01:31that could be pros or sharks.
01:33You simply pick more or less than on two to six player stat projections and watch the
01:37winnings roll right in.
01:39If you chose Austin Matthews last night, you probably in a lot of the offensive categories,
01:44you probably did pretty well.
01:45He was pretty damn good in game two against the Bruins.
01:48He had a superstar game.
01:51So it's a fun and pretty simple way to do things, picking more or less in the stat categories.
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02:10Mark, I'll go to you first.
02:11Just thoughts on the first two playoff games.
02:15It's even going up to Toronto, the old hockey cliches.
02:18It's not a playoff series until one of the home team loses.
02:21We're at that point right now.
02:23Toronto really had to have that game last night.
02:25Austin Matthews, John DeVars, there was a few players I thought that stepped up and
02:29played really well for Toronto.
02:31Conversely, I think the Bruins, midway through the second period on, just did not look like
02:37they wanted it as bad as the Toronto Maple Leafs did.
02:40But your thoughts on the first two games as we head to Toronto for games three and four?
02:45Well, I think it's kind of what we expected, or at least what some of us expected.
02:51I don't know how anyone could think that, say, the Bruins were going to sweep the first
02:58two and just roll.
02:59You know, that's not how it works.
03:02Toronto, obviously, you know, a massive amount of talent on their roster.
03:10And last night, I think, you know, uncharacteristically, I guess, based on past years, they really
03:16dug deep and out-battled Boston to get that win that really they had to have, as you said.
03:26So I think it's a game the Bruins could have won with a little more, they certainly got
03:32breaks on the two video reviews and all of that, but it was a winnable game.
03:39And now they go to Toronto, where they're certainly capable of winning.
03:42So we'll see how it goes starting Wednesday.
03:46Yeah, I mean, this is going to be a close series.
03:49I think they're going to be, you know, I don't think they're all going to be like game one
03:52or 5-1 win.
03:53I think these are going to be, for the most part, one goal games.
03:56Very easy and very even sort of back and forth where either team can win.
04:01Both teams have definite strengths and both teams have flaws that can be exploited.
04:07But, you know, it may come down to sort of a back and forth battle where the team that's
04:12in the more desperate position, like the Leafs were last night, has that little bit extra
04:18to pull out the victory.
04:21But anything you saw, Connor, last night and in the first couple of games, any observations
04:25or trends you're seeing at this point a couple games in?
04:29Yeah, I mean, I kind of echo what Max said, right?
04:31Like I think in game two, frustrating in terms you weren't able to kind of land that knockout
04:36punch where the Maple Leafs don't have William Nylander, who again, who knows where that
04:40man even is, what happened in terms of what his availability is.
04:44But if he's able to get back into the lineup and whether they overload their top six or
04:49put them back down to the third line, which they did, that creates matchup issues for
04:53the Bruins.
04:54But I think you look at that game two, you know, as Max said, weren't able to really,
04:59you know, handle their four check, really struggled to break up passes.
05:02It's kind of like what you saw a little bit from like the Florida series.
05:05Like is, is Toronto that physically imposing as Florida?
05:08No, but a lot of it's the same things where you can't kind of get out of your own way.
05:12You're spending way too much time in your own zone.
05:13And if you do that against a team with as much offense as Toronto, it doesn't matter
05:17if it's swimming in that all Mark, Tim Thomas, like that team is going to bury their chances
05:22against you.
05:23Give them a hanging around in your own zone.
05:25I think that was kind of the case in game two.
05:27Yeah.
05:28And it's interesting.
05:29I Montgomery said after the game that he sort of put it on the forwards for not taking over
05:35the game in the third period.
05:37And rightfully so, I guess to a degree, but I honestly thought the defenseman for the
05:42Bruins struggled big time in game two.
05:46Some of it I think was obviously Andrew Pete going down in the second period.
05:49I think that's a sneaky, important injury given how well he's played for them as a shutdown
05:55guy, as a physical guys and in your face sort of, you know, the kind of guy you need in
05:58the playoffs on the backend.
