Post-Game Talk: Bruins squeak by Habs 2-1

[Scotto74]

It's becoming obvious that the first PP should be

Lucic/Krejci/Seguin

Chara/Hamilton

The second one? ugh I don't even know.

why not

Marchand/Bergy/Horton

Sides/Boychuck

 

[Fire Sweeney]

I'm probalby an idiot and this is a crazy ideal, but why not just play the pp the way they do 5 on 5? They've been one of the best teams in the league for 3 plus years 5 on 5, so why change it when you aren't having any success?

You have to factor in that the opponent plays differently while on the PK. All they have to do against the Bruins PP is to collapse and let themselves get hit by a shot from the blue line. Everyone in the league knows it and does it.

 

[LSCII]

Something drastic needs to happen. Perhaps t's time for Ward to give up this area. He has been brutal. Maybe Chia can hire a PP specialist and have someone work some new systems.

Bourque is not the answer on the powerplay.

Players that can score, make plays and defensceman that can control the puck.

I would try to keep Spooner up and work him into the line-up.

Chara scared to shoot from the point. Hamilton has helped give us another option.

2nd worst in the league with this type of talent is unacceptable.

Personnel on the pp isn't the problem. It's the philosophy. Their main entry into the offensive zone is dump and chase. Why would you ever give possession of the puck back to the team when you have a man advantage? Secondly, they continually set up a cycle along the boards and in the corner. Again, why would you slow things down by cycling and allowing the d the opportunity to win a battle for the puck and clear? Then, if by some miracle they win possession of said puck, their main offensive goal is to get Chara's shot off from the point, but rarely do they have a screen. Even when they try to set the d up for a shot, everyone and their brother on d knows what they're trying to do, so the jump the routes and play closer to the point. That cheating up by the d should be a tip off to work the puck low, but why would they ever consider doing that?

Basically, they do everything wrong, so changing the players but keeping the same philosophy will do nothing.

 

[11MilesPerJohan]

Just as an aside, I'm guessing we won't be hearing from as many Habs fans on this forum today!

But anyway...

Count me as thoroughly impressed with last night's win.

I think the coaching staff obviously went into the game with a plan to play things close to the vest early on, especially considering they were going into a tough building on the road with a depleted team. For the most part, the Bruins were able to follow through with that directive, but they just failed to match Montreal's intensity in the first period. Lucky for them, Rask played one of his best games as a Bruin, IMO.

I know he only had 21 shots, but the reason I say that is he had to battle all night long. Montreal went hard to the net, especially early on, and Rask had to fight through body contact, traffic in front, etc., and just keep fighting through all that to make saves. He really showed me something last night.

Going into the third, I was thinking to myself that the Bruins needed to push a little more, and I was hoping that they would at least move Spooner up on the wing with Bergy and Seguin, but then to see that they had completely switched up the lines was surprising. I know a lot of people on this forum have been calling for that exact change for a while, and it certainly looked good last night. I give Claude credit for recognizing the importance of that game, and being willing to shake things up offensively. I hope they give the lines a try going forward. It makes sense in a lot of ways, especially having Seguin playing alongside the team's best playmaker in Krejci. They are 7-1-1 with their best offensive player having scored only 2 goals. How good will they be once he heats up?

Overall, that was a great win on the road in which the Bruins showed a lot of grit in being able to battle back in the third after being held in check all night long. They overmatched the Habs early in the third with their skill and intensity, and scored two quick goals against a top-flight goalie. This season just keeps getting better.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

Any word on Lane? I didn't see what happened when he got hurt but never came back. Losing 2 guys to high sticks is insane. It's rare someone ever gets hurt so badly from a high stick that they can't come back for their next shift let alone miss the remainder of a game or in Paille's case multiple games.

I thought they said lane got hit with a puck near the eye.

Pretty sure they did say Lane caught a puck, not a stick. I'm also pretty sure I saw him on the ice at the end of the game when the players were congratulating Rask, so it could not have been major.

