Boston Bruins left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) spins the puck between his legs past Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko (35) bends as the Bruins face the Canucks at the Garden on Feb. 8. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
James van Riemsdyk’s experience with Game 7s at Causeway Street has been a rollercoaster of emotions.
As a rookie in 2010, he was part of the Philadelphia Flyers team that defeated the Bruins, overcoming a 0-3 series deficit – then an 0-3 hole in the game – to beat the B’s on Garden ice.
But his experience went downhill from there. He was part of the 2013 Maple Leafs team that blew a 4-1 third period lead and lost in overtime. He lost another with Toronto in 2018.
But van Riemsdyk, on his 35th birthday, will take the ice for Game 7 on Saturday as a member of the home team for the first time here.
“It’s going to be great on the cheering side of this building. It’s going to be a lot of fun and a lot of excitement,” van Riemsdyk said after the morning skate. “I’ve played in a lot of Game 7s in this building and over the course of my career, whether it’s in Philly or Toronto. These opportunities are super exciting. That’s why you play.”
The Leafs have managed to stave off elimination in two consecutive games. Now, for the first time, the B’s are facing a do-or-die game.
“All the chips are on the table for both sides, so, yeah, it’s one of those things where there’s extra excitement, extra juice is brought into these moments of Game 7,” van Riemsdyk said. “I’ve been lucky enough to play in a few of them in my career. Again, they’re always a great atmosphere and I’ve had a few of them in this building in the building is still dancing for it, so I’m excited for this”.
Van Riemsdyk said the key to success is maintaining balance.
“Just staying in the moment is really important. You don’t want to be too high or too low,” said van Riemsdyk. “There will always be things that don’t go perfectly planned in the course of these games. It’s all about the next turn. It’s always the way it has to go to be successful in these Game 7s.”…
Danton Heinen, who dealt with some sort of injury that ultimately cost him Game 6, was on the ice for the morning skate. For public consumption, his availability was still up in the air when coach Jim Montgomery met with reporters.
“We’re not sure yet. We’ll see how he feels. I haven’t talked to him post-skate,” Montgomery said.
Heinen seemed to be in when he took his position on the second power unit during the skate. But they also saw another setup without Heinen and with Justin Brazeau moving to the net-front position and Pavel Zacha moving to Heinen’s elbow spot.
Heinen only had one assist in this series, but it was a big one at the time, setting up Brad Marchand’s game-winner in Game 4….
Auston Matthews, who missed both of the Leafs’ wins in Games 5 and 6 with an undisclosed injury/illness, was on the ice for Toronto’s morning skate, but Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said whose availability was yet to be determined…
With the B’s allowing a 3-1 series lead to slip away, much of the attention and criticism has landed on the shoulders of David Pastrnak. He had 2-2-4 totals in the first four games of the series, but was shut out in Games 5 and 6. In Game 6, he looked clearly frustrated. He landed four shots on net, but had five blocks and missed the net twice. After Game 6, Montgomery, always careful with his criticism of players, said the brilliant winger needed to step up and be the dominant force he can be.
“I don’t think anybody is more upset about this than Dave. He’s a proud man,” Kevin Shattenkirk said. “He’s obviously been our best player all season and he takes a lot of pride in that and being a force out there. I know he’s going to bring big things tonight.”…
IB jumped out to a 3-1 series lead in large part on their goaltending and power play. He clicked on six of 13 opportunities in the first four games. But in Games 5 and Games 6, they only had one PP in each game. Yes, there were a couple of missed calls — Pontus Holmberg holding Brad Marchand in Game 5, Holmberg checking Mason Lohrei into the boards in Game 6 — but the result of not getting the power play is mostly self-inflicted.
“There’s still a couple of calls that can be made, but you know what it comes down to is we’re not going into hard enough areas consistently,” Montgomery said. “I look at the last penalty we took. (John) Beecher takes it hard on the net, it crashes. Whether it was a trip or a hook it doesn’t matter. You force them to defend the hard area and that’s usually where you shoot penalty.” …
Andrew Peeke, who left Game 2 after blocking a shot and hasn’t played since, joined his teammates for the morning skate. Montgomery said that as of 11 a.m., the sturdy defender had not yet been cleared…
In an attempt to change the mojo, Montgomery decided to hold the morning skate at the Garden instead of Warrior Ice Arena, where it is usually held.
“We’re eager to change things. This is one of the things we’ve changed,” Montgomery said.
Every little bit helps. At least that was the theory.
