Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy rips refs and New York ‘Saints’ after Game 5 loss

Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was not a fan of the officials for failing to call penalties on the New York Islanders.

The Boston Bruins once had a 2-1 series lead over the New York Islanders following a Game 3-winning goal by Brad Marchand in overtime. Now, the Bruins find themselves one loss away from being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs following their 5-4 defeat on Monday night.

After the game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy took aim at the Islanders, saying they “sell a narrative over there that’s more like the New York Saints.” Cassidy then pivoted to the referees, saying that the calls that are being assessed to the Bruins are not getting issued to the Islanders. You can listen to the Cassidy’s full comments in the tweet below, courtesy of NBC Sports Boston.

Bruce Cassidy takes aim at Islanders, referees following Game 5 loss Monday

Immediately after Cassidy made those comments in his postgame press conference, Islanders head coach Barry Trotz was asked about it. Trotz told the reporter to ask Cassidy, then pointing to how the Islanders were among the least penalized teams in the season. Trotz is not lying, as the Islanders were assess 370 penalty minutes in the regular-season, the third-fewest in the league, per ESPN.

In Game 5, the Bruins were assessed eight penalty minutes, as opposed to New York’s four. The Islanders did capitalize on that, as they were three-for-four on the power play, while the Bruins were one-for-two with the man advantage.

The Bruins held a 1-0 lead in the first period following a goal from David Pastrnak. The Islanders jumped ahead 2-1 on power play goals by Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri, immediately following penalties by Sean Kuraly (slashing) and Matt Grzelcyk (cross checking). The final extra advantage goal came late in the second period, where Jordan Eberle scored immediately after a high-sticking penalty on Chris Wagner to build New York’s lead to 4-2.

While the Bruins were down 5-2 with around 18 minutes left in regulation, they did inch closer on goals by Pastrnak and David Krejci, but it just was not enough.

The Bruins now have to return to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY for Game 6 on Wednesday with one simple goal — win and avoid elimination. As for the Islanders, a win will secure the team’s second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Semifinals.