Rubber Biscuit
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This year's team is clearly better among the skaters
Series Talk: Round 2: Bruins vs. Lightning
- Thread starter Trap Jesus
- Start date
This year's team is clearly better among the skaters
KrejciMVP
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rocketdan9
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- Feb 5, 2009
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True
That 2nd round loss vs was hard to watch
Anytime Bruins put togther some momentum, in a lightswitch Tampa rolled back
Our skating, D core in general struggled
Play sound positional D like they have done all season on the way to compiling the best defensive record in the NHL. Oh, and score more than them, too
Rubber Biscuit
Registered User
Our D should be much better this time around.
Game 5 ice time for defensemen:
McAvoy 26:49
Chara 23:41
Grzelcyk 20:58
Miller 18:22
Holden 12:26
McQuaid 11:18
Nice. If we look at the bottom 3 of that list, Carlo, Krug, Clifton/Lauzon are a clear upgrade. Carlo is two years better as is Charlie and Gryz- they were all terribly young that last series and we've all seen their games grow in the time since.
McGarnagle
Yes.
- Aug 5, 2017
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That 2018 team had massive holes.
The third line was Heinen-Riley Nash-Backes. Bjork-Coyle-Studnicka blows that out of the water. Wagner & Nordstrom are better than Schaller Acciari. Plus Kase is better on Krejci's wing than washed up Rick Nash skating around not knowing where he is after his 47th concussion.
Biggest addition perhaps is Brandon Carlo. We wouldn't have lost in five if he didn't get injured.
rocketdan9
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- Feb 5, 2009
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true and true
to give a little credit to Rick Nash, he did score 2 goals in that lopsided game 1 win. But nothing else really after that
rocketdan9
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yeah. But the NHL really wants the playoffs to wind down by end of September if possible
I think every team is going to face the dreaded b2b
Prettyisland
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- Oct 23, 2017
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Goodrow and Coleman will be major players in the depth battle in the series. I see the point and Bergeron lines cancelling eachother out until theyget on the power play respectively
missingchicklet
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- Jan 24, 2010
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Been saying this for several years, but when playing the Bolts you absolutely need to bring the physical game, not react to it. The Bolts struggle when the other team initiates and dictates the physical game. The Bolts do quite well when they are the aggressor and are allowed to pull off marginal crap without reaction. They like to bully, but are not too happy when they get bullied. Somehow they lose their focus. It has driven me nuts over the past several years when the Bs have come out and not recognized this. The games in which the Bs have been aggressive they have beaten the Bolts. Hit the Bolts early and hard. Set the tone. Get them off their game. Halak needs all the help he can get. Ice a lineup with toughness.
rocketdan9
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I am sure the players won't mind too much since it means getting out of the bubble sooner rather than later.
Estlin
Registered User
Tampa has to play those games too, you know.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
Remember too that Tampa had Girardi, Stralman and Coburn to go with Hedman and McDonagh last time. That was an excellent veteran group.
KrejciMVP
Registered User
If Im the Bruins Im parking the bus and playing a counter attack game like Claude did against Pitt. Frustrate that Tampa offense like columbus did.
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Both Eastern series have 2 back to backs while the Western series only have one each
BruinsFanMike82
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And the two Eastern winners will also have to travel to Edmonton after this round.
Even though the B's lost the last game they played before the shutdown, they managed to get under the skin of not only the players but the coaches
Here is the penalty summary for the game
Tampa hates getting hit and will take dumb penalties when frustrated. The fact that Cooper was talking about powerplays is all I need to know about what their strategy is. Bruins need to play clean, hit early and often and capitalize on any chances they get. I'm not worried about Jaro as he seems to be locked in and the team gained confidence as the series went on.
2018 is in the back of the guys minds. They won't forget what happened.
Here is the penalty summary for the game
Tampa hates getting hit and will take dumb penalties when frustrated. The fact that Cooper was talking about powerplays is all I need to know about what their strategy is. Bruins need to play clean, hit early and often and capitalize on any chances they get. I'm not worried about Jaro as he seems to be locked in and the team gained confidence as the series went on.
2018 is in the back of the guys minds. They won't forget what happened.
talkinaway
Registered User
I think these two statements are connected. They put in when they wanted to end this series - and they clearly want a few extra days either for travel and to start the next series on the weekend - and it came out that they'd need 6 back-to-backs. You can debate that they should have made round 2 longer, but between the NHL, the NHLPA, NBC, SN, CBC, and TVAS, they decided not to.
They gave 2 each to the east and 1 to the west. That seems fair to me - next round each pair of teams playing each other will have the pain of the same number of potential back-to-backs, possibly alleviated by the skill of winning early. And both teams will have the same amount of "travel pain" - none (WC) or some (EC). And by the SCF, a couple of weeks will have passed, making this round a distant memory in terms of B2B pain.
