Boston Sports Then and Now

The Boston Bruins fourth line was big in game 3 scoring both of the team’s goals en route to a 2-1 victory

The Boston Bruins have put the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination, and have put themselves in a position to go to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons. Game 3 was a big for New York as they desperately needed to get a victory and get themselves back in the series. Heading back home the Rangers found themselves down 2-0 in a series against the Bruins, in an all too familiar position.

For the Rangers, being down 2-0 heading back home is a repeat of the first round against the Washington Capitals. New York was able to come back in win that series in 7 games. In game 3 I think it was fair to assume that the Rangers would come out with a ton of energy on home ice. Fortunately the Bruins were up to task, they dominated the Rangers through the first two periods, and despite being down by 1 after the first 40 minutes, managed to come back and score 2 huge goals to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

There was plenty to get excited about in game 3. Johnny Boychuk scored the equalizer early in the third period as he continues to score big goals for the Bruins in the postseason. He has 4 goals so far in the playoffs, which is impressive considering the fact that he only scored 1 goal in 44 games during the regular season. Boychuk has been pretty big for the Bruins in the playoffs besides the goal scoring numbers. He leads the NHL in blocked shots in the playoffs with 37, and he is fifth in hits with 41. He has stepped up in a big way after a somewhat lackluster regular season, and has helped Coach Claude Julien play three rookies in the lineup in wake of the injuries suffered by Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference, and Wade Redden.

Another major part of Boston’s 2-1 win was the play of the Bruins’ “Merlot” line. I still think Dan Paille was robbed of the Bruins’ Seventh Player Award by some pink hats. Tonight was their night in a big way, not because they were out there for both of the B’s goals, but because the tight checking/grind it out type of game is their bread and butter. They provided a much needed spark to the Bruins offense that had been stifled by Henrik Lundqvist all night. Game 3 was looking like the type of game King Henrik would steal for the Rangers, but the Bruins fourth line was able to turn the tide.

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Boston Bruins rookie defenseman #47 Torey Krug celebrates his 2nd goal in as many games

If you had told me before the game that the Bruins were going to score 5 goals on Henrik Lundqvist, I’d of told you you were crazy. The B’s came out on fire in game 2, and their effort was rewarded roughly five minutes in. Torey Krug continued his impressive play from game 1 into game 2, and his goal was an example of the skill the young defenseman. Krug joined the Bruins as an unrestriced college free agent, and his performance in these first two games, as well as his performance in Providence this season (13 goals, 32, and an even +/- rating) may prove that some scouts missed on him in a big way.

Much was made of the Bruins’ rookie defensemen in game 1. Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski, and Krug all played excellently, and contributed to a big win for Boston. Today was no different. Krug had the B’s first goal after a nifty little play with his feet. He also added an assist and was a +2. Bartkowski added an assist, a +2, and 5 hits in 20:52 minutes of ice time. Hamilton didn’t have an excellent start to the game as he was caught out of position on the Rangers’ first goal. The goal was a result of a Brad Marchand turnover, but Hamilton would’ve been wise to bail out of the zone and defend against the possible counter attack, as opposed to holding his ground in the offensive zone.

The Rangers bounced back rather quickly after going down early going down early in the first. They came back with a quick goal scored by their captain Ryan Callahan, and controlled the play for the rest of the first period. Fortunately for Boston Tuukka Rask stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced in the period.

The Bruins would score again early in the second period on a Gregory Campbell rebound collection. The goal would be “Soupy’s” first of the postseason, and was a result some more nifty skate play from Torey Krug at the point. However, New York would answer shortly after as Rick Nash finally cashed in on one of his many scoring chances, and tied the game at 2-2.

The second period was a big again thanks to Tuukka Rask who stopped 15 of the Rangers’ 16 shots in the period. Boston added another goal on excellent play off of a Patrice Bergeron face-off win. Marchand would gather the puck and draw two Rangers to him, he then slipped the puck to a trailing Johnny Boychuk who wristed it through a screen in front of the net. This goal would eventually be the game winner, as Boston would not allow the Rangers to answer with their own goal as they had earlier in the game.

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Boston Bruins forward #63 Brad Marchand celebrates his game 1 overtime winner against the New York Rangers

The Boston Bruins did well to win an important game one against the New York Rangers. It goes without saying, but every win is important in the playoffs, especially against a Rangers squad that can absolutely suffocate an offense. As expected, Henrik Lundqvist had to be outstanding stopping 45 of 48 Bruins shots. Outside of King Henrik’s impressive performance, and a 16 second Rangers’ offensive outburst, this game was all Boston.

