Jessica Belmosto

It was a very busy Monday night for Boston sports fans! You had the Celtics kicking off the second round at home against Philadelphia, Bruins in Tampa for Game two and Red Sox at home against the Royals. Obviously there were more eyes on the playoff games but the Red Sox did not disappoint. What did you spend your Monday night watching?

I know “Trust The Process” is Philly’s things but can we “Trust Brad Stevens”? The C’s were able to take game one without their two superstars. The Celtics have made life without Kyrie and Hayward look easy. I’d say that’s due to Terry Rozier stepping up. Not that he was absent in the regular season but it was like a switch flipped when the playoffs started. Monday night he had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Pretty damn impressive. There’s no Rozier in team though…Brad Stevens called rookie, Jayson Tatum’s performance “really consistent.” and said “we really needed that tonight.” Tatum ended the night with a total of 28 points. The media’s favorite man to pick on, ( that isn’t Tuukka Rask )Al Horford had a total of 26 points on the night. Not too shabby. The whole rookie controversy regarding Ben Simmons found it’s way to Boston as well… Simmons went up for a free throw and the Garden ERUPTED with “not a rookie!” chants. It was quite entertaining. The Celtics came away with a 117-101 win over the Seventy Sixers. Game two will take place in Boston on Thursday at 8:30.

The Boston Bruins unfortunately did not have the same success as they did in game one. Let’s break it down period by period, shall we? Regardless of what anyone says, Tuukka Rask had some incredible saves. Centerman, Yanni Gourde was able to get one past him which put Tampa Bay up 1-0. David Pastranak nearly tied it up but the puck bounced off the post. It was a big night for Charlie McAvoy. He had some excellent shifts. He looked like a completely different person from what we saw in the first round. Not to mention, he scored his first career playoff goal! The second period belonged to the Lightning. Tyler Johnson scored and Vasilevskiy looked incredible in net. There was no way the Bruins were going to score while playing like zombies.Third period is where it got a little ugly… Pasta was dished a double minor for high sticking even though his stick did not make contact with Victor Hedman. JT Miller was denied by Rask. It wasn’t long after that Brayden Point put the Lightning up but yet another goal. The Bruins have been a third period team as of late. It was fair to expect a surge from them at one point. With 4:02 remaining. Krug scored, making the score 3-2. There was still time left. Anything is possible in the playoffs. Sadly, the Bruins offense couldn’t get the puck where it needed to go. Rask was pulled and naturally, Tampa scored.

I refuse to put this entire loss on Rask. While he did have a few mishaps, the Bruins could not clear the puck. This has been an on going issue and it looks like it’s only getting worse. Can the Anti-Tuukka fans open their eyes and see their favorite players are not doing him any favors?

The inconsistency with officiating potentially cost the Bruins the game. I’m the first one to call people out for using that as a scapegoat. Yes, the Bruins looked like zombies out there at some points but so did the officials. The double minor on Pasta when his stick made no contact with Hedman makes very little sense to me. Riddle me this. How does Kevan Miller get called for boarding in the third but a call against Daniel Girardi is nonexistent? It’s a league wide issue. It’s the playoffs, put the refs that know the game in and get the rental refs OUT.

April showers bring May flowers but do you know what else they bring? Nineteen wins in the month of April for the Boston Red Sox. Erod did not look too hot out on the mound. Dare I say, I let out the famous words that sparked the David Price/Eck nonsense. It was Nunez who lost control over the ball and allowed a run to score. ( Pedroia sweetie, that projected May 25th return can’t come fast enough. ) However, the Sox weren’t going to let a few runs stop them. Mitch Moreland, ( not to be confused with Keith and Matt ) earned himself his second home run of the season.  That wasn’t the only home run hit Monday night though… Xander Bogaerts launched one over the Green Monster with the bases loaded. That marks the SIXTH grand slam  for the Boston Red Sox this season and Bogaerts’ second. Nunez redeemed himself with an RBI in sixth and Devers scored on an error. I’ve come to accept that leaving batters on base will forever be an issue for the Boston Red Sox.

I am no coach or expert but I know that there is room for improvement for these three teams. Cora, Cassidy and Stevens have the capabilities to turn these teams into something better than they’ve ever been. The Red Sox will play tonight at 7:10. Bruins will return home for game three on Wednesday and the Celtics will play the Sixers at home on Thursday.

PSA: No blades were harmed in the process of blogging.