06:01And once he went down, I think you saw everybody else have to play a little bit more and have
06:06a little bit more responsibility.
06:08Perhaps that played into Kevin Shattenkirk being on the penalty kill in the second period
06:13when John Tavares scores that goal.
06:15Kevin Shattenkirk logged exactly six minutes and 11 seconds on the penalty kill during
06:20the regular season for the Bruins.
06:22Average six seconds of penalty kill time a game was not great on the penalty kill.
06:27And then all of a sudden in game two of the playoffs, he's out there in a key moment in
06:30the second period on the PK because Grizzlicks in the box after taking the interference penalty
06:36and peak is out.
06:38So I, you know, I, I wonder Connor, how much this peak injury, if it turns into something
06:46where he's going to miss a few games, is going to impact them and what the move might potentially
06:50be if he is injured.
06:53Yeah, no, you're right, Joe.
06:54It's a sneaky big loss if he isn't out there again, it's sometimes is Andrew Pete like
06:59this flashy player?
07:00I don't know.
07:01But sometimes in the playoffs, he said, you need the guy that's going to get in your face,
07:03make this simple, smart play to get the puck out of your hasn't been times where he's been,
07:07you know, putting out fires necessarily, or there's been shifts where you're like, I can't
07:11do that against a team with Austin Matthews and monitor and all those guys out there.
07:15Like he's been doing the smart plays that build the kind of the winning game.
07:18And I think you saw in the first period, the Bruins were kind of doing that they were landing
07:22good hits.
07:23They were making kind of the smart play there, you know, moving the puck when he did to flipping
07:26it out when needed to, and, you know, learning to fight another day, and I got like Andrew
07:30peak, I think kind of plays into that.
07:32And the domino effect of him being out, as you said, like, yeah, I think you can add
07:36Wetherspoon in the mix.
07:37But you can make the argument that like, you could have gone with like, peak Wetherspoon,
07:41if they were both healthy for a thing and a little bit more, you know, rigidity to the
07:45bottom of your decor, because it's weird how they kind of went away with that group a little
07:50bit.
07:51I understand, like Shattenkirk kind of drew more back into the lineup down the stretch,
07:54because they needed to get that powerplay look.
07:56But you look at you look at that, that Florida game, down in Florida, where it was peak Wetherspoon,
08:02they drew most of the matchups against the Bennecke and Chuck line, and they were great
08:05in that one.
08:06Now to the game, Montgomery mentioned how, how good they were, you think that would be
08:09kind of a barometer test in terms of what that third pairing could do in the playoffs?
08:15Haven't seen it yet.
08:16So again, if peaks out there, you imagine Wetherspoon drop, you know, drops in somewhere
08:20in the lineup, but it's still a huge loss if he's not available.
08:24Yeah, and Mark, you might look at a matchup against the Maple Leafs.
08:29And obviously, it's Shattenkirk.
08:31And I wanted to see him running the point on that top powerplay unit.
08:34I've been sort of stumping for that for a while.
08:36And I, I think it's looked good at points.
08:39And certainly, I like the splitting of the powerplay units and making them two even units
08:44and both of them being threats in the way they're doing it now, I think is actually
08:48a good thing, and has gotten them some powerplay goals.
08:53But I guess, Mark, you have to weigh like the importance of Shattenkirk as a powerplay
08:58guy as an offensive guy, versus Wetherspoon potentially being in there against a high
09:05powered Maple Leafs team that wants to score goals, maybe going for the defensive option,
09:10the penalty killing option, the more you know, shutdown option against a team like that rather
09:15than trying to play like goal for goal and putting one of the offensive guys out there
09:19like Shattenkirk.
09:21Well, yeah, that's kind of a dilemma, right?
09:23Do you need, you need your powerplay to be productive, but you also need your PK to hold
09:29the Leafs off and, you know, with the talent they have that they can put out there.
09:35You know, it seems like maybe the PK takes precedence right now over, over the powerplay.
