Line Combos: With the addition of Orlov, how do you see the defense pairings?

[bme44]

I’m a Forbort guy and proponent of 7 good D (how long did Boychuk & McQuaid wait practice after practice staying late with Craig Ramsey - I miss those Ristuccia days) BUT yoi are bang on

Orlov needs to play with McAvoy

I expect a fast Oilers team has Clifton in

They need to get Orlov comfortable BUT off side with rotating partners

Really Monty ???? REALLY!!!!!

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

 

[KillerMillerTime]

I think they’ll try Orlov/Cliffy in Edmonton to see how that looks

I would rather see McAvoy and Orlov get the next 10-12 games together.

Orlov on his left will mean a less taxed McAvoy in his own end. Gryz
isn't winning nearly as many scrums or board battles as Orlov and there will literally be
at least a hundred of them if you are making the SCF. Whatever escapability\transition edge Gryz gives ( Orlov is good too) is absolutely outweighed by Orlov's ability to win board battles or scrums.

 

[DKH]

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

Yes I agree and hope you are correct

 

[quietbruinfan]

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

You would think so, but I do not think Monty coaches that way. (I did early in the year and learned differently.) Moreover,rust and timing are an issue if you start to mix and match by the opponent.

 

[bme44]

You would think so, but I do not think Monty coaches that way. (I did early in the year and learned differently.) Moreover,rust and timing are an issue if you start to mix and match by the opponent.

Well if rust becomes a problem ,it means that Monty was pleased with the six he had been dressing for some time . So a good problem . In a seven game series the rust would be gone in the first game

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Who’s the shutdown pair ? Lindholm- Carlo ? I don’t know just not sure Forbort is the right partner for Orlov . It was his first game but Orlov seemed to be playing it safe , he really wasn’t strutting his stuff . He is capable of providing offence and has a good shot ? He’s not going to get too many opportunities if Forbort is his dance partner .

 

[missingchicklet]

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

Acording to the Globe it sounds like Monty is leaning toward putting Cliffy in against Edmonton and sitting Griz. Monty could easily change his mind before tomorrow night, though. It'll be interesting to see who plays well with who once the rotation cycles through several times.

 

[bob77]

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

Forbort has had great series against the Oilers if both get that far

 

[goldnblack]

The amount of people who want to change all 3 pairings due to one new guy is kind of surprising. I don't think that's the route coach will take.

 

[BourqueFromORRk4277]

That didn’t happen. In fact, Gryz had just as many shifts over a minute than Forbort. Forbort’s might have been PK, idk. The difference is in Forbort played 25 shifts and Grz played 20. And yes, this is because we were leading, IMO also. If we were losing, this would be the other way around.

I was just offering an alternative reason because it's hard to know what happened just by looking at ice time, and shifts without knowing what actually happened during that time.

If you look at the shift chart from Natural Stat Trick:

The TOI difference seems to be in the second period when there were 2 PPs, and 2 PKs which Gryz isn't used on.
The 3rd period looks like they just rotated the D pairs.

Forbort/Orlov did seem to have longer shifts throughout the game, and gave up the goal. They were easily the worst pair last night. Orlov being on a new team, and on his off side may have been a factor, but Forbort seemed to be behind the play all night, and continuously lost the puck when pressured.

Forbort also had 6 short shifts to Griz's 2. One of them was actually together so that is weird. I don't think this really says anything, but it can skew the stats to counter some long shifts, and make average shift length lower.

I'm not sure exactly where the 3rd period starts on the chart, but both Grizz, and Forbort had 10 shifts from the Canucks last PP until the end of the game, so I'm not seeing any change in D deployment because we had the lead, especially since Griz/McAvoy's shifts are nearly identical absent special teams.

Are they not using McAvoy to defend leads as well?

 

[bearcountry17]

Grzelcyk or Carlo are not good enough to be the main guy on the 2nd pairing and do not have great chemistry together which is why we’ve seen so little of Lindholm-McAvoy. Orlov is a much more well rounded player than either of them and should not be playing his offside.

Either stack the top pair(not my preference)and run Orlov-Carlo or start letting Orlov develop some chemistry with Mc on the top pair.