I don't have the chart in front of me, but pretty sure I didn't see any of the 4th liners in the last 10-12 minutes of the game, so MacD could have been on the bench the whole time.

 

[TP]

why not

Marchand/Bergy/Horton

Sides/Boychuck

Sure. Can't hurt and it can't get worse.

 

[Artemis]

According to the Montreal GT, Patrice Bergeron is ugly. Just thought that deserved sharing.

 

[ODAAT]

I'm probalby an idiot and this is a crazy ideal, but why not just play the pp the way they do 5 on 5? They've been one of the best teams in the league for 3 plus years 5 on 5, so why change it when you aren't having any success?

Makes too much sense, far too often, IMO, PP`s are overthought, too much X and O stuff, let em play, see what happens. I`m with you, already great chemistry with the top two lines, let em play on the PP together

 

[ODAAT]

According to the Montreal GT, Patrice Bergeron is ugly. Just thought that deserved sharing.

Some intelligent, well thought out posts as usual from them I see

Is that the reason why they lost to a team with a 4th liner playing on the 2nd line and a 4th line comprised exclusively with players that have been in the AHL all season

 

[Alicat]

According to the Montreal GT, Patrice Bergeron is ugly. Just thought that deserved sharing.

Dying to know what they think of Lundqvist then

 

[ODAAT]

Dying to know what they think of Lundqvist then

The Ron Perlman of hockey

 

[BMC]

Suck it Montreal.

 

[ReggieMoto]

I don't get their fascination with having a forward as one of the point positions.

I think it comes down to having 4 mobile shooters, and forwards would be better skilled at that. Where would you put that 4th forward? On a point (where else are you going to put him?). Why would it be a center? More practiced defensive responsibilities during turnovers. Those aren't rules; they are mostly guidelines.

They do seem to be falling back into old habits resulting in difficulties breaking into the zone and over reliance on the point shot. I thought they looked pretty good at the beginning of the season, just unfamiliar with the "new" PP. They should stick with the new and continue to practice it.

 

[Shoebottom]

Was Seguin-Marchand-Peverley ever tried on the pp? They're fast and very good with the puck.

 

[caz16]

All the habs board was talking about is how angry our board is...but within like 3 minutes the vibe over there totally shifted. I wanna say it was like..,. Really early 3rd period. Not sure what happened

Thanks for pointing that out - I went over to read it.

 

[bruinmann77]

I glad Mcquaid did not fight he kept his cool. Chris has looked good since he was sat down for a game. Rask has been the man for the Bruins so far very impressive. The PK is awsome great work. BUT GEEZ WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE PP you think after 3 years it will be mediocre at best.

 

[mashmont]

with good line swapping!

haha found that on the Hab's board.. pretty good!

 

[ReggieMoto]

Personnel on the pp isn't the problem.

Can't be dismissed so easily. They do not manage the puck well. Their puck possession and protection skills seem weak, and their passing decisions are quite poor. That is clearly personnel.

Their main entry into the offensive zone is dump and chase. Why would you ever give possession of the puck back to the team when you have a man advantage?

One of their main entry tactics is the aggressive, overloaded forecheck and the intent is not to turn the puck over, but to get it deep into the zone behind the defense, beat the defense to the puck, and move the puck back to the point quickly, thus maintaining possession. More often than not it works as planned.

Their other main entry tactic is to take the puck into the zone and drop it just inside the blue line for the first point man who then sends it cross ice to the other point. This also works...usually.

These aren't unique concepts to the Bruins. Most teams use these techniques on the PP. It's just that the Bruins have a lot of difficulty maintaining possession and moving the puck well once they have possession.

Secondly, they continually set up a cycle along the boards and in the corner. Again, why would you slow things down by cycling and allowing the d the opportunity to win a battle for the puck and clear?

The goal is to open shooting lanes by making the defense move. Meanwhile, someone has his behind stuck in the goalie's face to make it hard for him to see what's going on.

