Pre-Game Talk: 8/15 12:08 PM - ECQF Game 3 BRUINS (1) vs Whalercanes (1) - NBC, SN, TVAS, WBZ-FM 98.5

[TD Charlie]

I don’t have confidence that Pastrnak is ready to go for tomorrow. Keep Bjork up on the top line, bump Kuraly in Ritchie’s spot and put Par in at 4c.

Lindholm is plenty responsible enough for a night on the 4th, and Wagner/Nordstrom have been working their asses off. I have no concerns if Lindholm subs in there.

Kuraly has shown flashes when given time with Coyle.

there’s enough evidence from past experiments for me to believe that this is the best balance of safety and potential

 

[Durnberg]

Hope pasta doesn’t play if there is any question. I think the game to play Halak was last game.

 

[13Hockey]

Based on what ? Cassidy tweaking the lineup and making adjustments?

30 years of watching this team and living and dying on every game

my gut says we win

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

30 years of watching this team and living and dying on every game

my gut says we win

I hope your gut is right but watching that game 2 was painful at times . Totally outplayed through a lot of it . Teams like Columbus and the Islanders look light years ahead when it comes to cohesiveness and adhering to a system .

 

[13Hockey]

I hope your gut is right but watching that game 2 was painful at times . Totally outplayed through a lot of it . Teams like Columbus and the Islanders look light years ahead when it comes to cohesiveness and adhering to a system .

classic desperate team can’t afford to go down 0-2 effort

now the bruins are the better team and will push back cause they don’t want to be in a 1-2 hole

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

classic desperate team can’t afford to go down 0-2 effort

now the bruins are the better team and will push back cause they don’t want to be in a 1-2 hole

Everyone keeps saying that “ Bruins are the better team “ but sometimes I think it is just our way of trying to remain confident in the midst of uncertainty. I’m not confident with what I’ve seen these last 5 games . What happens tomorrow is a mystery to me .

 

[Trap Jesus]

12pm, someone might want to check if Tuukka even wants to get out of bed that early.

 

[Aeroforce]

I've got things to do in the afternoon and will watch the game in the evening. So as not to learn the result, I won't be able to come to the board.

I hope the B's win and I'll miss y'all!

 

[BB88]

East hasn’t impressed as much as I expected.

Time to wake up and lift the Cup soon

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Everyone keeps saying that “ Bruins are the better team “ but sometimes I think it is just our way of trying to remain confident in the midst of uncertainty. I’m not confident with what I’ve seen these last 5 games . What happens tomorrow is a mystery to me .

I agree. Telling ourselves we have the better team doesn't do much for me. Strength on paper is worth very little in playoffs, especially these ones in their unique circumstances. The Caps are stronger than the Islanders on paper, and the Flyers are certainly better than the Habs, but we saw what happened today. We saw what happened between the Bruins and Blues last year too.

Playoff hockey is much more about who comes to play on the night, who wants it more, and who executes better in the big moments. Sure the Bruins have a better roster than the Canes. If they play close to their full potential they'll win this game and the series. But if they don't, then Carolina are more than good enough to tilt the results in their favor, as they did with 30 mins of superior hockey on Thursday. If the Bruins don't step up then they'll keep doing it.

On the flip side, I'm not one of those 'the sky is falling in after one loss' people either. Teams go through ups and downs. The modern NHL has too much parity to expect to just be able to sweep opponents very often. If a team is 5-10% off on a given night they'll usually get beaten. This current Boston team, for whatever reason, seems to need a tough loss every now and then to give them a kick and send them back to work. In the end it's pretty simple - if the Bruins work hard, win more puck battles than they lose, find some good form with their passing and shooting, play a solid game in their own zone and make life difficult for the Carolina goalies then they should win. If however they let their opponents dictate the play too much, don't have their heads in the game and allow the Canes to disrupt them with their aggressive forechecking then they probably won't.

Which Bruins team we'll get today, who knows? Hopefully the good one!

 

[BAD BOY]

Let’s Go Bruins
LFG

I’m moving on from Game 2 . It’s in the past. It never happened. The focus is now Game 3.

 

[TimThomas24]

Just not worried for some reason. Feel pretty good after two games. I don’t trust their goalies to win a series vs us. I picked Boston in 6 and I still feel that way. Not having Pasta could change some things though.

 

[Maine Fan]

classic desperate team can’t afford to go down 0-2 effort

now the bruins are the better team and will push back cause they don’t want to be in a 1-2 hole

You hit the nail. Is today's Bruins team the classic desperate team and are the really the better team today.

Show me, they haven't since returning to play after the layoff.

Go Bruins

 

[Maine Fan]

12pm, someone might want to check if Tuukka even wants to get out of bed that early.

Was this post meant as a joke? If not, it is not called for in my opinion. Just the way I took the read.

 

[Fenway]

BRUINS GDT - 12:08 PM - ECQF Game 3 BRUINS (1) vs Whalercanes (1) - NBC, SN, TVAS, WBZ-FM 98.5