Overview:
Series: Boston Leads 3-2
Location: Nationwide Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET; (NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)
Boston Notes
Game 5 brought on an exciting 4-3 victory for the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden. Boston could advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes if they win tonight’s Game 6 matchup at Nationwide Arena. If they advance, then this will be their third Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2011. In the last two games, the Bruins won back-to-back. Goaltender Tuukka Rask is one reason the Bruins are leading the series. Before his 101:46 shutout streak ended, he only allowed one goal in the previous 137:50 from Matt Duchene’s power-play goal in Game 3.
Goalie charts are updated.
After faltering a little last night, Lehner’s ceded the top spot to Tuukka Rask, the best goaltender in these playoffs.
Have a look through the vizzes here: https://t.co/gJJqWWDcpR pic.twitter.com/KoJtnhHs6v
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) May 2, 2019
Another positive note from Game 5 was All-Star forward David Pastrnak scoring two goals. Boston’s top-six forwards lines scored all four goals in Game 5. If the top lines continue their scoring and Rask stays consistent, then they will end the Blue Jackets season tonight at their own home-ice.
Columbus Notes
The third period of the game had six goals and showed a lot of back-and-forth excitement. The Columbus Blue Jackets scored three goals within 3:25 during the third period. Before Columbus defenseman Seth Jones scored the first goal, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask had a 101:46 shutout streak. Head coach John Tortorella wanted his offense to be aggressive on offense.
“We’ll be back here for Game 7…”#CBJ head coach John Tortorella has been full playoff mode over the last 48 hours – making a guarantee AND calling out #NHLBruins goalie Tuukka Rask ahead of Game 6!@7ElevenCanada #ThatsHockey #TSNHockey #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/cCKzzu93Uk
— Gino Reda (@GinoRedaTSN) May 6, 2019
Columbus’ top-six forwards only scored one goal since Game 4. Forwards Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nick Foligno need to step up if they want to force a Game 7. The power-play unit has been 0/6 in both Games 4 and 5. A power-play goal can help gain momentum on offense for Columbus.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky needs more breathing room from his team. He allowed four goals on 36 shots in Game 5. He has to have a better game than Tuukka Rask if the team wants to survive.
Bruins projected lineup
Forwards
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes
Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner
Defense
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton
Starting Goalie
Tuukka Rask
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Forwards
Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Josh Anderson
Ryan Dzingel — Matt Duchene — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Nick Foligno — Boone Jenner — Cam Atkinson
Alexandre Texier — Brandon Dubinsky — Markus Hannikainen
Defense
Zach Werenski — Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov — David Savard
Scott Harrington — Dean Kukan
Starting Goalie
Sergei Bobrovsky
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and sports articles from other great TGH writers along with Anthony!
“From Our Haus to Yours”