For whatever reason the NHL has decided to have the Bruins and Lightning play back to back games despite the fact that they have full control over scheduling with the bubble setup and no building conflicts due to Covid-19. After a hard fought game 2 that saw the Lightning even the series at 1 in overtime last night, game 3 tonight could potentially be the biggest game in this series.

There’s tons of question marks coming off this game for the Boston Bruins. 35 year old Jaroslav Halak has not started in back to back games since 2018, and he lost both of those games. His performance last night was so-so. I won’t blame him for the 2 on 1 double dive goal in the 1st period

Personally I’d love for Krug not to get walked by an immobile defenseman there. Just my preference.

That being said, the breakaway goal by Blake Coleman and the game deciding overtime goal from Palat have to be stopped. This is the playoffs and you need your goalie to bail you out from time to time to advance.

Chara choosing to let Coleman blow past him in the neutral zone was bad, but giving up a goal on a puck moving 45 mph on the ice is just as awful.

What a mess of a shift by the Bruins. The puck gets thrown around the boards to no one and it stays in the zone. Then Kuraly and Nordstrom fail to clear the puck and next thing you know it’s in the back of the net. Halak fails to glove a weak shot by Palat and next thing you know the game is over. Not a good stretch.

Will be interesting to see what the Bruins do in net tonight. As I said before, Halak hasn’t played in back to back games in 2 years, and he lost both of those. Unfortunately for the Bruins, their backup is Dan Vladar who has never seen one second of action in the NHL, let alone the NHL playoffs. In a pivotal game 3 on the heels of a tough overtime loss, I’m not sure you want to throw him into the fire just yet.

The fourth line needs to be better tonight. They got outplayed every shift last night and were out there for the game winning goal in overtime. Chris Wagner has a beautiful chance late in the second period and missed the net. Kuraly assisted on Brad Marchand’ staying goal, but overall they need to be much better.

Can someone please explain to me why Nick Richie is still in the lineup? Supposedly he’s there to match the physicality of the Lightning but I haven’t seen him deliver on that end. Yes, he jammed home a greasy goal last night but outside of that he’s done nothing since entering the bubble. At this point I’d prefer someone like Studnika in the lineup next to Charlie Coyle. Coyle has been the best player on the ice for Boston most nights and he’s done it with no help from his wingers. Give him someone who can skate with him and add a little scoring touch before I lose my mind please.

I’ll be live tweeting and overreacting to every play tonight as I do every Bruins game. If you’d like to follow along you can find me on Twitter @T_Ry25_

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