Bruins looking more like themselves

It only took five games to complete, but it wasn’t easy. Rarely was it pretty, especially in the last game.

But Round 1 is over, and the Bruins feel more like the team that had the NHL’s best record when COVID-19 shut the league down in March than when they arrived in the Eastern Conference bubble in Toronto on July 26 to resume the season.

"I think our lineup now will get a little more solidified as we go," coach Bruce Cassidy said early Wednesday evening at [...]

It only took five games to complete, but it wasn’t easy. Rarely was it pretty, especially in the last game.

But Round 1 is over, and the Bruins feel more like the team that had the NHL’s best record when COVID-19 shut the league down in March than when they arrived in the Eastern Conference bubble in Toronto on July 26 to resume the season.

"I think our lineup now will get a little more solidified as we go," coach Bruce Cassidy said early Wednesday evening at Scotiabank Arena, where the B’s completed their best-of-7 first-round series with a 2-1 decision over the Hurricanes in Game 5. "In general, it looks like we’re better prepared now in terms of chemistry and stability in our lineup, going forward."

That’s not how things looked or felt on Saturday morning, when No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask returned to his family with the series tied, 1-1, and scoring leader David Pastrnak was about to miss his second of three games with an undisclosed injury. A three-game win streak didn’t seem to be in the cards against a team that has improved and was motivated after the B’s swept them in last year’s Eastern Conference Final, but that’s what the Bruins pulled off.

Much credit went to Jaroslav Halak, who hadn’t played in a traditional playoff series in five years, but went 3-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .926 saves percentage after Rask left. Veteran center David Krejci was a standout, as well, both for leading a No. 2 line that scored twice during a four-goal comeback to win Game 4, 4-3, and by stepping up to produce on the power play while Pastrnak was out. Krejci had a goal and an assist on Wednesday — both during power plays — to finish the series with three goals and eight points.

"We all love Playoff Krech," Pastrnak, who contributed two assists in his return on Wednesday, said of Krejci, a two-time NHL post-season scoring leader (2011, 2013). "He’s unbelievable. I can’t even tell you how good of a player he is. He always seems to make a great play."

Truth to tell, there wasn’t much great about Wednesday’s power-play goals, both scored in the final 4:40 of the second period to wipe out the Hurricane’s 1-0 lead. Krejci made it 1-1 when Patrice Bergeron’s shot hit Pastrnak outside the crease and went straight to Krejci, who was left with a tap-in. Bergeron’s winner came after he retrieved the rebound of Krejci’s shot behind the Hurricanes net and zipped it into the crease, where it deflected home off Petr Mrazek’s skates as he tried to get back in position.

The Bruins needed those breaks during their power plays because, as was the case throughout the series, they weren’t having much luck at even strength: Of 15 goals in the series, the B’s scored only eight in 5-on-5 situations Five came during power plays, one was scored shorthanded (Sean Kuraly’s Game 3 winner), and another came late in Game 3, when Brad Marchand hit an empty net to seal that 3-1 win.

Krejci, however, thought the Bruins owed just as much to players who weren’t as involved in the scoring as they did to Halak, or those on the power play.

"We had a great game plan, knew exactly what to do, how to beat these guys," Krejci said. "We stuck with it.

"And all four lines chipped in. Every game it was a different line. That’s what you need in the playoffs. Every game, somebody else steps up."

Cassidy deserves some credit there. Besides subbing Halak for Rask in Game 3, he also pulled rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and wingers Nick Ritchie and Karson Kuhlman out of the lineup to add rookie forward Jack Studnicka and third-pairing defenseman Connor Clifton. Moving Kuraly to the third line with Charlie Coyle and Studnicka resulted in Par Lindholm entering to center the fourth line, between Joakim Nordstrom and Chris Wagner.

The Bruins won every game with the inserts, highlighted by the fourth line setting up Clifton for the tying goal in Game 4.

"You’ve got to find ways to win," Cassidy said, "and I guess that’s probably the best way to put it: We found ways to win -- probably different ways each game, different people in the lineup, different goaltenders playing. That was the best part of this first round."

With two series still to be completed, the Bruins have a little time to reflect and rest before they re-focus on a to-be-determined Round 2 opponent.

"I really like how we responded, how resilient we were in certain situations throughout the series," captain Zdeno Chara said. "(But) we’re focusing on what’s ahead of us and taking one day at a time. I think we are realizing this is a first step behind us."