TORONTO—Parker Wotherspoon had been dreaming of playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs forever, as a kid growing up but also as a professional hockey player who’d paid his dues with over 300 career AHL games.
And for a half second, he thought the dream might be over just as he was about to live it.
In his opening shift in Game 3, his first chance to get in the Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs series, the B’s defenseman went down hard after blocking a shot, and writhed in obvious pain.
“I couldn’t move there for a second and I was like ‘Aw, man. First shift!’ I couldn’t believe it. But I just needed some blood to rush to it and I was good to go,” said Wotherspoon on Saturday morning before Game 4.
Wotherspoon has blocked a lot of shots in his hockey life and a player like that usually knows if there’s a break or it’s something he can eventually play through. He was steadfast in his belief that he’d be fine.
“They were asking for a trainer and I was like, ‘just give it a second.’ You can feel like the blood working its way to it. It’s all good now,” said Wotherspoon.
When he got up under his own power and skated to the bench, the Bruins players on the bench greeted him with stick taps on the boards as they appreciated the gumption he showed.
Wotherspoon is in the lineup because the B’s lost Andrew Peeke in Game 2 with an apparent foot injury from a blocked shot and he’s not expected back in this series. And in Game 3, he did a pretty good job of replicating what Peeke brought, being a hard-nose defense-first blueliner who can chew up some hard minutes. He blocked three shots and had three hits in 19:10 of icetime, 3:51 of which was on the penalty kill that went 5-for-5.
After the game, he was awarded the jacket the players give out for extraordinary effort after wins.
“It was awesome. I great honor,” said Wotherspoon. “It feels good, but it feels even better to win.”
Throughout the season, Wotherspoon had been one of the several success stories of the B’s pro scouting staff, signed in the summer after it appeared his time in the Islander organization had hit a dead end. He started the season in Providence but eventually worked his way up to the big club, thanks in part to Derek Forborts injuries.
After the acquisition of Peeke at the trade deadline, he found himself on the outside looking in on most nights. But he was ready for his first big moment in Game 3.
“I’m not trying to think too much because I just know my instincts will take over and when I play my game, I’m confident in what I can do. I just keep it simple,” said Wotherspoon.
“We’re all here to win, so it doesn’t really matter. The big thing was just staying ready. I think everyone does a pretty good job of that around here.”…
After struggling mightily down the stretch on the power play, the B’s are now 5-for-10 with the man advantage through the first three games after personnel change were made on both units late in the season, essentially separating Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy from David Pastrnak
B’s Coach Jim Montgomery said that if there was one player who surprised him with his aptitude on the power play it’s Morgan Geekie.
“I didn’t know that his offensive mind is as good as it is,” said Montgomery.
Like most players who are in the NHL, Geekie didn’t arrive in pro hockey without demonstrating he had some skill. He had 174 points in 140 games in his final two seasons with the Tri-City Americans as a junior player. But everyone needs to carve out their role and, for Geekie, that had been as a bottom six grinder.
“I wasn’t someone who came into this league who was known to have a lot of skill. I felt like I broke in in other ways. But that was something I always felt I had growing up,” said Geekie, who has also been skating on a top six line with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle. “It’s tough to keep it, for sure, but if it’s something you key on and try to keep it, it’s good. I’m just trying to help out anyway I can, wherever that may be. I think we’ve done a good job of getting pucks to the net with both units We’ve had a little bit of success in this series.”…
While the power play has been clicking, the B’s 5-on-5 play remained a concern for Montgomery going into Game 4. The B’s had five 5-on-5 goals in the first three games, one of which was the empty-netter in Game 1 that the B’s won 5-1.
“Probably the area that needs to improve the most. We’ve got to continue to grow and that’s the area in the series where we can continue to grow. And we have to grow if we’re going to have success,” said Montgomery. “We need to continue to have great puck support, come up with battles and then spend more time in the offensive zone. It’s an area where we’ve got to continue to do that coupled with getting more Grade A chances 5-on-5.”
One player the B’s need to get going is David Pastrnak. He’s got a goal and two assists, but only two 5-on-5 shots on net, one of which went in.
But Montgomery expressed no concern about Pastrnak, recalling when he had some worry about his superstar in the playoffs last year.
“I remember talking to him before Game 6. I grabbed him and said ‘I want to talk to you.’ He said ‘I want to talk to you.’ He said ‘I’m going to be good tonight.’ And he had a big smile on his face. I don’t know if you remember Game 6 but he was pretty special that game,” said Montgomery. “That’s the great thing about a creative person and offensive weapon like he is. He believes in himself and he competes….Last game, I though he could have had a hat trick in the first period. He didn’t hit his spots. He’s going to hit his spots.”…
While the B’s lineup was expected to be the same (as usual, Montgomery was keeping the goaltending decision a secret), the Leafs were expected to make some a changes, one of which was going to be a pretty big one. William Nylander, who missed the first three games reportedly because of migraines, was expected to play with Connor Dewar coming out. On the back end, veteran T.J. Brodie was expected to go in for Timothy Liljegren.