Bruins seek better shots, communication in Game 6 against Panthers

BEDFORD, Mass. -- Putting 47 shots on an opponent normally would be cause for celebration. But in the wake of the Boston Bruins' 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday at TD Garden, the Bruins are taking a look at their offense ahead of Game 6 in South Florida on Friday.

To wit, they need not more shots, but better ones.
"The Grade-A chances, which for me are the type that go in at a 33 percent level when you total them all up, we only had eight of them," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Thursday. "We had a lot of B chances, probably another 12 of those, but they go in at less than a 17 percent level. So we've got to get more Grade-A chances."
That, along with better communication on defense, is the focus for the Bruins, who lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 heading into the game at FLA Live Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, TVAS, SN, BSFL, NESN), a game that the Bruins hoped would not happen.
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
They may have another tool in their toolbox. Center David Krejci is traveling with the team to Florida. But, as Montgomery said, "He's got a couple of more boxes to check before we can say he's a player."
The Panthers may have one fewer, with forward Ryan Lomberg day to day with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss Game 5.
The Panthers have pushed harder than, perhaps, the Bruins anticipated, a push that has only gotten stronger as the series has gone on. Part of that may have come from the status of Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov who, according to coach Paul Maurice, was ill heading into the series and has gotten healthier since.
"He was so sick before Game 1," Maurice said. "He's gotten better each game as he's recovered. I thought the two days off (between Games 4 and 5) for him were critical."
In the end, the Bruins believe it was the mistakes that had left them here, the miscommunication and the miscues that led to three of the four goals they allowed to the Panthers in Game 5. Miscues that, in theory, they could clean up by simplifying their game, the way teams tend to do on the road.
"Just communication on goals against needs to be higher," Montgomery said. "That's probably the biggest takeaway where we need to improve, and we need to improve at getting to the net. We had a lot of shots but not enough with either people at the net or taking the shots from good areas."
The improvement starts with David Pastrnak.
The 61-goal scorer in the regular season has two goals in the playoffs, fewer than teammates Taylor Hall (five), Brad Marchand (four) and Jake DeBrusk (three).

"I really trust David's decision-making, especially when he has the puck or when he's offensively without it," Montgomery said. "I really liked his habits without the puck yesterday. And I just know that when his habits without the puck are really good, he's going to get more opportunities."
Montgomery said, if he continues with the trend he's on, "it's just a matter of time."
Pastrnak acknowledged that he does need to make sure that he is thinking shot first, even when his shots get blocked, even when he might want to start thinking pass.
"Probably I can shoot the puck more, a little bit," Pastrnak said. "Obviously get a couple blocked shots and then you try to look for another play to see if somebody else is open better. Definitely going with the shooting mindset moving forward."
Pastrnak said he feels like he is getting chances, like he will break through.
But it's not just Pastrnak. The rest of the Bruins know they can't stick to the outside, that they need to grind their way inside, to take advantage of what they see from Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers goalie who made 44 saves on Wednesday.
It's getting inside and getting the second and third efforts, as Nick Foligno emphasized.
"I think that's where it comes from is being real tenacious, real hungry around the net and whacking home the ugly ones that a lot of times win playoff series, playoff games," Foligno said. "That's going to be a mindset for sure for a lot of our guys that are big guys that are willing to get to those areas."
Montgomery praised the play of Hall and Charlie Coyle, two of the Bruins' best forwards in this series, lauding them for the hard-nosed games that they're playing, the way they're not shying away from battles and bumps and the offense they're therefore driving.
It's a lesson.
"They're taking pucks to hard areas and they're hanging onto it," Montgomery said. "They're not looking for easy offense. They're looking to grind Florida down. We need more people doing what they've been doing."