All of this is more or less PP 101. It's also the antithesis of "Shoooot! Shoooot!" That's when turnovers typically occur; not during the break-in or the cycling, unless the team is weak on puck protection and movement, which the Bruins are. The only way they'll get better at it is to work on it.

Then, if by some miracle they win possession of said puck, their main offensive goal is to get Chara's shot off from the point, but rarely do they have a screen. Even when they try to set the d up for a shot, everyone and their brother on d knows what they're trying to do, so the jump the routes and play closer to the point.

I will certainly grant you that this is one tired and over-played tactic. As you surmise, everyone knows when Chara is on the ice the main goal is to get him the puck for his big boomer to the glass or the boards. When Chara shoots from the point the safest place to be is standing in front of the crease.

It's like in that movie "The Tournament": "Get the puck to McConnell!"

 

[TMac21]

Was Seguin-Marchand-Peverley ever tried on the pp? They're fast and very good with the puck.

They used to have Peverley on the point which I thought worked well, he is quick and can move the puck quickly.

The biggest problem with the PP is gaining the zone...I swear 95% of the time whoever is skating the puck up the ice has no clue what to do with it and his team mates have no clue what he is going to do with it.

 

[Godzilla]

Hey guys, Habs fan here...

Great game last night. We blew our chances in the first and your team played a perfect road game the next two periods. You capitalized while we couldn't and that is why you are on top of the standings right now.

Oh, and Rask is Vezina bound. Good job.

 

[ODAAT]

They used to have Peverley on the point which I thought worked well, he is quick and can move the puck quickly.

The biggest problem with the PP is gaining the zone...I swear 95% of the time whoever is skating the puck up the ice has no clue what to do with it and his team mates have no clue what he is going to do with it.

It`s as though they turn off the creative part of their brains. Never understood either the dump and chase aspect when on a PP. Watch other teams with solid PP`s and they either have a guy with speed gain the blueline, or they "chip" and chase, not a full windup slapshot around the wall.

Biggest issue I see are the two wingers literally standing still at the blueline, love to see them cross over as whomever is carrying the puck through the neutral zone then having 3 players hitting the zone with speed, this team dumps the puck in, then hopes that players, from a standstill, win the puck race and in this league, just won`t happen.

Really have to start creating shots from just off the half wall too, enough already with the boomers from the point, just isn`t working for this team.

 

[Shoebottom]

Always a great day when you can steal a game in the 3rd period in their own barn!! Great game by Rask, the habs were crashing the net all night and he stood tall (crouched low might be more appropriate). The Bs looked disorganized & rattled in their own end when the Habs forechecked hard. But the Bs also dominated the habs in their own end with their forecheck. The Bs played too passive up until they fell behind, then they started to be a bit more physical and aggressive. Which worked out well. Though they went back into their shell when they got the lead. Terrible call on the Krejci hook to give the habs a last minute gasp Love it when Chara crushes smurfs! Wish he did it more often.

 

[Kate08]

According to the Montreal GT, Patrice Bergeron is ugly. Just thought that deserved sharing.

At least their horrible taste is consistent.

Horrible, horrible taste in hockey teams and horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE taste in men.

 

[ODAAT]

Always a great day when you can steal a game in the 3rd period in their own barn!! Great game by Rask, the habs were crashing the net all night and he stood tall (crouched low might be more appropriate). The Bs looked disorganized & rattled in their own end when the Habs forechecked hard. But the Bs also dominated the habs in their own end with their forecheck. The Bs played too passive up until they fell behind, then they started to be a bit more physical and aggressive. Which worked out well. Though they went back into their shell when they got the lead. Terrible call on the Krejci hook to give the habs a last minute gasp Love it when Chara crushes smurfs! Wish he did it more often.

Yeah, that call on DK in the last minute of play was just......well....typical for those who`ve been here long enough have seen the Habs be the recipients of in decades gone by

 

[DarrenBanks56]

I honestly think the b's should sit a skater when on the pp and skate 4 on 4.