Bruins need more from secondary scorers in Game 6 vs. Maple Leafs

BOSTON -- The chances were there. That what happens when a team puts 45 shots on an opponent's net, including 20 in the third period, as the Boston Bruins did in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round. But the finish was not, especially for the second and third lines.
Boston's middle two lines did not quite carry their weight in the 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Saturday. The scoring burden was taken on by the top line (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak) and the fourth line (Tim Schaller, Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari).

The first line was expected to do damage against the Maple Leafs, and it has. The Bruins have gotten a bonus with four goals from the fourth line, two each in a 4-2 loss in Game 3 and in Game 5.
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But the second line of Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci and Rick Nash hasn't done enough. Nor has the third line of Danton Heinen, Riley Nash, David Backes, especially on Saturday. That's something the Bruins are hoping to correct in Game 6 at Air Canada Centre on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN), when they try for a second time to eliminate the Maple Leafs in the best-of-7 series.
"Their line, they've got a lot of chances to score," coach Bruce Cassidy said Sunday of Krejci's unit. "And obviously when Toronto's scoring, they need to finish, to keep up. That's the only thing that's been really missing for the most part."
That's not to say that line hasn't scored at all. Krejci and DeBrusk executed a pretty 2-on-1 in Game 4 in Toronto that sealed a 3-1 win for the Bruins.
But it hasn't been enough.
"Both Jake and Rick, when they're on, they're on pucks, they can win pucks with their footspeed and then they have strength to hold onto it," Cassidy said. "It takes away from some of the transition game of Toronto when they're fatigued defending. We've seen that."

And it's about doing that for 60 minutes, for the entirety of a game, not just part of it.
Rick Nash, in particular, has had trouble finishing on his chances. He was the only regular to skate alongside the scratches and extra players at Warrior Ice Arena on Sunday before the flight to Toronto.
Nash came into the Stanley Cup Playoffs having missed the final 12 games of the regular season with a concussion, and it's not entirely clear whether he's completely back from the layoff.
"The puck is finding him because he's smart, he's fast and he's got good hands," Cassidy said. "Just that finish. This time of the year you need a little more oomph on it at the end. Everything's falling into place except the last piece, which is getting it by the goaltender. So hopefully it happens for him.
"The good part is the puck is finding him. That's problematic for offensive guys when the puck doesn't find you. That's when you know you're not right. So we're going to continue to stress the importance of getting in the right spots. Now it's just a matter of hopefully getting it past the guy."
Secondary scoring was less important in the first two games because Bergeron's line piled up 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) and the Bruins went 5-for-10 on the power play. But it has become more crucial, as the Maple Leafs have made adjustments and been able to concentrate more on stopping Bergeron's line, and will be even more important the deeper the Bruins go into the playoffs.
For now, it's about correcting the issues, the step or half-second slow they seem to be, the inch or two away they seem to be, finding the finish that will allow them to contribute and push the Bruins into the next round.
"We've been pretty nonexistent, I think, to this point," Riley Nash said of his line. "I think the fourth line has done a really good job chipping away. I think we can probably take a couple lessons from what they're doing, throwing it in deep, outnumbering their guys and just getting to the puck.
"I think doing that, just simplifying our game, would help a lot."