The Bruins hosted the Ducks last night with a chance to build upon a Saturday night victory over the Washington Capitals, but they came out flat and dropped their fourth out of their last five games in a 3-0 loss to Anaheim. So what's the problem?
Reminding us all of last season, Boston has struggled to bury the puck in the back of the net of late. In their recent 5-game slump, they've scored just 9 goals -- a mere 6 goals in their 4 losses. If David Krejci or Marc Savard were still sidelined with their injuries, you might have a potential explanation. But all of Boston's forwards are healthy, so it we can't help but ask -- why are they struggling to score?
The blame can certainly be proportioned onto the play of the guys up front, but the blueliners can't be completely let off the hook. Boston shipped away arguably their top offensive defenseman in Matt Hunwick earlier this month, and Mark Stuart -- albeit a defensive-minded player -- has been out with a broken hand. The remaining guys: Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, McQuaid, Kampfer, and Ference have not been getting the puck up the ice efficiently enough. The Bruins are struggling to break into the zone with speed and flow, and that can all be tracked back to their ability to break out of their own zone. It ultimately still falls on the forwards to generate offense and bury the puck, but the defensemen aren't exactly making life easy.
Up front, I think you have to look at the coaching staff. It's their job to make the adjustments needed to generate some offense from your forward lines. To mention few notes that I have piled up over the recent weeks, I think that Bruins head coach Claude Julien plays the fourth line too much. Now, don't misunderstand that comment -- the fourth line has been spectacular this season. But they're the fourth line, the energy line. When you need goals scored, you need to rely on your skill lines a little more heavily. In a slump like this, you can't be rolling those guys out there just as often as you're rolling out the other lines. They're great hustlers and they put on some pressure most of the time, but they aren't finishers. You need goals at this stage of the season, period.
As for the other line combinations, I think the third-period lines from last night's games have some promise. Julien made some changes. Nathan Horton found himself alongside Savard and Ryder. Seguin moved over to join Bergeron and Recchi. Wheeler jumped on a line with Krejci and Lucic. I saw some improved pressure. I saw a brilliant Marc Savard doing a great job setting up a goalscorer like Horton. I saw a young Tyler Seguin with lots of energy with a battle-tested veteran like Mark Recchi to tutor him on the other wing of his line. I think those lines have some promise and I would like to see them stay together. We'll have to wait and see on Thursday night when the Bruins cap off their pre-Christmas schedule at home against the Atlanta Thrashers. Hopefully the B's can get back on the winning track.
Reminding us all of last season, Boston has struggled to bury the puck in the back of the net of late. In their recent 5-game slump, they've scored just 9 goals -- a mere 6 goals in their 4 losses. If David Krejci or Marc Savard were still sidelined with their injuries, you might have a potential explanation. But all of Boston's forwards are healthy, so it we can't help but ask -- why are they struggling to score?
The blame can certainly be proportioned onto the play of the guys up front, but the blueliners can't be completely let off the hook. Boston shipped away arguably their top offensive defenseman in Matt Hunwick earlier this month, and Mark Stuart -- albeit a defensive-minded player -- has been out with a broken hand. The remaining guys: Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, McQuaid, Kampfer, and Ference have not been getting the puck up the ice efficiently enough. The Bruins are struggling to break into the zone with speed and flow, and that can all be tracked back to their ability to break out of their own zone. It ultimately still falls on the forwards to generate offense and bury the puck, but the defensemen aren't exactly making life easy.
Up front, I think you have to look at the coaching staff. It's their job to make the adjustments needed to generate some offense from your forward lines. To mention few notes that I have piled up over the recent weeks, I think that Bruins head coach Claude Julien plays the fourth line too much. Now, don't misunderstand that comment -- the fourth line has been spectacular this season. But they're the fourth line, the energy line. When you need goals scored, you need to rely on your skill lines a little more heavily. In a slump like this, you can't be rolling those guys out there just as often as you're rolling out the other lines. They're great hustlers and they put on some pressure most of the time, but they aren't finishers. You need goals at this stage of the season, period.
As for the other line combinations, I think the third-period lines from last night's games have some promise. Julien made some changes. Nathan Horton found himself alongside Savard and Ryder. Seguin moved over to join Bergeron and Recchi. Wheeler jumped on a line with Krejci and Lucic. I saw some improved pressure. I saw a brilliant Marc Savard doing a great job setting up a goalscorer like Horton. I saw a young Tyler Seguin with lots of energy with a battle-tested veteran like Mark Recchi to tutor him on the other wing of his line. I think those lines have some promise and I would like to see them stay together. We'll have to wait and see on Thursday night when the Bruins cap off their pre-Christmas schedule at home against the Atlanta Thrashers. Hopefully the B's can get back on the winning track.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave your comments