The Boston Bruins had significant chances to extend their 1-0 lead in Game 5 after David Pastrnak’s wicked one-timer found its way past Semyon Varlamov. They didn’t.
As it turned out, the Bruins battled two teams on the ice, an opportunistic Islanders bunch and another head-scratching officiating crew.
Bruce Cassidy watched as his struggling penalty kill — without Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller — couldn’t bail them out of the shoddy calls. Surely, Chris Wagner, Matt Grzelcyk and Patrice Bergeron committed textbook interference, cross-checking, and delay of game minors. But the officials lacked consistency and ignored the same calls in the other direction.