09:43But, you know, this, this has happened in past Bruins playoff runs where, and other
09:49teams too, you find out you need like eight, seven, eight, maybe nine defensemen in the
09:55playoffs, because guys go down left and right.
09:58We're only two, two games in here and we, we don't know what Peek's injury is.
10:03Maybe he plays on Wednesday, but he, it's just the war of attrition has started.
10:10And, you know, the depth that you have on D is, is critical.
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12:02It's that easy.
12:04If Peek, let's say theoretically Peek can't go in the next game and they have to dig into
12:12their depth a little bit here and maybe even they put Weatherspoon in and they have to,
12:16you know, they bring in another defenseman.
12:18Derek Forbert was down in Providence to play, coming back from the surgery that he had and
12:24sort of making this miraculous comeback to at least be available potentially if they
12:29need him at some point.
12:32And Mason Lowry was getting some game action down in Providence as well.
12:38What did you get out of the Forbert going down to Providence and watching him and how
12:44has Lowry been since he came down there?
12:47Well, Forbert, obviously that was a surprise.
12:52You know, I went to practice last week and I'm looking around, you know, you kind of
12:57take attendance at the beginning of practice, right, who's here.
13:00And I see this guy, this big guy with, and, you know, I'm like, who the heck is this guy?
13:06So I went down to get a closer look and I'll be damned.
13:10It was him.
13:11Totally unexpected.
13:12Right.
13:13I mean, we presume that his season was over.
13:16But so he plays Friday night, obviously rusty, right.
13:22Not having played for a while.
13:26But, you know, in practice, as he, as he went through the drills and so forth, you,
13:32you start to see, okay, this guy is an NHL player.
13:36You can kind of, you know, the things he does are different than what some of the other
13:41inexperienced guys do.
13:43Yep.
13:45Sunday he was better.
13:46He didn't play Saturday.
13:47You know, after, so he played Friday and Sunday.
13:52He was good on Sunday.
13:53He was physical.
13:54It was kind of a, kind of a physical game, unusual for the last game of the season where
13:59both teams didn't have anything to play for.
14:03He was, you know, going at the heart, some of the Hartford players, pretty good, like,
14:09you know, the way he needs to play now, I don't know, do you stick him in?
14:17It seems like a big ask to ask him to, to jump in there against Austin Matthews and
14:22company.
14:23I think so too.
14:24All this time off.
14:26So after the weekend, yeah, he's closer to being able to do that.
14:30But you know, I, like I said, that's a big ask to, to throw him in there.
14:36And as for Lowry, I mean, I can't imagine him playing in a game like last night's.
14:41I just can't, you know, his, his defending and his decision-making some of the time just
14:48have, you know, I don't think it's quite there yet.
14:53But that's the bottom line.
14:54I think the kid is a, you know, has the potential to be a good player, but is he going to help
14:59you this year against Toronto in the playoffs?
15:02I'm, I'm, I'm skeptical.
15:05I mean, that speaks then to like some depth issues.
15:09If they do get an injury or two and you start having to, you know, call upon defensemen,
15:15this war of attrition that always happens in the playoffs.
15:18You know, if you're relying on a guy that has played what has played zero NHL games
15:23in the last like few months and you know, had a, had a few AHL tune-ups and you know,
15:29a guy like Lowry, and I know they have a couple other players in Providence that they could
15:32potentially you know, call up, but it's the depth would seem to fall off pretty quickly
15:38for the Bruins if something, if there's a couple injuries.
15:42No question, no question.
15:45And I mean, that's the case, I think for pretty much every team in the NHL, you know,
15:50the depth thing, how many, how many defensemen can you have in your organization that are
15:56capable of stepping into a playoff series in the first round?
16:00You know, not a lot of teams have guys stockpiled that they can just call up.
16:05Connor, one guy who I thought was pretty good in game one, not great in game two, Charlie
16:12McAvoy.
16:14And like, he needs to be a difference maker in this series consistently, like he's the
16:18best defenseman for either team, best two-way defenseman, best number one defenseman, whatever
16:22you want to say.