First things first, Zdeno Chara probably played his best game as a Boston Bruin tonight. I get pretty tired of people constantly talking about his lack of leadership every time the B’s lose a game. Big Z is a Stanley Cup champion who didn’t just shut down two of the best offensive players in the world, he rendered them invisible. Chara leads by example. With Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference, and Wade Redden out of commission, the Bruins had to play three rookie skaters on the back-end. Chara played 38:02 minutes of ice time, an ungodly amount of minutes. That is stepping up when a team needs it the most, that is what a captain does. Z was a monster in all areas of the ice too he had a goal, an assists, a +2, 9 shots, 6 hits, and 2 blocked shots. A truly legendary performance from one of the best players in the game today.

As good Chara was last night, I don’t want to make it seem like the three rookie defensemen used weren’t up to task. I’m a huge fan of Torey Krug, and I bet his performance last night prompted a few Bruins fans to join me on the Krug bandwagon. Anyone who follows the Providence Bruins knows how good he can be.  He scored a huge goal for the Bruins that tied the game 2-2. Krug may be undersized, but he does all the little things right. He had 3 shots, 3 hits, and a blocked shot in 16:41 minutes of ice time  last night.

Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski also had a great rookie games. Its really easy to look at Bart’s -2 and say he didn’t play well, but it wouldn’t be factual. He was solid last night in his 26:42 minutes of ice time. He added 1 shot, 3 hits, and a blocked shot. Hamilton was pretty excellent considering the roller coaster season he has had. Everyone knows injuries create opportunities, and Dougie took hold of his chance to prove he belongs in the lineup. He registered an assist, a +2, 5 shots, 1 hit, and a blocked shot in 20:45 minutes of ice time.

Brad Marchand stepped up in a big way last night after an unusually weak showing against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored the big overtime winner for Boston as well as an assist on the game tying Krug goal. He also added also added 3 takeaways in the game. David Krejci continued his great playoff performance with an assists on the Chara goal. Patrice Bergeron had an assist, and won 78% of his faceoffs. Milan Lucic didn’t land on the score sheet, but he crushed the Rangers all night with 8 hits.

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Matt Bartkowski played in Games 5 and 7 in the first round of the playoffs against Toronto.

As we all know, the Bruins skated past the Maple Leafs by the hair on their chins with an unbelievable comeback win on Monday night. What may not have been quite as obvious or even quite as important at the time was how they were able to get it done. Obviously, they needed to be able to score two goals in less than two minutes, but there was a reason they were within striking distance – if you want to call it that.

Through six games, the B’ had been 3-0 with both Andrew Ference and Wade Redden in the lineup and were 0-3 without both of them in there. In Game 7, however, neither veteran was on the ice and it came down to two rookies – Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton – playing well enough to get the win. Bartkowski even chipped in with his first career NHL goal in the first period and with Dennis Seidenberg leaving the game very early on, they each played big minutes and logged a lot of ice time.

By no stretch of the imagination were either of these players amazing, but they did enough to help the team win. They combined for just three hits and one blocked shot as well as five shots on goal, but they minimized their mistakes. For Hamilton, especially, he was much better than he was in Game 2 and even late in the regular season, though he was on the ice for the second Toronto goal in Game 7. In Bartkowski’s case, he took advantage of his ice time from Game 5 nearly tripling to make an impact on the game both offensively and defensively.

With returns from Seidenberg, Ference and Redden not looking too likely before the Eastern Conference Semifinals begin Thursday, these two will obviously be counted on for a lot of mistake-free minutes again. Not that it matters, but on the final two Toronto goals in Game 7, mistakes were made by Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid and Zdeno Chara – none of whom are rookies. Boychuk couldn’t seal of Phil Kessel for the rebound on the third goal and after Chara pinched up to allow a Leafs two-on-one, McQuaid was unable to get to Nazem Kadri quick enough to prevent him from putting home the rebound.

So, looking forward to the next series, a lot of the Bruins’ success will weigh on how well Hamilton and Bartkowski will be able to play. As I have said, they did all right in Game 7 when the team had just five defensemen left on the bench. Now, they have had two days to practice with Torey Krug, who is likely to go in Game 1 tonight, as well. This means new partners for almost everyone except Hamilton, who is fairly used to playing with Chara.

