Taking His Shot: Marchand's OT Winner Lifts B's in Game 3

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Hockey can be a simple game sometimes. It can also be quite perplexing. Both of those things were clear on Thursday night.
For much of the evening, Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov gave the Bruins fits, keeping them off the board for a nearly 60-minute stretch - despite being peppered by a bevy of Grade-A chances, including 21 shots in the third period alone - after Craig Smith opened the scoring just under six minutes into Game 3 of this second-round showdown.
And after New York finally tied the game with only 5:26 remaining in regulation, it appeared that Varlamov was set to steal away a victory for the Isles in front of a raucous crowd at Nassau Coliseum.

But the Bruins, thanks in part to a massive penalty kill at the end of the third period, survived the Isles onslaught and got to an extra session, where Tuukka Rask matched Varlamov with some massive stops to keep Boston alive and set the stage for yet another overtime thriller.
"We were fine," Brad Marchand said of Boston's mindset ahead of OT. "We've been in tight situations plenty of times. We have a lot of confidence going into those situations."
Marchand made that quite evident. Just seconds after hopping over the boards for a changing Sean Kuraly, Marchand took a short feed from Charlie McAvoy, surged down the left wing and rifled a pinpoint wrister over the left shoulder of Varlamov and into the top corner to send the Bruins to a 2-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead.
"You know what? Obviously not a great one," Marchand admitted when asked if he thought the sharp-angle shot had a chance to go in when he shot it. "But any puck, especially in overtime, has a chance to go in. That's always something that every team talks about going into overtime, you can't pass up a shot. That's another example of it."

Shoot the puck and good things happen. There's no such thing as a bad shot. Never pass up an opportunity to shoot.
All hockey cliches, but all true to the bone for the Bruins on this night.
"It certainly was an area…high in the net - [Craig Smith] scored there - there's been some goals going in, in that area of the net. But, did we expect to go in from there?" said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "Obviously, you don't, especially after all of those saves he made in tight. But at the end of the day, it did. Maybe there was a little bit of a screen, maybe he was late picking it up. Again, only he can answer that.
"I don't care, to be honest with you. It went in the net. We won the game. You don't ask how sometimes. I think we didn't really steal it, in my estimation. I thought we played a really, really solid road game…it doesn't matter where it comes from as long as it finds the back of the net. Especially this time of the year."
As impressive as Marchand's shot was, Cassidy felt that the Bruins' breakout through the neutral zone was equally worthy of praise. McAvoy did the leg work as he lugged the puck from the Boston goal line to the Islanders' blue line before dishing to Marchand, who finished it off with his fifth goal of the postseason.
"It was a great job by the guys getting the puck of out of the zone," said Marchand. "They had been out there for a long time, and they were tired. Chuckie did a really good job of slowing the play down and allowing Kurls to change and me to get on the ice and get some space. Then, again, just tried to get it on net and it found its way in. Very relieving. It's always good to get that first one in the opposing team's building."

The tally was Marchand's second overtime winner of the playoffs, one shy of the single postseason record shared by Corey Perry (2017), Maurice 'Rocket' Richard (1951), and Mel Hill (1939). It was also Marchand's 102nd career playoff point, tying him with Phil Esposito for fourth on the Bruins' all-time postseason scoring list.
"Good for Marchy, he's a big-time playoff player," said Cassidy, who himself moved into second place on Boston's all-time postseason coaching wins list with his 33rd, surpassing Art Ross. "He might have been a guy that got off his game a little bit after the start but ends up finding it and makes a huge play for us. Great leadership there and I'm happy for him and his line because they certainly generated a lot of looks."

Rask Stands Tall

The Bruins would not have walked away from Game 3 with a 2-1 series lead if not for the stellar work of ace netminder Rask, who made 28 saves, including five in the extra session. Cassidy called his performance "rock solid" following the win.
"I try to play that style, be patient and calm in there," said Rask. "It doesn't matter what the situation is. Just trying to make that save and give the team a chance to win. Lucky we capitalized."
Rask, when asked about recent media speculation surrounding his health, said "as long as I'm out there, it's good enough."
"It's always good to have a little extra rest between the games, I guess, no matter whether you're injured or not," said Rask. "I think the season has been very hectic overall...didn't hurt to have those two days."
Cassidy was pleased with his club's defensive effort in front of Rask despite Boston allowing a handful of point-blank chances in the overtime. The bench boss, while acknowledging the club can still shore things up on the penalty kill in particular, appreciated the B's willingness to block shots.
"I liked our game in that regard," said Cassidy. "Our guys are always willing to block shots. I mean, we have work to do with our sticks. I still think some penalty kill stuff…but all in all, in terms of our structure of protecting those turn-up plays to the slot and their D late, mostly pretty good. I don't recall a lot of point-blankers in the slot where we had big breakdowns. We were worse the other night in that area.
"I liked our structure a lot away from the puck and in the neutral zone. Breakdowns were a lot less than the other night and I think it showed in the scoring chances against and in the shot clock and our ability to get going the other way as well."

Back with a Bang

Smith wasted no time making his impact felt in his return to the lineup. The winger, who missed Game 2 with a lower-body injury, opened the scoring just 5:52 into the contest with a snipe from the slot off a feed from Taylor Hall.
"I felt great," said Smith. "Thought we had some great energy coming into the game. I thought we were using our speed…and we were taking our chances, trying to make the best of them. We weren't looking for too much out there. Hallsy made a great play. I think it was [Matt Grzelcyk] in the middle, initially I think he thought it was coming to him. He made a good read to let it come through to me. Was a great play."
The sequence began with a brilliant backcheck by Hall, who picked the pocket of Mathew Barzal in the neutral zone and got the Bruins going back the other way. Hall then took a dish from Grzelcyk in the Isles end and zipped a feed across the slot to Smith, who ripped a wrister over the glove of Varlamov.
"He's a special kid, a special player," Smith said of Hall. "From Day 1 from his start of his career, I think he's had exceptional speed and an exceptional mind for the game. To see the plays that he's made and the way he talks on the bench, how smart he is and looking for opportunities to score and make things happens, one of the best players I've played with."

Carlo Exits Early

Brandon Carlo exited the game early in the third period after taking a heavy hit from Cal Clutterbuck behind the Bruins' net. Carlo, whose face appeared to slam into the glass, fell to the ice and struggled to get to his feet and needed assistance from the B's medical staff and his teammates to get back to the dressing room.
The blue liner missed several weeks in March after suffering a concussion on a high hit from Washington's Tom Wilson.
Following the game, Cassidy had a somewhat encouraging update, saying that Carlo was "feeling pretty good."
"He said he was feeling pretty good, but I don't know what that means relative to the hit he took," said Cassidy. "I think that's one we have to assess in the morning. We have a day in between if he can't go, to sort through our options. We've got a lot of left sticks left, so who goes over, how does that work out if he can't go?
"I don't want to rule him out until we see him in the morning and get a final word from our medical staff. It never looks good when you leave like that. But at the end of the day, he was here, talking to his teammates. Maybe he'll be fine.
"Smitty came back quick from an injury that we weren't sure on, so hopefully it's some good news with Brandon as well."