16:24But he's the best player on the back end for either group and needs to be a difference
16:29maker.
16:30And last night, you know, he was just okay, no hits.
16:32I was amazed at that when I went back and rechecked the score sheet after it was over
16:38and was beaten by Austin Matthews on the game-winning goal, which was admittedly,
16:43I thought a great play.
16:45I had some people complaining that Austin Matthews violated rule 67 and that he was
16:50carrying the puck for multiple steps while catching it and closing his hand or there
16:56was some salty people that wanted to get the rule book out on that one.
16:59But I just think it was a great play by Austin Matthews and, you know, McAvoy let a guy behind
17:05him that's going to kill you every time when that happens.
17:08But he needs to be much better for the balance of the series if the Bruins are going to win
17:13playoff games.
17:14Yeah.
17:15I mean, how many times have we seen in the playoffs show situations where McAvoy is the
17:18guy that delivers kind of that, that tone setting hit or shifts the momentum with a
17:22big head.
17:23And it's not just the physicality.
17:24I think you look at that game on, on Monday, it's like the details, I think we're lacking
17:28at times for a guy like that.
17:29And you can't have that from a guy who's your number one defenseman, your, you know, captain
17:34and waiting down the road, a guy that especially with peak out, you know, he's going to get
17:38the lion's share of these minutes.
17:39And you just can't have those lapses in details as a couple of times where he mishandled the
17:44puck or times where it just feels like he was, he was like in NHL when you're playing
17:48the video game and your wifi cuts out and like, you kind of like lose connection for
17:51a second there.
17:52There's a few of those situations where you just can't have that, whether it's like not
17:56being able to keep in a puck, keep in that ozone possession that the team kind of struggled
17:59to get at times.
18:00You just need more from, you know, I mean, you're going to need him to do everything,
18:04but that's why he's Charlie McAvoy.
18:06That's why he's your number one defenseman.
18:07You need a guy like that to step up and deliver in those moments.
18:10And I think the details is probably the most jarring thing because you just can't have
18:14these kinds of stop and start situations where with your execution, not against a team like
18:19Toronto, that's just so good that if you're, you know, spending time in your own zone or
18:24you're missing those breakouts or you're not pushing the puck through cleanly transition,
18:28this team you're going up against is so talented that they're going to bury you every single
18:32time you do that.
18:33Yeah.
18:34I mean, once again, Mark, like McAvoy needs to be better, but once again, I, I saw a lot
18:38of moments where Hampus Lindholm was having a lot of trouble when he was under heavy pressure,
18:44getting the puck out, you know, fear, hearing the footsteps at times, like anticipating
18:49guys come and crashing down on him when they were coming hard on the four check.
18:53And you know, he's going to need, this is a big series for him.
18:57Like this is a big playoff run this time around, given how much he struggled against Florida
19:01last year.
19:02And he was obviously took that big hit in Carolina the year before, but he is not shown
19:07enough in the playoffs for me to believe that he's the same player he has.
19:12He has it as best moments during the regular season, the playoffs until we, we see it in
19:16the post season.
19:17And it hasn't been there yet.
19:18No, you're right.
19:19And, you know, both him and, and McAvoy need, you know, strong bounce back games on Wednesday.
19:28And, you know, and I, I'm not, not necessarily an X is an O's guy, but I wonder if Toronto
19:34did something, adjusted something on their four check that, that gave, ended up giving
19:40the Bruins trouble because, you know, certainly we all saw that they had moments when, when
19:46Boston struggled with it and, you know, it didn't move the puck crisply.
19:52So I, you know, I don't know, I don't know about that, but you know, as far as Charlie's
19:56hits, didn't he, did he not bury Matthew dyes on like the first shift of the game?
20:02How does he end it?
20:04That's true.
20:05I think that was him, right?
20:06Yes.
20:07At least once, maybe twice.
20:09No, you're right.
20:10Yes.
20:11So maybe the guy recording the hits was, was late getting to his seat and, and miss that
20:16first ship.
