00:00Just now, it is our friend Judd Surratt of Nessun.
00:03Good morning, hello, and thanks for coming in this morning.
00:05Good morning.
00:05So after game one, Taze Thompson takes over late in the game,
00:09fuels a 4-3 victory in game one over the Sabres.
00:12Somebody in this room sent me a panic text.
00:15Uh-oh.
00:17Well, I live or die by my beloved Bruins.
00:20I don't know.
00:21I don't know.
00:21Was it a panic?
00:22What was it?
00:23I got a panic emoji.
00:26I was disturbed by the loss in game number one and the way it happened.
00:30I'm not going to lie to you.
00:31So, and it wasn't only you.
00:33I was texting Razor also, and both of you were like, calm down and relax.
00:37And I have.
00:38I have after the effort in game number two.
00:40I have relaxed a little bit.
00:42Well, they got off to a great start.
00:44Uko Pekka-Lukkanen, who was ultimately pulled in that game,
00:47he had to come up with some key saves in that first period,
00:50and then the Bruins were finally able to break through.
00:52He also is seeking counseling.
00:54This weekend, after that.
00:56Well, I think there's a chance we're going to see a different goaltender tonight
01:01here in game three for the Buffalo Sabres.
01:03You know, we can obviously talk a little bit more about that.
01:06But, you know, Marco Sturm had mentioned after game one,
01:09he wanted to see more from Zaka, Arvidsson, and Middlestad.
01:12They had been the Bruins' most reliable 200-foot line all season long,
01:16and he got the desired result, Victor Arvidsson, with two goals in that game.
01:20You got a lot of good things going if you're the Bruins.
01:24First of all, if you look across the six periods, I would say in five of the six,
01:28the Bruins have been able to dictate style.
01:30And in many ways, playoff series are won and lost by who can impose their will
01:35and dictate the style of play, and the Bruins have been able to do that.
01:37But you got a lot of offensive guys that are involved.
01:40The top line for the Bruins has really stepped it up.
01:43Elias Lindholm has kicked it up a couple of gears.
01:45Not only does he have a goal, he's in Rasmus Dahlin's face.
01:48He's done all the little details.
01:49He's won face-offs.
01:51He's been physical.
01:52All those things are good things.
01:54And Jeremy Swayman has been solid, unflappable here in the first two games.
01:59That's also a difference.
02:00The last thing, I think you're starting to see a special team's edge here for the Bruins.
02:04It's not just the fact that they've scored a couple of power play goals,
02:07but they have shut Buffalo down when they've been on the man advantage.
02:11They are nine for nine, and that is critical.
02:13If you're going to advance in the playoffs, you can do it without a good power play.
02:17Really hard to do without a good penalty kill.
02:20Marco Sturm said going into this series that they were more physical.
02:24The Bruins were more physical.
02:26The Bruins were tougher, essentially.
02:28That seemed like it got under their skin.
02:30But don't you feel like they have been so far?
02:33I think they finished their checks and they played a grinding game,
02:36which goes back to Sturm's comment that he's liked a lot of what he's seen
02:40from five of the six periods.
02:42You know, if you think about the Buffalo Sabres, listen, they have a lot of big personnel.
02:46Tace Thompson, Alex Tuck, Jordan Greenway.
02:48I can go on and on.
02:49These guys can play that style.
02:51I don't think that they want to play that style.
02:54And that's, they're a team that likes to get up and go.
02:58They've been accused in the past of playing river hockey.
03:01That doesn't mean that they cannot play a grinding style.
03:04In many ways, what fueled their comeback in game one was digging out a few pucks
03:09and being hard on the Bruins when they were trying to exit the puck.
03:13But I think for the most part, the Sabres want to play a much cleaner game.
03:17The Bruins want to grind it out and play that nasty, rough game.
03:21That's what I'm going to look for here in game three.
03:24How do the Bruins start?
03:25Can they continue to assert that style?
03:28Can they get one on whoever is in net for the Buffalo Sabres here early on
03:32and get them to start to think?
03:34We always talked about, and we talked about heading into this series,
03:38momentum, playoff experience.
03:40Is this an opportunity when you, because you talked about it,
03:43the Bruins, you know, have won most, most periods.
03:46Is this an opportunity for them where they've been really great at home
03:50to kind of maybe put their foot on their neck a little bit
03:55where Buffalo is kind of railing and going, wait a second.
03:59Hey, if we don't win a game up there,
04:01we could be coming back to Buffalo down 3-1 in this series.
04:05I think that there's a lot that's true to that, Wiggy.
04:07I think that that's why I'm very curious to see how the Bruins start here today
04:12because what I think you want to do across a series is,
04:15can you put a sense of doubt in your opponent's head
04:18and start to get that seed to grow based on the way that you played?
04:23I thought it was interesting.
04:25Marco Sturm had mentioned heading into game two
04:27that he feels like if his team gets off to good starts,
04:30and it doesn't necessarily have to be a lead,
04:32but if they play a good first period,
04:34that usually means they're going to have a good night.
04:37They had a good first period in game one.
04:39They had a good first period in game two.
04:40Can they continue to do that?
04:42And trust me, there's going to be a lot of energy and emotion in the building
04:45in Boston here tonight.
04:47How does Buffalo respond to that for a lot of these guys
04:50who are going to experience this in Stanley Cup playoff hockey
04:54for the very first time?
