Bruce Cassidy Won't Have Any Beef With Stanley Cup Officiating 'Until They Stink'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Down 2-1 to the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final, the St. Louis Blues are getting a little desperate. Head coach Craig Berube spent his Sunday afternoon calling out the officials, upset over the plethora of calls that have gone against St. Louis so far in the series.
You'll hear no such beef from Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy heading into Monday night's Game 4 in St. Louis. Cassidy and his crew are focused on taking a 3-1 series lead, and if the Blues want to continue to lose their cool and put Boston on the power play, the Bruins will be ready to take advantage.
"I didn't have too many beefs the other night. Apparently they did, so they voiced theirs. But we're going to be ready to go and if they take penalties, hopefully we can capitalize on the power play," Cassidy said Monday after Boston's morning skate. "That's one way to sometimes dampen the enthusiasm with their physicality if you make them pay on the power play, and that's our ultimate goal.
"We're ready for a psychical game and we're not going to concern ourselves with the officials. Until they stink and they go against us, right?," Cassidy said with a chuckle.
Cassidy doesn't think the officiating has favored either team, and thought Saturday night's Game 3 was called evenly. St. Louis' was hit with six penalties (they also lost a challenge, putting Boston on the man advantage) while Boston was tagged for eight in the 7-2 Bruins victory. But while the Blues only took advantage of one of their five power plays on Saturday, the Bruins cashed in on all four. Boston is converting on 41.2 percent of their power play chances this postseason, with six of their 13 Stanley Cup goals coming on the man advantage.
So you can see why Berube is trying to work the officials and keep Boston's lethal PP unit off the ice in Game 4.
"They have a lot of options and it's been a very good power play all year long," Berube said Monday. "[Torey] Krug does a great job running that power play up top and they're all high-end players and they move the puck around well. We've got to be tighter, we have to have better lanes and sticks and things like that. We have to do a better job at getting in some shooting lanes and blocking shots, and stay out of the box."
Staying out of the box is the key for Berube's crew, but they've shown a real inability to do so in the first three games against Boston. We'll see if Berube's comments change how things will be called Monday night -- and if Cassidy has any beef to share after the game.