20:17But that traffic's rough, you know, you know how it is, or maybe they just don't like Charlie
20:22McAvoy.
20:23Maybe they're like, you know, we're going to give him no hits in this game and see how
20:27he likes that.
20:29Even though it's supposed to be an NHL where they give everybody a hit now for everything.
20:32Right.
20:33Yeah.
20:34Yeah.
20:35And that, I mean, that was a positive start that first shift in those, the physicality
20:39of it.
20:40You know, Mike, you could be optimistic that things were going to go well, that this was
20:45going to be a good performance on that first shift.
20:49I liked the first period.
20:51Yeah.
20:52The Bruins were good in the first period.
20:53I thought they were moving fast.
20:55They were physical.
20:56They were just playing simple.
20:57They were dumping pucks in deep, getting on the four check and just playing smart, like
21:01good hockey.
21:03And then when Posnack gets that goal right at the end of the first period, you're like,
21:07all right, this looks like it's going to, you know, they're going to start rolling here.
21:10And then once the, they, you know, took the too many men in the ice penalty and Grizzly
21:14took that penalty in the second period, it kind of just, you know, they, they'd seem
21:18like they were in the mud for the rest of the game after that.
21:20And Toronto definitely got life.
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22:43Mark, what do you make of what we've seen so far from the goalie rotation?
22:48Um, obviously Swainman was, was lights out excellent in game one.
22:52I thought that was the right choice to go with him just given, um, the body of work
22:57that he's had against Toronto this year, given the season that he had and on, on the whole,
23:02and given that he had never had a chance to start a series, I thought he was due to get
23:06the call there.
23:07Um, and then they go with all Mark in, in game two.
23:10And I kind of wonder if they've sort of like decided or, or told the goalies, uh, you know,
23:17we're going to start with a rotation the first few games of the series, maybe the force for
23:21the games of the series back and forth.
23:23And then after that, it'll be about, you know, merit and who's, who's playing best or, or
23:27sort of feel, uh, where they're going to go as far as the rotation goes.
23:30Yeah.
23:31I mean, I don't think you can question the rotation at this point with the series one,
23:39uh, I guess, I guess what happens in game three, we'll, uh, you know, kind of maybe open,
23:48open the debate a little bit.
23:51If, uh, you know, Swainman comes up with a big performance and they win the game,
23:56you know, you're going to go back with all Mark and game four, just,
24:00just to continue the rotation.
24:01I, you know, I don't know.
24:03I think that would be a questionable, a questionable call.
24:07Uh, but, uh, you know, the rotation has gotten them to this point.
24:11I, you know, I don't think, uh, I don't think it's, uh, it's worked out fine to this point.
24:19And so why not stick with it until it doesn't work out?
24:21Uh, you know, and then we'll see.
24:25Or until Mark, it's your point.
24:27Desperation sets in and you just like, you just need to do what you think is going to
24:31win you the hockey game and, and, and go with that player based on, uh, feel or how they're
24:36going.
24:36Like I I've been of the thought that the best rotation, the most fair rotation, like a good
24:43way to do it would be just plays, play the goalie until he loses.
24:47And then you move on to the other one.
24:48And look, sometimes it's not going to be about the goalie.
24:51The Bruins did not lose game two because Linus Allmark was not good.
24:54I thought he was brilliant.
24:56Made a bunch of saves that, that one save he made where he just like, you know, swept
25:00the puck with a glove, uh, and basically, uh, swept it off the goal line and they had
25:05to review it to make sure he actually made the save was, was outstanding.
25:09Um, but he was on balance.
25:10Very good.
25:11The, the first penalty kill that they killed, he made like four or five saves.
25:14He was, he was excellent.
25:16Um, so he wasn't the reason they lost in game two, but I think it, if you change the goalie
25:23with each loss that gives both goalies a couple chances in the series, you're going to make
25:27sure unless you sweep that both goalies get in the game, get in the series and don't sit
25:32for too long.
