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Which Bruins team will show up next? Not even Boston knows.
During the opening five games of Boston’s homestand, B’s fans saw a mixed bag of inconsistent, less-than-stellar play from the team that most media outlets chose to take the Eastern Conference. Gone are the days of winning streaks and strong special teams units. Now, the Bruins remain weak on both penalty kills and power plays while looking flat out puzzled on the ice. The black and gold team finished their opening five with a 2-3 record, each game a little bit different than the previous. Needless to say, this Bruins club bares little to no resemblance to last season’s team thus far.
Sure there were some flashes of light in the streak, but not many. For one, the emergence of the Bruins’ fourth line this early on in the season is inspiring to watch. Steve Begin has all of the makings of a true Bruin with his rugged grittiness. Paired with enforcer Byron Bitz and tough guy Shawn Thornton, the line clicks and has shown the most chemistry among every line, so much that bench boss Claude Julien started the trio for Saturday night’s win over the New York Islanders.
One of the most jarring stats from the homestand were the Bruins’ blown chances on the power play. The only goals scored from opponent’s penalties came on the October 3 game against the Carolina Hurricanes when the Bruins notched four goals on eight power plays. The B’s continue the pass-around showcase on most chances, all while waiting for Zdeno Chara to rush to the front of the net, a trick that has yet to deliver all season resulting in a 13.8% effectiveness on the power play. Just four goals on 29 chances. That’s just scary bad.
Already in five games the Bruins have 85 penalty minutes, tied for the seventh highest amount in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. What’s worse than a statistic like that is having a shaky penalty killing unit that hasn’t seemed as reliable as it once was. The Bruins have allowed eight goals on 26 penalties in the homestand, leaving them with a 24th overall ranking in the league, 12 spots lower than last season’s marking. Scrambles in front of the net fused with open men in the slot have led Boston’s opponents to capitalize on Bruin mistakes.
The Bruins’ Vezina-winning goaltender, Tim Thomas didn’t see action in the final two games of the stand, making room for Tuukka Rask to debut as the new Boston backup. Thomas tallied a 1-2 record and a 4.00 goals-against-average with a .868 save percentage to boot. His two losses were the two games in the homestand that the B’s suffered the most in; a 5-1 season opener against the Washington Capitals and a 6-2 stinker versus the Anaheim Ducks.
Rask’s debut was almost spoiled had it not been for some late game heroics by the B’s. Three quick goals in last Saturday’s game against the Islanders sent the game into a stalemate overtime leaving the contest to be decided in a shootout. Rask showed poise and patience after a soft first goal from Islanders’ forward, Rob Schremp, stopping the final two Islander shooters, with Marc Savard’s goal clinching the game.
The B’s began to mount a comeback similar to the Islanders game in their most recent contest against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, only to fall one goal short of a win, their closest loss yet. The physical game continued to be missing as the sloppy plays and out of position play led to scoring chances for other teams. Something just seemed to be missing, and the Bruins couldn’t find it.
The good news for Boston is that there is still 77 games left to remedy all problems. For one, finding a place for Johnny Boychuk on the roster might be imperative. After streaky games from Derek Morris, Andrew Ference and a now injured (day-to-day) Dennis Wideman, Boychuk played the most consistent style of defensive hockey in 60 minutes than most of these d-men have played at all. Boychuk saw action on both the power-play and penalty kill units while paired with Matt Hunwick during even strength action. One breakout from Boychuk even led to a Blake Wheeler tip-in goal versus Colorado. Nothing but good signs from the former Av, turned AHL Defenseman-of-the-Year for the Providence Bruins last season.
Young hockey players make up the core of Boston’s team, rounded out with veterans of the league. Once the hybrid of the two come together, the B’s still make a very strong case for the playoffs, furthermore, the Stanley Cup. This is not a time to panic just yet for the Bruins, maybe not even a cause for much discussion however, the B’s need to come together to develop chemistry that will win them hockey games. But for right now, this erratic black and gold crew is a far cry from an NHL champion.
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I always thought Boychuk should have landed that #6 spot on the blue-line this year before Hunwick got his contract. Even then, I was hesitant about Hunwick playing full-time. This may be harsh, but he’s a total liability when he’s on the ice. Boychuk does everything better than him and I hope we see a lot more of the 2008-09 Eddie Shore Award winner.
Despite the loss against the Avs, Krejci looked his best, thus far, this season. Shaking up the lines and putting Ryder with Sturm and Savard; and Lucic with Krejci and Wheeler may do some good on Friday night.
And similar to the Bruins team-bonding-trip to VT last season, I think leaving this five-game home-stand will be beneficial. I stink at predictions, but a 5-1-1 record to finish the month is doable.
Great breakdown and recap, by the way.