As this first round series shifts to Toronto for Game 6 and pressure mounts on the Bruins, it is now the B’s turn to try and answer that age-old playoff question.
How do we solve that goaltender?
Through the first five games, the Maple Leafs were the ones who were trying to figure out Jeremy Swayman, who won his first three starts in this series to stake the B’s to a 3-1 series. But while Swayman was every bit as good as he had been in the three previous, he did not get the W in Game 5.
That went to the Leafs’ Joseph Woll, who got his first start of the series after Ilya Samsonov’s tendency to allow bad goals at the wrong time put the Leafs in their hole.
And Woll (27 saves) was at times spectacular. Despite the B’s horrendously bad start, they had a 12-5 advantage in high danger chances, two of which stood out. With 7:20 left in regulation, he got a pad on Trent Frederic’s glittering opportunity. And then in early in overtime, he flashed his pad to stop another great chance from Charlie Coyle.
If either player elevated the puck, this series would be over. But they didn’t, and the we play on. And now the B’s face a goalie who has to be feeling pretty darn good about himself.
That’s not what the B’s are looking for.
Frederic knows Woll as well as anyone. Both are St. Louis-area products who played together growing up. As a kid, Frederic was, in fact, his travel team’s starting goalie when he couldn’t attend one of his teams tournaments in Toronto because of his first communion. The team turned to Woll and Frederic got Wally Pipped as a goalie.
“He’s probably the most-tenured teammate I’ve ahd in my life,” said Frederic, won also played with Woll in the US National team program. “He’s a good kid and it’s nice to see him get this opportunity. But obviously, we want to beat him (Thursday).”
The two have a fun back-and-forth and Frederic likes to point out that he’s now “8-for-9” against him in games he’s scored goals on his good friend, dating back to high school. That includes Game 5, when Frederic was the only player to beat him before Woll stoned him in the third period.
While he knows Woll well, Frederic said there’s no secret sauce to beating him that you wouldn’t say about any other goalie.
“We definitely need to create more but I think we need to be in front of him more,” said Frederic. “All these goalies are really good when they can see the puck the whole way. Our goalie (Jeremy Swayman) is really good and the first goal, he doesn’t see it. The second goal, he doesn’t have a chance on it. That’s just how the goals are scored in the NHL and especially in the playoffs. I think he saw pretty much (everything). He never made those saves where he never saw it. He played really well. I’m not taking anything away from him. But we just didn’t do a good enough job in that sense.”
It has been a tale of two seasons for Woll. He started off well, posting a 13-8-5 record with a .916 save percentage and 2.80 GAA until he suffered an ankle injury in early December that cost him almost three months of playing time. When he returned, his record was decent (10-4-6) but his save percentage was .890 and GAA was 3.14.
The B’s hope he’s not able to build much of a third chapter in the playoffs….
For the second year in row, coach Jim Montgomery has come under fire for some of his personnel decisions in the playoffs. Last year, one of the issues was sticking with a banged up Linus Ullmark too long. This year, he’s taking the heat for changing his lineup after two wins, inserting Matt Grzelcyk and Justin Brazeau for Kevin Shattenkirk and John Beecher. Grzelcyk was on the ice for the Leafs’ OT game-winner and Beecher might have helped in the faceoff department. They lost 16-of-20 draws in a first period in which they were dominated.
“There’s a lot discussions that go on and, in the end, I end up make decision that I was really confident was best for the Boston Bruins,” said Montgomery. “And when it doesn’t work out, I understand. (The heat) comes with the territory. I’m going to be second-guessed. And third- and fourth- guessed. And rightfully so. It comes with the territory. Just like when you make changes and things work out. It’s the same thing. But I know I’m comfortable with the decisions I made, why I made them.”
After the B’s scored a power-play goal in Game 4 with the old top-heavy first PP unit together, Montgomery decided to go with it again on their lone chance in Game 5,. It produced zero shots.
“We just felt that it worked well in Game 4 and just to do it simultaneously in-game without anyone knowing, that it would be natural. But it didn’t feel natural. It felt discombobulated. It looked it,” he said….
Most of the players have been eager to keep last season, when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Panthers, in the rearview mirror, at least publicly. Montgomery looks at it differently.
“I have no problem talking about last year. Because failing or having failures in life and not learning from them is when you can repeat stuff,” said Montgomery. “And for me, it’s picking yourself back up and talking and being honest with each other about where we’re at and how we can better. To me, it’s the same thing when you don’t prepare for a math test and you bomb it. Then you do prepare for a math test and it teaches you how to prepare to have success. Ir’s no different for us and what we’re going through now.”
That’s not to say he’s taking the Game 5 in stride.
“I’m still pissed off. Just being honest” said Montgomery. “I don’’t understand and don’t accept our play from (Game 5). So I’m going to be pissed off until the puck drops (Thursday).”…
What moves he makes for Game 6 remains to be seen, but he sounded open to the idea of Shattenkirk and/or Beecher returning.
“Beecher and Shatty, I particular, always have responded when they get back in the lineup with a really good effort, so that gives you confidence to put them back in,” said Montgomery…
Andrew Peeke (foot) has skated the last couple of days but Montgomery said he’s “a couple weeks away.”
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