Post-Game Talk: Bruins vs Penguins 3/12 @ 7:30 II

[TCL40]

I think the missing killer instinct is spot on.

Makes me think once again that keeping a cup winning team almost entirely intact may be part of the problem.

When Horton and Campbell came they were hungry to get to the playoffs and it showed. Horton doesn't look hungry for anything right now.

The team had two former cup winning players and a couple of cup final losers (I know Ference said some interesting thing about what it was like to lose in the final).

Maybe a few trades for some hungry players is what the team needs.

Chia needs to take a risk or two IMO-he can't go bargain bin shopping and expect a team to go to the final. At this point, with this team as constituted I think it looks more like an early exit from the playoffs than a deep run.

 

[BRUINS since 1995]

The forwards never gave Seids enough support forcing a long pass... they were outside the neutral zone before he was ready to move the puck. Bruins are best when they employ short passes out of the zone.

Big mistake.

-----
Might be true. But the the pass north was possible and the board going north was also available. Had barely pressure.

That was simply a bad pass, abd bad play.

I really like Seidenberg, but that play is all on him.

Mistakes is like sh... it happens!

 

[Bi Coastal Bawse*]

Still pissed about this loss

 

[ODAAT]

I think the missing killer instinct is spot on.

Makes me think once again that keeping a cup winning team almost entirely intact may be part of the problem.

When Horton and Campbell came they were hungry to get to the playoffs and it showed. Horton doesn't look hungry for anything right now.

The team had two former cup winning players and a couple of cup final losers (I know Ference said some interesting thing about what it was like to lose in the final).

Maybe a few trades for some hungry players is what the team needs.

Chia needs to take a risk or two IMO-he can't go bargain bin shopping and expect a team to go to the final. At this point, with this team as constituted I think it looks more like an early exit from the playoffs than a deep run.

While I don`t necessarily disagree TCL, I can`t name a team who, at the halfway point I would even consider looking at and saying "now there`s a team with a killer instinct"

Hawks had a great run, one that camoflaged the fact they have been in OT/shootouts how many times which can go either way?

The Habs have played exceptionally well, do they have a killer instinct??? Only time I ever give that label to a team is playoff time, when it counts

 

[BRUINS since 1995]

Having three forwards converging on one player, moving up ice on an attempted pass interception when the opposition still has the puck is a bad decision every single time, not just in hindsight. Those are the very types of mistakes this team has learned to exploit, not make. Occasionally it pans out and looks genius, more often it does not especially when the player has time and space to thread the pass.

And an image is nothing more then a visual aid. Far easier and far less open to interpretation then explaining the same thing out using words (ascii art ain't my thing)? I'd rather see criticism based on an image then an excuse based on flights of fancy personally.

--
Agree

 

[Kaoz*]

Nitpicking based on images of:

a 17-4-3 team
who lost by a goal
to the co-favorites in the East (granted without Malkin)
on the road
on the 2nd night of a B2B
on the 4th night of a 3 in 4.

Criticize Horton... fair game.
Criticize Lucic... fair game.
Criticize Lucic, Horton, Krejci... nitpicking?

 

[MTaylorJ1]

Criticize Horton... fair game.
Criticize Lucic... fair game.
Criticize Lucic, Horton, Krejci... nitpicking?

They're all fair game, and they all need to play better. That being said, the ratio to user angst and team performance is a little skewed right now.

 

[TCL40]

They're all fair game, and they all need to play better. That being said, the ratio to user angst and team performance is a little skewed right now.

Angst and hyperbole are common after a loss-especially one where victory was so close.

The reality is that all teams have things they can work on, and all teams face trap games, b2b's and fatigue. I think last night's loss fatigue played a huge role-and I think the fatigue only made the weaknesses more glaring.

I think the Bruins are still in good shape, but I also think the team needs some upgrades.

I think there are some players who need a little more fire in the gut as well.

Will say one thing for Krejci who seems to get crapped on a lot-he isn't particularly the problem with his line, but I think when and one of those three players is struggling the whole line struggles.

Horton hasn't been anywhere near on his game, he isn't physical, he seems to always be a little behind and I think perhaps fatigue is getting to him. The many hasn't played a full season since his first concussion and the short season is a brutal one. Horton needs to simplify his game and maybe skate a few less minutes but more than anything he needs to find the hunger you could see on his face his first season here.

 

[22Brad Park]

What makes it tough ius that the Bruins led by 2 with 6min to go. For the B's, even how bad they played to that point, it should/used to be an automatic 2pts.

But, like ALL of our only 4 losses, the Bruins blew a 3rd period lead. 32-0-0 with a lead going in the 3rd last year. already 5 losses this year losing 9pts that used to be locked in previously.

