Bruce Cassidy sounds off on officiating: ‘We haven’t gotten very many calls’
The Bruins are growing awfully tired of having nothing to show for their pain.
On Nassau Coliseum ice for a series-evening Game 4 loss, there were multiple instances of the Bruins failing to fight their way into a power-play opportunity, and it was enough to earn a ’19 Berube Chess Move from Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy.
“I think the whole playoffs we haven’t gotten very many calls to put us on the power play,” Cassidy said after his team’s Game 4 defeat. “I think we certainly had enough that we’ve taken. Some of them have been lack of discipline. Some of them were the too many men in the ice [that] they have to call, couple over the glass. But I certainly think the infractions [against the Bruins], we haven’t had calls go our way; the borderline ones you look at, even some non-borderline.”
For Cassidy, issues tonight came with a non-call after Jeremy Lauzon took a high stick to the face, Charlie McAvoy failed to drawn a fairly obvious boarding on a hit from Brock Nelson, and after David Krejci was deemed the only guilty party after he took four crosschecks from the Islanders’ Mat Barzal before he returned the favor with a slash between the legs.
Cassidy’s problems with the officiating go beyond just Saturday night, in fact, as the B’s bench boss took issue with Chris Wagner failing to earn a high stick after he ‘almost got his head taken off’ and after the officials sent only Brandon Carlo to the box following his post-whistle shoving contest with Leo Komarov in the second period of the team’s Game 2 loss.
Ironically enough, tonight was the first game all series where the Bruins have had more power-play opportunities than the Islanders, though it would’ve been even had it not been for New York’s penalty assessed after a failed coach’s challenge. Overall, the Islanders have drawn 11 power-play opportunities to the B’s nine.
And while working the officials may work (it often does in this league, for whatever reason), there’s little hope for the Bruins if they’re going to leave this one in the hands of the officials, and Cassidy knows exactly that.
“They see what they see,” Cassidy said. “You can’t do anything about it. You hope that comes around, you keep playing hard and earn your calls. You know, we’re not going to bitch about it. It is what it is. And hopefully we’ll start getting the ones that we deserve and take advantage of it. That’s all you can do. Even right before the goal look like there could have been a call. They didn’t call it [and] they come down and score. That’s the stuff you got to play through.”
Game 5 will be Monday night at TD Garden.
The Bruins and Islanders are tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff series. What does Boston need to do to get back control of the series in Game 5?
If you ask Matt Dolloff and Ty Anderson of the SideLines podcast at 98.5 The Sports Hub, it’s a shakeup on the bottom-six forward lines. And even then, they still desperately need Brandon Carlo back on defense. But will we see either of those things on Monday night?
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