Enough with Grzelcyk on the top pair though, please. I know the stats are great and all but it does not work well in the POs when there are no bad teams and teams and coaches can game plan to expose weaknesses.

I like Grzelcyk . I am not a Grzelcyk hater. I have been a huge fan and believer in him since before he donned a letter for team USA in ‘13-14 but we all know the definition of insanity. Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. He is not a top pairing guy or probably even a top 4 guy on a team that hopes to win the Cup. We almost won one with him on the bottom pairing so let’s throw him back down there and see how he does.

 

[westmass]

I’ll say this too:

@PlayMakers posted some Expected Goals For/Against stats for Grzelcyk in the Trade thread. They certainly appear favourable.

But you can’t post those and dismiss others that show he’s not as effective in playoffs as he is in the regular season. If one set of data is good, you have to allow for others as well.

Truth is, Grzelcyk isn’t the playoff disaster that some would like to claim. And he isn’t the dynamo in the playoffs that others would argue. He’s somewhere in the middle.

And to me (as big of a fan as I am of Grzelcyk and I am one of his biggest) there’s a case to be made for him being part of a rotation at least with Forbort on the left side.

And this may be a hot take, but I’m arguing for Clifton to play every game, just like the top four (hopefully paired with Lindholm). I just love how he ELEVATES his game come post-season and think his tenacity will be key to the Bruins success.

I think the stats below concerning Clifton may surprise some. As for blocked shots, Forbort is hyped by some

 

[bob77]

Acording to the Globe it sounds like Monty is leaning toward putting Cliffy in against Edmonton and sitting Griz. Monty could easily change his mind before tomorrow night, though. It'll be interesting to see who plays well with who once the rotation cycles through several times.

If that happens in this game, you are talking Orlov w Mc

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Grzelcyk or Carlo are not good enough to be the main guy on the 2nd pairing and do not have great chemistry together which is why we’ve seen so little of Lindholm-McAvoy. Orlov is a much more well rounded player than either of them and should not be playing his offside.

Either stack the top pair(not my preference)and run Orlov-Carlo or start letting Orlov develop some chemistry with Mc on the top pair.

Enough with Grzelcyk on the top pair though, please. I know the stats are great and all but it does not work well in the POs when there are no bad teams and teams and coaches can game plan to expose weaknesses.

I like Grzelcyk . I am not a Grzelcyk hater. I have been a huge fan and believer in him since before he donned a letter for team USA in ‘13-14 but we all know the definition of insanity. Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. He is not a top pairing guy or probably even a top 4 guy on a team that hopes to win the Cup. We almost won one with him on the bottom pairing so let’s throw him back down there and see how he does.

I think management agrees with you about Carlo and Grz or why else would they acquire Orlov ?

 

[quietbruinfan]

I think management agrees with you about Carlo and Grz or why else would they acquire Orlov ?

This of course, is basically another Grz argument. I usually come down on his side, but I see Bear country's points. I too am very leery of playing Orlov on his off-side. ( I Like Orlov, but did not get a good, positive vibe from either his interview, or from his Van game.) Meh I think I would still go Grz-Mac etc but like you, think mgmt will do otherwise.

 

[wintersej]

It's not a large sample size. 100 isn't a large sample compared to thousands of data points.

People say Gryz can't handle big physical teams. Through the first 10 games of the 2020 playoffs against super physical Washington and the Islanders he was plus 1 (if we're using that as factor for good/bad). It wasn't until the last game and after Miller and Carlo went down that his plus/minus turned negative. Now he definitely had a terrible last game, he got stripped of the puck in the neutral zone for a goal, he tried to carry a rebound out of the slot and turned it over for a goal against, but that was one game and neither was the result of physical play. If he couldn't handle physical play how was he a plus player through the other 10 games?

Against Carolina, Grzelcyk was 5th in that series in scoring chances allowed. He was 5th in high danger chances allowed. In other words, 4 other defensemen allowed more scoring chances and high danger chances than him. Grzelcyk's for/against in both categories was positive. Grzelcyk was a minus because he was playing with the Coyle line, who couldn't score. Gryz was on the ice for 6 ES goals against, same as McAvoy, but Mac was on the ice with the Bergeron line so he was +2. Gryz was on the ice with the Coyle line and Charlie Coyle was -7. Coyle wasn't on the ice for a single ES goal for in that series.