The key against the Rangers will be how well the makeshift defense of the Bruins stacks up against some of the tougher forwards in the league from New York. It’s not just Rick Nash, who was not even close to their most productive forward in the first round, but New York has more than a few forwards who can make plays and score goals. Sure, Chara may be on the ice for most of Nash’s shifts, and as we saw in Game 1 of the Kings-Sharks series, that can be effective, but there are other ways this team can beat you. The young defenders will have to step up since Chara cannot play 60 minutes a night.

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The Boston Bruins and New York Rangers are set to collide in the semifinals of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

While some of us fans are still thinking about the “miracle on causeway”, the Bruins turn their attentions to the New York Rangers. The Rangers moved on to the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs after beating the Washington Capitals in 7 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs certainly challenged the Bruins in a variety of ways during their first round playoff match-up. Had it not been for spectacular comeback, the B’s would be sitting at home watching this series with Toronto in their place.

The Rangers are whole different type of animal, they pose a greater challenge to Boston in a bevy of areas, and the Bruins will have to bring a much better effort overall if they hope to keep up. I am going to break down the preview into three areas and discuss the advantages, and disadvantages both teams have in this series.

Forwards:

I think the Bruins match-up really well here. David Krejci leads the NHL in playoff scoring right now, and his linemates have been excellent thus far into the post-season. Milan Lucic has all but erased his miserable regular season with an impressive showing, and he is currently ranked 5th in the NHL playoff scoring leaders. Nathan Horton has also been up to the task with 4 goals, 3 assists, and a league leading +11 in the post season.

The real question here is the rest of the Bruins offense. Patrice Bergeron’s line with Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand was basically none existent in the first round against Toronto, and it wasn’t until game 7 that they finally contributed offensively. Seguin finally broke his scoring slump against the Leafs with an assist on Bergeron’s series clinching goal. Hopefully it lit a fire underneath him, and the rest of that line. Seguin has been reportedly playing with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly on the third line in practice, while Jaromir Jagr has been moved up in his place. I think creates more balance throughout, and will take pressure of the young winger, while letting Jagr have a more important role in the top six. The Bruins’ bottom six was invisible against the Leafs, and to beat the Rangers they will need to elevate their play, and give Claude Julien the ability to role all four lines.

It has been somewhat of an unexpected season for the New York Rangers. The off-season addition of Rick Nash had many thinking the Rags would be an elite Eastern Conference team. Unfortunately for New York, inconsistent play from some pretty big players led to some pretty big changes. Brad Richards hasn’t been the same scoring machine he has been throughout his career since joining the Rangers, and was virtually non existent throughout the first round against the Capitals. In his debut in New York, Rick Nash was better than expected. He scored 21 goals, 21 assists, and a +16 in 44 games. Unfortunately he has yet to turn his good regular season into post season success. He only registered 2 assists in the Rangers’ series win.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate their third period goal in game 6

So much for “Bruins fans against game 7″. The Toronto Maple Leafs have staved off elimination for the second straight game, and have not put themselves in a position to possibly take this series. It is a tough pill for the Bruins and their fans to swallow considering the 3-1 series lead the team had after the first four games of the series. Coach Cluade Julien called his team  ”Jekyll and Hyde” when asked about the inconsistencies of their season, and I couldn’t agree more.

Game 6 wasn’t necessarily a barn burner, in fact it was probably the slowest game of the entire series. Both the Bruins and the Leafs racked up roughly 40 shots a piece in the previous three games of the series. So when the dust settled after the end of the first, and both teams had only managed roughly 8 shots a piece, it was a clear of indication of the tight-checking affair game 6 was going to be.

The real story of game 6 isn’t in the first two periods, though it was probably the sloppiest hockey both teams have played in the series. Instead it begins in the third period. Both teams were scoreless heading into the third, and despite the lack of action, both teams had a decent chance to win the game. That was of course until Dion Phaneuf crashed the net and had a Nazem Kadri shot find him perfectly. Watching Toronto go up 1-0 was tough considering the type of game it was, where one goal is sometimes all you need. Washington and New York proved that last night.

The Maple Leafs would add to their lead with a Phil Kessel backhand goal off of Tuukka Rask’s pads, as James Van Riemsdyk tangled with both Dennis Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara to allow him the space to snag the rebound. Finding themselves down 2-0 midway through the third in what is becoming one of the hardest places to play, the Bruins seemed tired and defeated. They would manage to ruin James Reimer’s shutout in the game’s final minutes as Jaromir Jagr made a great pass to a wide open Milan Lucic in front of the net. However, the Bruins’ goal in the game was nothing more than a look at what might of been had the effort been there in the first place.

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