04:56And Zaka line much better on Tuesday night than they were on Sunday night.
05:01They were excellent.
05:02And I think one of the things that Pavel Zaka had mentioned, Greg,
05:04was that all season long, he said, we have made opponents defend.
05:11I think, you know, they were obviously, they skated a lot better.
05:15They got pucks deep.
05:16They put pucks in good spots.
05:18You know, and in the big picture, one of the points that Brick always likes to bring up,
05:21how much do you value the puck?
05:23And I think whether it was that line, it was the whole team.
05:26They played a simple, clean, tape-to-tape game,
05:29and that's what allowed them to really assert their style.
05:33You've got these two coaches in press conferences
05:36seeming to be exchanging some jabs about the physicality of the Bruins.
05:42I know we're not so, I guess we're really worried about that.
05:45Is there something personal brewing between these two teams or these coaches?
05:50Oh, I don't think that there's anything personal.
05:52You know, and I haven't necessarily seen that from Marco Sturm.
05:55I did catch, because I went back and watched Lindy Ruff's post-game press conference,
05:59after game two, and apparently that left a mark,
06:04whatever Marco had said before the series had started.
06:07But I think, for me, 7 o'clock cannot get here fast enough,
06:11because these two teams, you know, you're already a division rival,
06:16so there's a lot of animosity built up,
06:18but you're taking it up several notches here in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
06:23So, you know, when you see the same guys night after night after night,
06:28and here we are, this is only game three.
06:31This is only going to make things more intense.
06:33But, like, Judd, you said that they needed to plant, like, a little seed of doubt.
06:37When you hear that response, you said, like, that left a mark.
06:40Is that any indicator that, hey, they're getting under their skin a little bit?
06:44Well, maybe.
06:44I mean, you know, I can't speak for the players.
06:46You know, I mean, clearly, Lindy Ruff reacted to what was said at that point,
06:51you know, which I don't think he was necessarily prompted to do that.
06:54That was fairly unsolicited.
06:56At least that's the way I read it when I went back and listened to it.
07:01So I think for the Bruins, you know,
07:05and this, I think, just goes to a playoff series in general,
07:08because at some point, if you're going to win the series,
07:10you have to break your opponent's will.
07:12So to be able to plant that seed, create a little bit of that doubt,
07:17can you continue to lean on that?
07:19And at some point, one of these teams is going to break the other team's will.
07:24That team's going to win the series.
07:26Yeah.
07:27Timeout gate.
07:28Where do you stand on Swayman forcing Sturm's hand?
07:31Sturm said that yesterday that they were calling for it at the exact same time,
07:35which is usually my indicator that somebody's not being honest.
07:38No.
07:38You know, I think Marco, you know, what his comment was,
07:41is he said that he didn't even see Jeremy Swayman making that motion until after the game.
07:46So I don't think so.
07:49I don't think there's, I don't read anything into that.
07:52I think Marco Serm sensed that moment at that point.
07:55He wanted to slow the game down.
07:56It's fine.
07:57Listen, I think it's good, whether it's your goaltender, players on your bench,
08:01players on the ice, the head coach, obviously sensing the moment at hand,
08:05and the right decision was made to calm things down in order to secure the victory.
08:10You talk about breaking their will, breaking their spirit.
08:14What type of confidence does it, you're around these guys,
08:16does it give when they see Swayman playing like the way he's playing?
08:22Enormous.
08:23Absolutely enormous.
08:24You know, I think on the other side of it, Wiggy,
08:26and this is one of the things that we should probably bring up with the Buffalo Sabres,
08:29as good as the Bruins' goaltending was during the regular season,
08:32they were fourth in save percentage.
08:34The Sabres were actually right in front of them at third,
08:37but nothing undermines a team quicker than poor goaltending.
08:42I haven't checked the stats here this morning, but after two games here,
08:45and again, it's a very small sample size here in the Stanley Cup playoffs,
08:49but the team with the worst save percentage in the league,
08:52the Buffalo Sabres, through two games here in the series,
08:55Jeremy Swayman is at 932, which is close to what his playoff average has been
09:01throughout his career.
09:02So, and this goes back to the start.
09:06So, let's just play it out.
09:08Let's play the scenario out.
09:10Let's say Alex Lyon starts, the Bruins get off to a good start,
09:13and the Bruins score an early goal.
09:14How do the Buffalo Sabres then respond?
09:17Alex Lyon, part of the reason he's not in the lineup is he was hurt at the tail end of
09:21the season,
09:21and Lindy Ruff wanted to give him an opportunity.
09:23I think my eyes were actually on who was going to come out to start the third period in game
09:30two,
09:30because Uko, your team's down 3-0.
09:33There were some sketchy goals that were allowed.
09:36You had an opportunity.
09:37I think most times coaches will, if they're going to make a goaltending change,
09:40they like to do it in the intermission so they can give the other guy an opportunity to warm up,
09:45stretch out.
09:46He didn't do that.
09:48After the first goal went in, 16 seconds, and then he put in Alex Lyon.
09:52How does Lyon respond?
09:54Listen, he's a guy who's certainly shown the ability to steal games,
09:58but to be able to do it across an entire series,
10:00he's never won a series in his National Hockey League career.
10:04He's going to have to prove it.
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