Plus, again the sample is so small you can literally watch the goals. Count how many of those 6 ES goals against are actually Grzelcyk's fault, how many are the result of him turning a puck over from a heavy forecheck or getting outmuscled. I've watched them all. The answer is none. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I get that he's not big enough to win physical battles, and I subscribe to the 'every player has strengths and weaknesses' theory. I just think this whole notion that because he's not great in the corners he can't be effective at playoff hockey is nonsense. Right up there with Blake Wheeler can't stay onside so let's trade him.

So you are saying if they trade Gryz, they will win the Cup?

 

[Carl Hungus]

I think the stats below concerning Clifton may surprise some. As for blocked shots, Forbort is hyped by someView attachment 657527

God i love Bergeron so much

 

[bob77]

It was all Forbort. Forbort clearly marked Boeser on the wall and then commenced
to puck watching and let him go straight to the net uncovered. Orlov had very little blame there. Just watch the replay.

Orlov called the play his own mistake

 

[neelynugs]

I expect Forbort to sit against the Oilers and Gryz to sit against the Flames. I expect it will be basically all seven getting a game off here and there if healthy till playoff time. In the Playoffs with all healthy and playing well . The opponent will play a big role in who sits

i'd guess they play forbort tonight against the best power play ever assembled, since that's basically the one thing he's good at.

 

[neverwatchthegames]

Overall I'd reduce the ice-time differential between the three pairs. Maybe 22/20/18.

#1: 48 - 73 Keep together one of the best pairs in the league.
#2a: 27 - 75 Reunite the pair that dominated while the above line was out at the beginning of the year.
#2b: 81 - 25 Highly competent defensive unit with Orlov to dial up the offense.

7th: Forbort is great in games where we're on the pk for half the game, but he's a by far our weakest 5-on-5 player.
8th: Zboril

 

[KillerMillerTime]

Orlov called the play his own mistake

Thats just Orlov being a good teammate. it was obvious it was Forbort primarily responsible.

 

[The Laukomotive]

Orlov Game #4: Orlov-Carlo has arrived. Also Gryz - Clifton getting a look.

5 on 5 TOI:

Grzelcyk-Clifton 12:52
Lindholm-Mcavoy 12:41
Orlov-Carlo 12:09
Grzelcyk-Carlo 3:13
Orlov-Clifton 2:20
Carlo-Clifton 1:10
Orlov-Mcavoy 1:08
Lindholm-Clifton 1:01
Grzelcyk-Mcavoy 0:58
Lindholm-Carlo 0:30
Mcavoy-Carlo 0:30
Orlov-Grzelcyk 0:28
Mcavoy-Clifton 0:21
Orlov-Lindholm 0:16

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

Overall I'd reduce the ice-time differential between the three pairs. Maybe 22/20/18.

#1: 48 - 73 Keep together one of the best pairs in the league.
#2a: 27 - 75 Reunite the pair that dominated while the above line was out at the beginning of the year.
#2b: 81 - 25 Highly competent defensive unit with Orlov to dial up the offense.

7th: Forbort is great in games where we're on the pk for half the game, but he's a by far our weakest 5-on-5 player.
8th: Zboril

Does yall think that bertuzzi will now play with bergeron and Debrusk now that marchand is injured as well.

 

[13Hockey]

Does yall think that bertuzzi will now play with bergeron and Debrusk now that marchand is injured as well.

Yes if 63 is out

I’d imagine our top 6 will be

Bertuzzi Bergeron DeBrusk
Zacha Krejci Pastrnak

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

Yes if 63 is out

I’d imagine our top 6 will be

Bertuzzi Bergeron DeBrusk
Zacha Krejci Pastrnak

Gotta like the depth. Its a hard team for anybody to match up. The calgary flames I think is one if the best teams. They give so little for the opponent. If their goalie get going.... that team might go far from the west