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Sports Hub Underground

Sports Hub Underground

Sports Hub Underground

Sports Hub Underground: Previewing Bruins-Maple Leafs

Author Matt Dolloff

(Click here to subscribe to the Sports Hub Underground podcast.)

It’s almost time for some Boston Bruins playoff hockey. We’re getting you ready with a full preview of Bruins-Maple Leafs on this episode of the Sports Hub Underground.

(0:50) Initial thoughts on the Bruins’ return to the playoffs and their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

(16:39) The debate between who would’ve been the better matchup for the Bruins between Toronto and Tampa.

(25:18) Why Toronto presents more of a challenge for the Bruins in the playoffs than you may think.

(33:37) Breaking down the Auston Matthews matchup and how the Bruins might deploy their forwards and defense against him in the series.

(43:15) What is the Bruins’ plan with the goaltenders?

(54:06) The guys draft their “Big 3” Jack Edwards moments.

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3 Stars: One final non-playoff team clunker for the Bruins

If there’s been one trend about the Boston Bruins this season, it’s that the cellar-dwelling teams of the National Hockey League have made a habit out of bringing the worst out of the club.

So perhaps it was fitting that the Bruins ended their non-playoff opponent slate with one more dud against a team they won’t see again until next October at the earliest, this time by way of a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden.

On the second leg of a traveling back-to-back that kicked off with a 2-0 shutout loss in Washington on Monday night, the Bruins took to the ice with the same tempo as they did in that defeat, and had just three shots on goal through 20 minutes of play.

They didn’t get their fourth until almost the six-minute mark of the second period, and in just a 51-second stretch at the midway point of the middle frame, goaltender Linus Ullmark and the rest of the Bruins found themselves in an 0-2 hole against a downright dreadful opponent.

  • “After the first period, I thought we really needed to dig in, and after the second, I said, ‘We’re not drawing any penalties for five periods because we’re not going to hard areas consistently,'” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of his message to the team throughout the losing effort. Montgomery stressed that the message throughout put an emphasis on the Bruins improving their “habits and details.”

    With the loss, the Bruins finished the regular season with a 24-11-7 record against non-playoff teams, compared to a 23-9-8 record against teams inside the playoff structure.

    Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a Game 82 loss to the Sens…

  • Third Star: Jakob Chychrun

    Mar 27, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Ottawa Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) waits for the face-off during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

    Mar 27, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Ottawa Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) waits for the face-off during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)

    Ottawa defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal on a shot that Linus Ullmark almost certainly would have wanted to have back, but the 6-foot-2 left shot Chychrun also came through with a pair of blocks in what was a heavy, 17-block affair for the Sens in this one.

    And though the move from Arizona to Ottawa has not come with the team success that Chychrun likely envisioned when he wanted out of the desert, the goal against the Bruins on Tuesday night did allow him to match his single-season career-high in points (41), which was originally set with the Coyotes back in 2021.

  • Second Star: Pavel Zacha

    Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) is congratulated by center Danton Heinen (43) after scoring a goal during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

    Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) is congratulated by center Danton Heinen (43) after scoring a goal during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

    It took the Bruins almost 53 minutes to get on the board in this contest, but it came from a familiar source, as Pavel Zacha found the back of the net for the second time in his last three games, and third time in seven games overall.

    This tally was about more than just Zacha continuing to soar to new heights on what’s been a career year, really. In fact, it got the Bruins on the board with a power-play goal and allowed them to feel a little bit better about a power-play unit that entered Game 82 mired in a 2-for-30 spell over their last 11 outings.

    In addition to the goal, Zacha finished with a team-leading six shots on goal, and won 58.3 percent of his faceoffs.

  • First Star: Anton Forsberg

    Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) during the third period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

    Apr 16, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) during the third period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

    Senators netminder Anton Forsberg began his night with a relatively light workload.

    Hit with just 12 shots through the opening two periods of play, Forsberg appeared set for an evening that was going to Charlie Lindgren’s Monday night performance against the Bruins look like Ronnie Tugnutt back in ’91.

    But the Bruins poured it on the third period, and Forsberg was up to the challenge, with saves on 22 of the 23 shots the Bruins flung on his goal, including a downright sick save on Charlie McAvoy with the Bruins blitzing the Sens.

    Forsberg finished the victory with saves on 34 of the 35 shots faced, and was credited with 9-for-10 line when it came to high-danger shots thrown his way by the Bruins (per NaturalStatTrick.com).

Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.

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