Bruce Cassidy acknowledges that he does not coach choir boys. The Bruins went on the penalty kill 178 times during the regular season, fourth most in the league.
The thing the Bruins coach does not understand is why the heat-seeking Islanders elude the whistles. The Islanders were the second-most-disciplined team in the league during the regular season, when they went on the kill 135 times.
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That delta between the two clubs, Cassidy believes, has appeared once again in the playoffs.
“We’re playing a team that has very respected management and coaching staff. They won a Stanley Cup,” Cassidy said after the Bruins’ 5-4 Game 5 loss, which put the Islanders up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. “But I think they sell a narrative over there that it’s more like the New York Saints, not the New York Islanders, that they play hard and they play the right way. I feel we’re the same way. The calls, the exact calls that are getting called on us, do not get called on them. And I don’t know why. These are very good officials. They’re at this point of the season for a reason.”
Cassidy noted a high stick Craig Smith took that went uncalled. Earlier in the series, Brad Marchand was penalized for a similar high stick.
“It’s not like I’m sitting there going, ‘Well, every call against us sucks.’ It’s not true,” Cassidy said. “At the end of the day, the similar plays, they need to be penalized on those plays. But like I said, they’ve done a great job selling that narrative that they’re clean. They play hard. A hard brand of hockey. Love the way they play. But they commit as many infractions as we do. Trust me.”
The Bruins could have blunted some of the disparity Cassidy perceived. During the regular season, they killed 86 percent of opposing power plays, the second-best rate in the league.
They did no such thing in Game 5. The Bruins went 1-for-4 on the penalty kill. The reason they ran out of third-period runway was the ease with which they allowed the Islanders to pump three power-play pucks past Tuukka Rask.
In the first period, after winning a left-side faceoff, the Islanders rapidly shuttled the puck to Mathew Barzal on the opposite flank. Barzal whistled a wrister over Rask before Charlie McAvoy challenged his shot, which tied the score at 1-1.
In the second, Josh Bailey sent a seam pass that clattered off Connor Clifton. The deflected puck bounced to Kyle Palmieri, who dunked the puck through Rask. Palmieri’s goal put the Islanders up 2-1.
Later in the second, with Chris Wagner off for high-sticking Barzal, Jarred Tinordi broke his stick. Charlie Coyle, a righty, gave his stick to the left-shot Tinordi. Barzal patiently held the puck at the right circle until he saw an opening courtesy of Sean Kuraly, the weak-side forward. When Kuraly placed his stick to deny the pass to Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the bumper, Barzal slid a cross-ice puck to Jordan Eberle. Rask got over in time but could not stop Eberle’s shot, which made it 4-2.
McAvoy was on for all three power-play goals. He is usually a secondary killer behind Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller. Instead of playing, both defensemen spent the day skating at Warrior Ice Arena as they recover from their head injuries.
“Carlo and Miller are great on the PK,” Cassidy said. “Now you’ve got Cliffy in there, who’s not as long on the backdoor one. He’s just not able to get it done there. Charlie on the first goal, on his off side because of the way the faceoff’s set up. We don’t get it out. Yeah, he could challenge more on Barzal. He needs to. He knows that.”
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Rask can clean up spills on the kill. But not in Game 5.
The starter was not 100 percent, according to Cassidy. He did not participate in the morning skate. He took shots before the session from Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.
So after the second period, Cassidy replaced Rask with Jeremy Swayman. Rask was well enough to finish the game on the bench. Rask should be ready for Game 6, the coach said.
Semyon Varlamov, meanwhile, denied the Bruins early and late. He stopped 10 of their 11 first-period shots. He followed up with 16 third-period saves. Varlamov was under assault in those two segments.
The Bruins failed to finish their opportunities. Their inability to stretch out a 1-0 first-period lead when they were blitzing the bending Islanders cost them later.
“I thought five-on-five, we were dominant,” Cassidy said. “But the PK let us down. We’ve got to get better at it.”
The Bruins will not practice Tuesday. They will save all their energy for a do-or-die Game 6 on Wednesday at Nassau Coliseum.
“Fourth one is the hardest one to win,” McAvoy said. “We’re going to New York to win a game. That’s all that’s on our minds. We want to put our best foot forward and win a hockey game. That’s it. That’s all we’re thinking about right now. This thing isn’t over.”
(Photo of the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri scoring on Tuukka Rash in the second period: Winslow Townson / USA Today)
