Boston Bruins
“That’s the one thing. I wished we got a little bit out of our comfort [zone] a little bit and pushed a little bit harder.”
The Oilers skated off the frozen sheet at TD Garden with a 3-1 victory over the Bruins on Thursday night.
But Boston bench boss Marco Sturm initially wanted to harp on the positives out of a game where his players largely corralled an explosive Edmonton offense at 5-on-5 play.
“I was really happy, actually — the five-on-five game, we made one mistake. A little mistake, that cost us one goal,” Sturm said. “But other than that, I thought it was pretty good, exactly what we wanted. … It’s just a little bit frustrating, because I thought guys were into the game, guys were sharp, but that little pop was missing.
“I don’t know — that little bit of energy on the bench wasn’t there, but it was a good game for us. Just little mistakes cost us.”
Of course, all it takes is one miscue for a player like Connor McDavid to make life miserable for the opposition.
And on Thursday, the Bruins weren’t able to hold off the best hockey player in the world during special-teams play.
While Boston outshot Edmonton, 18-15, and held a 17-14 edge in scoring chances across 46:55 of 5-on-5 action, McDavid still doled out plenty of damage on special teams.
It took just 30 seconds for Edmonton to convert on a first-period power-play bid after McDavid hit Ryan Nugent-Hopkins backdoor for the first tally of the night.
And it was McDavid who delivered the coup de grace in the final period of regulation — securing a shorthanded breakaway score after Boston’s power play failed to account for him on the PK unit.
“You expect players like that to deliver, and it’s our job to have to bounce back,” Jeremy Swayman said of McDavid. “Again, I thought we did a good job of that. It was a good five-on-five game. They kept it tight. And I think if we keep a team like that under 30 shots, we’re gonna have a good chance to win a lot of those games.”
A similar stingy approach against other opponents might have yielded different results for Boston.
After all, there’s 30 other teams that Boston will face who aren’t bolstered by the presence of two game-changing talents like McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on their roster.
But in a game where the Bruins largely controlled play against such a daunting opponent, Sturm did bemoan his team’s inability to challenge the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl more on home ice.
“If there’s one thing right now, I felt like sometimes we gave them a little bit too much respect, and that’s something we — we’re a good hockey team,” Sturm said. “We’ve done a really good job all season long. So now — don’t be shy. That’s the one thing. I wished we got a little bit out of our comfort [zone] a little bit and pushed a little bit harder, but that’s it.”
Of course, mapping out the proper way to defend a playmaking juggernaut like McDavid is all but a fruitless venture.
Trying to line up a shifty skater like McDavid has often led to skaters clanging off the glass in vain — and McDavid turning on the afterburners for an odd-man rush or breakaway bid.
As Pavel Zacha noted, the effort exerted just to try and account for a playmaking maestro like McDavid in the offensive zone can also lead to those same players second-guessing how much risk they should take down the other end of the ice.
“We know their strength offensively,” Zacha said of the Oilers. “And it’s a little bit in back of my mind that they can kind of take you one-on-one, so you stay a little bit back. I think that’s something we talked about before the game, too — not to be too passive. … There were a lot of opportunities for us to be more aggressive.”
The Bruins are far from the only NHL squad left shaking their collective head after matching up against McDavid — who has a whopping 22 points in his last eight games.
But Sturm believes he’s team is better off for the hard lessons it learned on Thursday night.
“Maybe tip my hat when they don’t play against us,” Sturm said of respecting a talent like McDavid. “We know how good he is. Doesn’t matter, five-on-five, five-on-four, it doesn’t matter. Just always got to be aware. Again, those little mistakes and moments could cost you a goal or even a game.
“In the playoffs, could cost you a series. So again, that’s the frustrating part, but I also kind of like it — because that shows me that we just have to find a way to play those kinds of games, too. And today was the first time we kind of played them, or a team like that with two really good players like that. We did a good job, but just not there yet.”
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