25:34Um, and if you, if the goalie, if you do sweep, that's a good problem to have.
25:38If you swept a playoff series and one of the goalies wasn't able to play, you know, for
25:42a few, uh, for a week or eight days or whatever it was.
25:46Um, Connor, your thoughts on the goalie rotation, uh, what you think we're going to see in game
25:51three.
25:52And if you think that rotation is going to change it all based on the circumstances of
25:56the series here.
25:58Yeah.
25:58It's gonna be fascinating to see how the Bruins do structure it in this series, because I
26:02think it was one of the last regular season games when Montgomery first mentioned like,
26:05Oh, we might, you know, switch off where it's maybe the situation where they go like the
26:09first four games alternate and then kind of go from there.
26:12But as you guys said, what happens if all of a sudden it's game three?
26:16Stringman, you know, has a another 35 save on 36 shot performance and goes, gets momentum
26:22back on your side.
26:22And again, like, yes, we've been like, hasn't been like strong down the second half of the
26:28season, but like, look what he's done against Toronto.
26:30He'll be what six and oh, against Toronto dating back to last year.
26:34He's got a nine, six, three save percentage over those games.
26:36Like, that's part of the mental thing too.
26:38If you're Toronto and you've got all this high powered offense and Stringman's not giving
26:42you anything, and this has been a running trend, maybe this is a situation where you
26:46ride the hot hand.
26:46So you do wonder if they do change that approach and make it kind of more field-based, whether
26:51it's Stringman's on a roll, you've got the momentum there, you've got the numbers backing
26:55it up.
26:56And again, like just comes down to wins and losses.
26:58And that's kind of how I viewed it going into the playoffs is like you start off with
27:02an alt, you know, alternating guys and games one and two, and depending on how the results
27:06are, you ride the hot hand and go from there.
27:08As you said, if you went into four games or five games, that's a good problem to have
27:12survive in advance.
27:13You go back, reset the clock moving into the next round.
27:16But if it's Swainman and gave it through, which you imagine it will be, and he wins
27:21creates another interesting debate.
27:22I feel like, you know, depending on how long this playoff run goes, we're going to have
27:26this conversation, win or loss, especially after a win.
27:30That's when it gets really complicated.
27:31So.
27:32No, it's true.
27:33And the NHL is watching, right?
27:34The rest of the NHL is watching how the situation plays out with the Bruins because it's so
27:39unique to have two equal goalies like this that are both brilliant and both basically
27:44could be number ones if they ever prove that they can be like a 60 plus game guy during
27:50the regular season.
27:51But they both, I think, have that ability and they're both pretty equal.
27:55So it's a very unique situation as to how they're going to handle it and what they're
28:00going to do.
28:00And it could create a template for in such a copycat league if other people have two
28:05great goalies to kind of do the same thing.
28:07I would fully expect Jeremy Swainman to play game three, and that'll be interesting to
28:11see what happens after that.
28:15Conor, adjustments that you would make for game three, any lineup changes or anything
28:20you would change going into game three based on what we saw in the first two games in Boston?
28:26I mean, I think it all depends right on if peaks available.
28:28I think regardless of what it is, I think you have to add a guy like Wetherspoon into
28:32the bottom of the deep here just to add a little bit more of that simplified hockey
28:37for this time of year up front.
28:39I wouldn't necessarily put in a guy like JVR yet in terms of changing things up.
28:43Actually, I don't hate the personnel they have up front.
28:46It's just need to get more rolling.
28:48And especially I think it all comes down to, as you said, Joe, the transition game, getting
28:53the puck out and letting the forwards kind of get to work.
28:55Because if JVR comes in, are you slotting out a guy like Lauco, who I think has been
29:00moving his feet pretty well, trying to impact the shifts he's out there?
29:04I don't see any changes up front necessarily.
29:06I think it all comes down to, one, what Peak's going to do.
29:09And then if he is healthy, if he's not, how else do you kind of change that personnel?
29:13Because I think it all starts from there, breaking the puck out, solving Toronto's
29:16four check and kind of getting things going.
