Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy calls out refs for buying into 'New York Saints' narrative about Islanders

Bruce Cassidy did not hold back on what he thought of the officiating.

The New York Islanders have pushed the Boston Bruins to the brink in the Stanley Cup playoffs thanks to a 5-4 victory in Game 5 on Monday night. In the aftermath of the near-Bruins comeback that fell just short in the third period, Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy poured some gasoline on an already growing fire in his postgame comments.

In speaking with the media, Cassidy responded to a question about the officiating in the game, in which the Islanders had four power plays — and capitalized on three of them — to the Bruins two, with some incredibly spicy comments about the referees and New York themselves.

Cassidy’s two minute response is absolutely worth listening to, especially for his quip about the Islanders… or should I say Saints?

"I think they sell a narrative over there that's more like the New York Saints, not the New York Islanders"

Bruce Cassidy had a lot to say after the B's loss tonight pic.twitter.com/vedAMAaSXe

— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) June 8, 2021

Here is the main point of Cassidy’s comments:

This is my take on it. We’re playing a team that has a very respected management and coaching staff, they won a Stanley Cup. But I think they sell a narrative over there that it’s more like the New York Saints, not the New York Islanders. They play hard and they play the right way, but I feel we’re the same way, and the exact calls that get called on us do not get called on them and I don’t know why. These are very good officials. They’re at this point in the season for a reason, [yet] you’ve got continuous high sticks every game, the exact same high sticks.

Here are a few other choice quotes from Cassidy’s answer.

Cassidy on referees: "Have a little respect for Patrice Bergeron. That's the way you treat him? They just need to be better than that. Quit listening to these outside influences. I don't think they were great tonight."

— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) June 8, 2021

This isn’t the first time Cassidy has not-so-subtly called out the officiating in this series. After a 4-1 loss in Game 4 that tied the series back up, Cassidy was not pleased with the uncalled infractions that were missed by the referees, according to CBS Boston.

“I think the whole playoffs we haven’t gotten very many calls to put us on the power play,” Cassidy said.

“I certainly think the infractions, we haven’t gotten a lot of calls go our way with the borderline ones…

“So they see what they see and you can’t do anything about it.  You hope that comes around, you keep playing hard, earn your calls. We’re not gonna [expletive] about it. It is what it is. And, you know, hopefully we’ll start getting the ones that we deserve and take advantage of it.”

In this five-game series thus far, the Bruins have been the more penalized team, with New York getting 15 power plays to Boston’s 11. The biggest disparity between the two teams did come in Game 5 when the Islanders had two more power play opportunities than the Bruins, and it’s easy to see where Cassidy is coming from when some of the infractions looked… like this.

Sean Kuraly was called for a slash on this.

Islanders scored on this power play. pic.twitter.com/pouLqCvL1t

— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) June 7, 2021

Islanders head coach Barry Trotz was asked about Cassidy’s “New York Saints” comment in his postgame press conference and had this to say.

Trotz on Cassidy's "New York Saints" remark: "I don't know what he means by that. We were one of the least penalized teams in the league all year… You'll have to ask him what he means by that."

— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) June 8, 2021

At first glance, it seems like Trotz is proving Cassidy’s point, and he is in a sense. In the regular season, the Islanders were the second-least penalized team this year with 135 power play opportunities against, according to Hockey Reference. The Bruins? Fourth-worst with 178 power play opportunities against.

Were some of the calls on the Bruins soft in Game 5, and in the series overall? Yeah. But it is pretty clear that the Bruins as a team have had trouble staying out of the penalty box over the course of a 56-game regular season and that’s carried over into the playoffs. The Islanders, meanwhile, play a style of hockey that frustrates opponents into taking penalties while getting dinged for very few of their own, rightly or wrongly depending on how you view their specific brand of hockey.

In any case, Cassidy’s comments will no doubt be referenced by Islanders fans now that the series shifts back to Nassau Coliseum for a possible deciding Game 6. I, for one, cannot wait to experience the fallout of this rare hockey beef.