As I've mentioned before, I would love to have several series have TBD not just on the time, but on the dates. If the other EC series finishes up fast, why not have one of our games (particularly game 7) move a day later to take over their spot. Of course networks would hate this - TVs wouldn't update the schedule guides and non-fanatics wouldn't bother to keep up. And it does give a reward to teams who finish early.
BruinsFanMike82
Registered User
From NHL.com's series preview:
Will win if …
Lightning: They find a way to get on the power play and convert once there. In the five-game series against the Blue Jackets, which included six overtime periods, the Lightning were 0-for-10 on the power play, and in eight postseason games are 13.3 percent (2-for-15). The Lightning were 23.1 percent on the power play in the regular season, tied for fifth in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and had six players with at least 10 power-play points.
Bruins: They straighten out their 5-on-5 scoring. Of the 15 goals scored in five playoffs games against the Hurricanes, eight were at even strength. It's a good sign that their power play (17.9 percent) has seemed to find its footing, but the Bruins need to also come through at even strength. The second line might be finding some chemistry, so some offense from DeBrusk, Krejci, and Kase would go a long way toward the Bruins advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.
Lightning vs. Bruins playoff preview
Will win if …
Lightning: They find a way to get on the power play and convert once there. In the five-game series against the Blue Jackets, which included six overtime periods, the Lightning were 0-for-10 on the power play, and in eight postseason games are 13.3 percent (2-for-15). The Lightning were 23.1 percent on the power play in the regular season, tied for fifth in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and had six players with at least 10 power-play points.
Bruins: They straighten out their 5-on-5 scoring. Of the 15 goals scored in five playoffs games against the Hurricanes, eight were at even strength. It's a good sign that their power play (17.9 percent) has seemed to find its footing, but the Bruins need to also come through at even strength. The second line might be finding some chemistry, so some offense from DeBrusk, Krejci, and Kase would go a long way toward the Bruins advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.
Lightning vs. Bruins playoff preview
Trap Jesus
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- Feb 13, 2012
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This is kind of the blueprint of the 2018 team:
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Rick Nash
Heinen/Donato-Riley Nash-Backes
Schaller-Kuraly-Acciari
Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Miller
Grzelcyk-McQuaid
Rask
Khudobin
Same
Bergeron
Marchand
Krejci
Krug (didn't play Game 5 but series was all but over at that point)
Kase vs. Rick Nash (I think this one is kind of similar, Nash is a bigger name but he didn't fit at all as Krejci's wing, and Kase has provided some promise)
Clifton/Lauzon vs. McQuaid (McQuaid with the experience but I kind of like what these two bring over him otherwise)
Bjork/Ritchie vs. Heinen/Donato (I prefer Heinen as a player but isn't this the year the Bruins lost favor with him in the playoffs? His minutes were way down and he only played 3 games
Improved
Pastrnak (he was great then, but he's elevated his game, I think the top line is better now than it was in 2018 for it)
McAvoy (as great as he was in his rookie year, he's elevated his game even more, particularly in the playoffs)
Carlo (didn't even have him that series, I like K. Miller more than the #3 RHD for 2020, but they had to use Killer in a top 4 spot with Carlo out)
Grzelcyk (certainly gained a ton of experience and is a better player today)
Coyle vs. Riley Nash (massive upgrade over Riley Nash)
Studnicka vs. Backes (Backes was really rough, although Studnicka is so green it's more just a big potential upside play)
Nordstrom/Wagner vs. Schaller/Acciari (I think these 2 bring a lot more stability than those other two did; it's not like a massive upgrade though)
Worse
Chara (worse I guess even though it's sort of minimal; Bruins have been rotating Grz up a lot more)
Halak vs. Rask (Rask was the more stable starter for the most part but Halak still has big game ability)
The bottom 6 is kind of in flux this season with Kuraly shifting from C to W, but regardless, I think this year has a more stable 4th line whether or not Kuraly or Lindholm is the center. Back in 2018 they had Schaller and Acciari as the wings.
I like Heinen as a 3rd line winger for his stability over Ritchie or Bjork but if he was barely playing in that series it's kind of whatever. Studnicka provides much more upside over Backes. Coyle is obviously an upgrade on Riley Nash as mentioned.
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Bottom line: 2020 Bruins are a better team than the 2018 Bruins. And while TB added some "grit" in the bottom 6, I don't think they are as strong as the 2018 crew, and more so with Stamkos not looking likely to play. TB is still a good team, but the Bruins should have this.
KrejciMVP
Registered User
I predict tampa will target krejci and pasta right away. Shut them down and make the rest of the team beat them
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