29:18Because I think Samsonov had a good game in game two, but like you need to generate more
29:22ozone time.
29:23I think the Bruins were, I think Toronto had a 37 to 17 edge and shot scoring chances,
29:29like not a winning form.
29:30You need to get pucks on net against a guy like Samsonov.
29:32You need to get rolling in the offensive zone.
29:34Yeah.
29:35And they've been outshot both games in this series.
29:37And I definitely, they've lost the ozone battle.
29:39And that's something that needs to be changed and needs to be figured out.
29:43I'm not sure JVR gets into the series unless a forward gets hurt.
29:47I don't know.
29:47You know, but I will say Jim Montgomery's MO is consistently to, you know, get guys
29:52in.
29:53And I think he does that to a degree in the playoffs as well.
29:56Not wanting players to sit for too long.
29:58I'm with you.
29:58I think Wetherspoon would probably dry in for game three, whether it was as an injury
30:04replacement, whether it was as a replacement for Kevin Shattenkirk.
30:09I think Matt Grizlik was not great in game two either.
30:12He was getting thrown around all over the place.
30:15Ryan Reeves was like.
30:17Oh, he was out there a ton against Ryan Reeves.
30:20And Reeves had this ability to pin him down and post him up in front of the net.
30:25Every time Grizlik was out there, he basically grabbed him through in front of the net and
30:28was just bodying him, trying to get position.
30:31And Grizlik trying to anticipate that contact and that battle down low.
30:35That's why he gets the interference call, which might've been a little bit of a veteran
30:39move by Tavares hitting the deck to get the call.
30:42But credit to him for getting the call.
30:45Any adjustments you would make, Mark, headed into game three?
30:51Just Wetherspoon.
30:52I'd get him in there for either Shattenkirk or Griz, or as a replacement for Peake.
31:03Obviously, we don't know where that stands.
31:07Up front, I think I'd stick with the group.
31:10Although, obviously, they need to generate more.
31:16As far as Reeves goes, I thought he had a very effective game last night.
31:21And if you narrow it down to Maroon versus Reeves, well, Maroon wins game one.
31:31He gets the advantage.
31:32Last night, it was clearly Reeves had the advantage.
31:35You know, Maroon, you know, geez, his lack of speed.
31:40We all know that that's a thing.
31:44But boy, when he has a chance to go in on a breakaway and just shovels it to the next guy,
31:52you know, you could just see right there that, geez, this guy is really slow.
31:58So if he didn't know that, if he weren't aware of that already, there it was.
32:03But, you know, I don't know.
32:07Do you take him out?
32:08No, I don't think you take him out.
32:09I think you need what he can bring and what he brought in game one.
32:14So I wouldn't make any changes up front at this point.
32:17Yeah.
32:18And we may see him, you know, with his legs because he hasn't played in a long time.
32:22And he's only played a few games that it might go back and forth, right?
32:25Like he'll have good legs one game.
32:27Yeah.
32:27And not so much the next because he's going to need his best legs, to your point,
32:31to keep up with what's going on and at least be like a serviceable fourth line guy.
32:35But like what I liked about game one was he was fast enough that he was getting
32:41on defensemen in the corner when they were retrieving pucks and he was laying big hits on
32:45them.
32:45Like as long as he's fast enough to get there and throw the body on those guys and start
32:49accumulating those hits when they're going back and trying to get retrieved pucks out of the
32:55corner, like that's perfect.
32:56Like that's really all you need out of him.
32:59In addition to sort of keeping up with what's going on and not being a liability.
33:03But yeah, I agree.
33:03I wouldn't change anything up front.
33:05I think you do need to stick with Maroon because I think he just, he gives them a different
33:09kind of attitude.
33:10I think when they're out there and a little more courage and it gives them somebody when
33:15Reeves starts, like, cause at one point Reeves was messing with Grizzlik and Maroon came
33:21over and started chirping in his ear and shoving him around.