Even with these tough losses, the B's are 17-4-3, in the driver seat, with the best record in the East and in a battle for 1st/2nd in the conference and home ice for at least two rounds.

B's are far from perfect. Their wins haven't all been dominating. But they most often than not came on the winning side. 17 times out of 24. Yesterday, the Bruins were on the losing end. They did the same thing to the Rangers. **** happen. Learn and move on.

This is still our conference to lose. And thus far, we're 1st. Regroup and beat these little cats on Thursday.

Bruins problem is not enough offence. If they had a true first line and more firepower alot games they would not be fighting to hang onto them leads in 3rd.The game already be in bag.16 lousy shots last nite and not being able muster anymore goals vs a weak defence Pitt team is proof.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

it's possible we were, that's one play. I can count several others in all 3 periods where the Penguins marched up and down the ice and their shots were saved or just wide. The shot margin for the entire game was telling, there was no point where the Bruins had the Penguins on the ropes at all.

I think maybe we don't really disagree. I think the Bruins were in good shape until after the 2nd goal. Once they had the lead I agree that they did stop skating. But I don't think the Bruins lack of shots was due to the Pens strong defense but rather because the Bruins were content to simply dump and defend.

 

[BergyWho37]

I'm pissy cause of the 16 shots pathetic if you ask me ... How many of the 16 were from the point ?

So what maybe 10 shots down low ... professional show us this effort .... where the entertainment ? watching another team get countless chances ?

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Bruins problem is not enough offence. If they had a true first line and more firepower alot games they would not be fighting to hang onto them leads in 3rd.The game already be in bag.16 lousy shots last nite and not being able muster anymore goals vs a weak defence Pitt team is proof.

I think their lack of offense in these situations is purely mental/strategic. The fact that they jump out to these early leads indicates that they have plenty of firepower. Both the Bergeron and Krejci lines are more than capable of scoring goals. The problem is that they stop trying to score goals when they get leads.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

Bruins problem is not enough offence. If they had a true first line and more firepower alot games they would not be fighting to hang onto them leads in 3rd.The game already be in bag.16 lousy shots last nite and not being able muster anymore goals vs a weak defence Pitt team is proof.

Not enough offense?

9th best offense in the league with 2.88 goals per game.

4th best defense with 2.17 goals allowed per game.

Sure we could score more goals. But as long as we'll keep scoring 0.7 more goals per game than we will allow, we will keep bieng at the top of the conference/league.

 

[Lost Horizons]

http://www.csnne.com/blog/bruins-talk/passive-top-bruins-line-frustrates-julien-loss

“For some reason our top line was over-passing and we weren’t getting any shots on net. So it was hard to create any more offense once we had that 2-0 lead,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “In the third it was about playing our best period and not playing on our heels. We made some really, really bad decisions in the third period. We gave them that game when we had control of it.”

Lucic has only one goal in his last 13 games, and has managed only three shots on net in his last five games. Those are paltry numbers for a former 30-goal scorer, and Lucic had zero shots and only one registered hit in 16:21 of ice time against the Penguins.

So it’s difficult to discern exactly what he was doing for 60 minutes on Tuesday night after not enjoying one of his best games Monday night against the Senators.

Nonetheless he was disappointed with the result.

“You can’t take for granted any lead that you have in this league,” said Lucic. “You hope that with a 2-0 lead going into the third period that you can get the job done. When it’s tied 2-2 you need to keep pushing to get the next goal rather than giving up that next goal.

“We weren’t able to do that. We need to learn from this: giving up leads going into the third. If we want to be an elite team and take our game to the next level, then it is part of the learning process.”

Horton had three shots on net against Pittsburgh and four shots on goal against Ottawa on Monday night, but the right winger also missed open nets in both games that could have bestowed his team with a little more breathing room. Krejci was the most effective of the three forwards, but lost 11-of-15 face-offs while racking up a minus-2 rating for the game with one measly shot on net.

Krejci has only one goal in his last eight games and has five total shots on net in the last four games. The playmaking pivot has been markedly consistent this season, and shown a newfound ability to bounce back from poor games rapidly rather than dwelling on them.

 

[Kaoz*]

They're all fair game, and they all need to play better. That being said, the ratio to user angst and team performance is a little skewed right now.

And fair enough... however I see a lot more angst against the two wingers then I do against the entire line, and only any real defense; scratch that, people going into all out excuse mode when Krejci too is implicated in the sub par play even though he deserves his fair share of the blame pie. Par for the course I guess.

That whole line needs a change imo because they are all under performing and are all ill equipped to handle their end and the neutral zone responsibly, an absolute must in this system regardless of offensive output. Krejci needs more defensively responsible wingers as his style of play tends to lead to neutral zone turn overs. Lucic needs a more defensively responsible center because he really has little natural skill on the other side of the puck and needs to be on a line that plays the majority of the time deep in the offensive zone. Horton has similar needs to Lucic. They are a defensive liability that doesn't have the luxury of masking their deficiency with consistently strong offensive play.

