Today’s game:
1st Period:
First Shift (18:20-17:40): Off the draw puck gets lifted into CHI end, Heinen pressures the D who makes a bad pass that’s picked off by Krug. Heinen goes to the boards at the red line and receives the pass, slides the puck between the CHI D’s feet to try to send Kuraly and Wagner on a 2 on 1, but it’s out of his reach. The puck kicks around the NZ and gets dumped deep by Wagner, Heinen is the first guy on the puck as it wraps around and sends it behind the CHI net to 14. He loses the puck, but he and Heinen continue to forecheck, with Heinen eventually forcing a TO by DeBrincat, who looked like he may have tripped 43. The puck goes to Wagner, who was either trying to chip a backhand at the net or just get it in the corner. They change.
Second Shift (15:45-15:13): Changes for DeBrusk on the fly, nearly picks off an errant puck in the CHI zone, but Murphy is able to recover and move it out. Puck comes back in B’s end, JFK (still on ice) tries to bring it out and turn it over, back into zone, Krug retrieves and hits Heinen on the left half wall, he skates puck out of zone and slides pass to JFK who ignores it and changes, CHI gains possession but Krug takes it away in the B’s zone and gives Heinen (who has curled back) a bank pass on the NZ. He head mans it to Kuraly and takes the center lane with Kuraly carrying up the left side. He has Heinen in the middle and Kuraly right. CHI has coverage so he takes a shot from the top of the left circle (bad angle) that is deflected out of play. Line change.
Penalty kill and CHI scores on following shift on turnovers by Krejci and Krug. Bad shift for 46.
Third Shift (10:43-10:10): Faceoff in the defensive zone left dot, 43 and 14 lined up on the right, Kuraly wins draw to Grizz who chips it back to 52. He gains the line and gets it deep, Wagner gets puck in the right corner and rifles a hard pass to Heinen, who drove the net, but it was off the mark and CHI comes the other way. Heinen gets back and harasses Toews allowing Carlo to gain possession and loft it to the CHI end. There is some uneventful back and forth, Kuraly gets it and dumps it for the change.
Fourth Shift (6:40-6:18): On the fly, shift starts with a Wagner turnover that leads to a CHI shot that is blocked by Miller. Kuraly dumps the puck, which caroms off the backboards to Wagner on the left side. Heinen goes to the slot and Kuraly drives the net. As Wagner shoots, Kuraly gets knocked over with no call, but he gets called for the hand pass lol.
Fifth Shift (3:04-2:57): 52 and 14 jump on at 3:50, 74 stays on the ice because of an offensive chance, then gets stuck out there until 3:04. Grizz called for a penalty at 2:57 for a high stick. He got the stick up, but Martinsen sold it big time.
Total TOI: 2:17 ES
2nd Period:
6th Shift (18:37-17:37) Uneventful shift for Heinen, spent mostly in the B’s end after a defensive zone faceoff. The highlights of the shift were several Krug turnovers and bad passes that finally resulted in a Kuraly hooking penalty. Only thing I noticed is that when the puck was in the right corner, Heinen slides over, inside the left dot. This may be by design but it makes it hard for the wing to get to the left boards if the puck is wrapped around.
7th Shift (14:14-13:16): Faceoff in the NZ outside the CHI blueline. Another faceoff at 14:06, at the B’s line, Heinen makes a nice play off the draw, bodies Martinsen, gets the puck to Krug. He goes to Moore, who hits Heinen with a pass across the red line, as he as gone up the wing. Heinen tried to get a shot/pass towards the net, which Kuraly is driving, but it gets deflected by Seabrooke, and Wagner misses it as is comes up the boards. Heinen makes amends and busts it on the backcheck, eventually gains control and gets it to Kuraly, who brings it into the zone with Wagner. Heinen goes to the front, Kuraly keeps control in the CHI zone, but they aren’t able to do anything and CHI gains possession. Heinen backchecks again, B’s regain the puck, break it in, Heinen is open going to the net, but Wagner falls down before he can make the pass. Line changes
8th Shift (10:00-9:15): Again, Kuraly and Wagner get on before Heinen. Uneventful shift, back and forth, but nothing really happened. He could have been a bit stronger in the corner vs Seabrooke, but not bad. He sprints through the NZ at one point and Wagner attempts a chip pass, but it gets blocked.
Goal scored vs the 4th line (8:36).
9th Shift (7:45-7:00): Another back and forth shift. Neither team does much. Heinen attempts a two line pass to Wagner which is deflected, comes down into the B’s zone, but Heinen gets it back out. CHI brings it in offsides, TV timeout, line change.
With Roughly 7 minutes left, Cassidy decides to changes things up.
74-46-88, followed by 20-55-23, then 63-37-88
10th Shift (4:13-3:39): The Kuraly line remains intact. Most of shift in the Boston end after the Hawks win the faceoff and get it deep. Heinen blocks a shot from Martinsen. Forsling takes a shot from the point that Rask saves, line change.
74-46-88 again, then 20-55-23, with this becoming 20-26-55 for the defensive zone draw with 23 coming back on when the puck exits the zone. Roughing penalty.
Classic Bergeron foiling the SH breakaway then scoring the PP GTG at 1:12.
11th Shift (1:12-00:10): Bad shift all around. B’s get the puck deep, good hit by Wagner, bad pinch by Miller leads to the puck in B’s end, bad clear attempt by Rask. Heinen overskates the puck near the line and the puck stays in. Then some bad work below the goal line with turnovers by Kuraly and Miller. Finally Grizz takes a penalty on Kane (call was a little soft).
Total TOI 5:00 ES (if my math is correct).
Bettman forgets to shave, looks like a bum for his interview with Mike Tirico.
First 4 minutes of 3rd all special teams.
3rd Period:
12th Shift (16:14-15:28): After the PK and PP, it’s 43-23-74 out. Very good shift for this combo. A chance off the draw with DeBrusk putting it over the net. Puck comes back the other way, but a good breakout, 43 to 23 to 74 which leads to a good chance for Heinen from DeBrusk at the side of the net.
13th Shift (13:50-12:05): Extended shift, starting on the 2nd PP unit (46-23-43-47-27) and carrying into ES. Good puck movement, particularly by Krejci, who sets up Heinen in the slot, but he hits Ward in the chest. Heinen also sets up JFK in front, but he just misses the pass. Overall very good shift from all involved.
Some more changes by Cassidy, he reinstates 74-46-23 and with 10:00 to go has 20-52-14 as a combo. Wagner’s big hit in the corner leads to the Kuraly GWG. Good grinding line vs CHI’s 4th line.
14th Shift (7:35-6:51): Heinen comes out with 26 and 55. Back and forth action nothing of note happens.
And that was all she wrote.
TOI: 3:14 PP/ES
Total TOI: 10:31 give or take.
Solid game by Heinen, probably had his two best shifts in the 3rd period. For whatever reason, Cassidy plays a hunch with 20-52-14 and it pays off with a goal, but I don’t think this line went out because of anything Heinen did wrong.
It would appear, based on today’s game and some earlier ones, that he has some chemistry with JFK. I would like to see the B’s squire a Top 6 wing, and in the Bottom 6 go with:
43-23-42
20-52-14
Well, that was a lot of work.