33:23And I think you need somebody like that that's willing to do that kind of thing with a guy
33:27like Reeves when he's out there.
33:30But it'll be interesting.
33:32I just think they need to play better as a unit and I would, you know, putting Weatherspoon
33:36in.
33:36I totally agree with that.
33:38All right.
33:39Question of the week.
33:40This tweet of the week.
33:41BH Bossman 37.
33:42We kind of covered this a little bit, but McAvoy was a beast in game one.
33:46The Leafs have no D-man that can match his two-way abilities.
33:49He needs to be a difference maker consistently.
33:51Tonight he was not good enough.
33:52And I think you can say that about, you know, a lot of players.
33:56There was more than a few that weren't good enough in that game.
33:59One thing I've seen that is slightly concerning to me, Mark, is Brad Martian's obviously a
34:09really good player.
34:11And he's a key player for the Bruins and the physicality he brings, the emotion he brings,
34:16all that stuff.
34:17But I've found lately down the stretch and in the playoffs, it does seem like there are
34:24times when he's almost like a half beat slower with things than he used to be.
34:28He doesn't always catch the puck as cleanly when it's coming to him.
34:32You know, he's not able to sort of, like, you know, get that separation as much as he
34:36did as he used to be able to do against defenders to create plays for himself when he tries
34:41to, you know, do the one-on-one stuff.
34:44I just wonder if, like, you know, the full season, the age, all that stuff is sort of
34:49like having a little bit of an impact on him.
34:54Yeah, that's a fair question.
35:01I wonder if, you know, first playoff run as captain, whether the weight of that is also,
35:09he's feeling that a little bit.
35:12You know, because last night was the kind of game, you know, like in the last 10 minutes
35:16of the game, you're kind of waiting.
35:17OK, in the past, we've seen him, you know, make a play at that point in the game.
35:23And, you know, it didn't work out last night.
35:26It's only one night.
35:27And, you know, we'll see what happens going forward.
35:30But yeah, he hasn't he hasn't quite been on his game lately.
35:34That's I think that's fair to say.
35:37Connor, anybody you're looking for to break out in game three forward wise?
35:41Yeah, I mean, obviously, Martians, a key one, right, where, as you said, like the weight
35:45of, you know, the captain see those things.
35:47Like, I feel like you can tell when Martians pressing when it's either he's like flying
35:51into, you know, a body of skaters trying to make something happen, trying to do things
35:55by himself.
35:56Or I think you kind of said it to Joe, like his ability to, like, you know, connect on
36:01one time or feels like the execution is just off there.
36:04And I understand he's more of a facilitator on that power play.
36:07But there was that one time where a seam pass went through and you would hope that's a situation
36:12where he kind of rifles the puck home and just misses it there.
36:14So we need more from him.
36:17And again, I think it's just that whole that whole top line.
36:20Like, I think the brusque, you know, had obviously the great game one wasn't able to clear the
36:23puck out, leading to the various goal in game two.
36:26But that whole line that you need to get going between Marcia and the brusque and coil.
36:31And I know they're kind of tasked with being kind of more of your 200 foot shutdown line.
36:37They're getting a lot of minutes against Matthew, which take away from that.
36:40But you need that line, especially to start, you know, winning at least a few punches here.
36:44Again, all that comes down to breaking the puck out and getting in the offensive zone.
36:49But you need to get shots up against a guy like Samsona.
36:51Like, this isn't this unbreakable defense you're going up against.
36:55You should be able to land punches against this team.
36:58Yeah.
36:58And to Marcian's credit, he did do a good job of looking like a sniper took him out
37:02when he had that Tyler Batuzzi slap to the back of his leg to make sure that the ref
37:06saw that and they got the call.
37:09That was a nice veteran move right there.
37:10All right.
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38:06Conor Ryan, Mark Diver, thank you very much for joining us.
38:09Thanks for having us, Joe.
38:11All right.
38:11Take care, guys.
38:12You got it, Mark.
38:14We'll see you all after games three and four.
38:16Thanks for listening.
38:17We'll see you at three.