 

[MTaylorJ1]

And fair enough... however I see a lot more angst against the two wingers then I do against the entire line, and only any real defense; scratch that, people going into all out excuse mode when Krejci too is implicated in the sub par play even though he deserves his fair share of the blame pie. Par for the course I guess.

That whole line needs a change imo because they are all under performing and are all ill equipped to handle their end and the neutral zone responsibly, an absolute must in this system regardless of offensive output. Krejci needs more defensively responsible wingers as his style of play tends to lead to neutral zone turn overs. Lucic needs a more defensively responsible center because he really has little natural skill on the other side of the puck and needs to be on a line that plays the majority of the time deep in the offensive zone. Horton has similar needs to Lucic. They are a defensive liability that doesn't have the luxury of masking their deficiency with consistently strong offensive play.

People are going to defend and make excuses for the players they like, and go out of their way to single out the players they don't. That will stay the same here well after the players in question are playing in Bruins Alumni games.

Your point about that line in general is a good one. They're all streaky players, which makes them lethal when on and subpar when off. I think Lucic OR Horton could easily succeed with Krejci as their center. He's easily defensively responsible enough to play with ONE of them. Both? There I'm not sold, especially if they aren't skating. That's why I suggested calling up Spooner, putting Lucic on his wing (maybe his protective instincts will come out with a rookie center) and Peverley on the other side. Caron is defensively responsible and a good board player, I think Krejci could actually bring out the best in Caron, which would be nice to see, and he plays a different enough game from Horton to eliminate redundancies.

 

[DoubleAAAA]

http://www.csnne.com/blog/bruins-talk/passive-top-bruins-line-frustrates-julien-loss

I've been really disappointed with Krejci's D-zone play the last few weeks. He's been making a lot of poor decisions on breakouts and reversing back when they should be moving the puck forward (ie hand grenade to Boychuk in the Habs game). He's been effective on the PP and hasn't been awful inside the off blue line but his decision making has been lacking. His pals certainly haven't been helping him but he should shoulder a good share of the blame too.

He's always looked like he plays in Slow-Mo so I won't fault him for the same laziness you see creeping into Looch and Horton's game, but he needs to be better too.

 

[bobbyorr04]

The Stanley Cup team in 2011 had 3 scoring lines. We still have 8 out of 9 players here from that team (Bergy, Marshy, Lucic, Horty, Krej, Pevs, Kelly and Seguin) What we had that year was a goal scorer in Ryder (ok start the harrasing lol) We do not have that today. Thats what is missing IMO.

I agree the B's could use a bit more scoring punch, but I also think we are missing "Leadership" on this team.
When I think of leaders missing from the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup team, Thomas and Recchi come to mind.

 

[bolt thrower]

Still pissed about this loss

Me too, what a stupid way to throw away the two points

I feel really sorry for Dobby, he deserved better.

 

[22Brad Park]

Not enough offense?

9th best offense in the league with 2.88 goals per game.

4th best defense with 2.17 goals allowed per game.

Sure we could score more goals. But as long as we'll keep scoring 0.7 more goals per game than we will allow, we will keep bieng at the top of the conference/league.

You are using that vs every team as whole which if fine but vs the better teams like Penguins they need to be able to sustain pressure alot more to wear them down and add to that they rarely beat Pens as is last while so you can add a mental thing to it too.New blood help there too...Lets just see if they face Penguins if they have enough offence to win a 4 out 7?.I HIGHLY DOUBT IT! They need to add help.Plus this killer schedule will catch up to them to boot.

 

[22Brad Park]

http://www.csnne.com/blog/bruins-talk/passive-top-bruins-line-frustrates-julien-loss

Yep Lucic been complete disaster now for a while.I agree 10000%.

 

[BNHL]

I agree the B's could use a bit more scoring punch, but I also think we are missing "Leadership" on this team.
When I think of leaders missing from the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup team, Thomas and Recchi come to mind.

Not that again.

 

[BergyMeister]

7-2-1 last 10

3-1-1 last 5

 

[13Hockey]

I agree the B's could use a bit more scoring punch, but I also think we are missing "Leadership" on this team.
When I think of leaders missing from the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup team, Thomas and Recchi come to mind.

I agree reechi really helped that team during the playoffs guys have said he was very vocal telling them this maybe there only chance to ever win...Thomas I don't think was really a leader most guys said he kept to himself when he decided to quit hockey I think he just gave them great confidence knowing they could take risks up ice and he could make the save

 

[slovakfan*]

Yep Lucic been complete disaster now for a while.I agree 10000%.

they have opportunity to be active against florida next time...