During fast-and-furious hockey, especially at the NHL level, split-second decisions can make or break you. For instance, take a recent Boston Bruins loss in which two inexact choices by defensemen in the heat of the moment led to both of the opponent’s non-empty net goals.
This is not a blame game, mind you, but more of an opinion on what led to the goals and what could have been done to make those goals less possible.
Goals will happen no matter how well the defense positions and executes, but being in the optimal position as much as possible will surely cut down on scoring chances. During broadcasts and in media stories, you tend to hear a lot about how the goal is scored and not nearly as much about the specific breakdown that led to it.
This article will concentrate more on the latter, and it’s a good idea to remember that what you read is based on my opinion. Here goes:
For most of last week’s 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins’ defense was doing fine and positioned in the right spots. However, the first breakdown that cost them was when defenseman Brandon Carlo chose to go the wrong way.
The Lightning’s Nicholas Paul was carrying the puck just over the blue line on the right wing while Carlo’s partner, Parker Wotherspoon, was in position to take Paul on. But instead of staying in the middle to cover the streaking Mitchell Chaffee, Carlo bolted out toward Paul. This gave Chaffee all the space he needed to take Paul’s backhand pass and go in on a partial breakaway for a top-shelf goal as Bruins forward James van Riemsdyk hustled from behind but couldn’t catch up.
I don’t know if the following is true or not, but people watching just the end of that play and not how it unfolded may have mistakenly thought that this was van Riemsdyk’s fault.
In Carlo’s defense, he only had a fraction of a second to react. He was also skating on a pairing with Wotherspoon for the first time and their chemistry has not had time to develop.
Still, if this was, say, pickup basketball, I would expect Carlo to tap his chest and say “My bad.”
One Side Remained Open for Brayden Point’s Goal
The Lightning’s second goal was a less obvious imprecise choice by Boston (you can watch both goals on the following video, starting at about the 0:55 and 4:50 marks).
This time, it was Boston’s Andrew Peeke who didn’t get over to the post quick enough to reach Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, who gathered in the puck after a wide slap shot off the back boards by Emil Lilleberg and went behind the net from his right to left to sneak a wraparound just inside the sliding skate of goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Like on the first goal, the Bruins’ defensive pairing was new, with Peeke skating alongside Hampus Lindholm for the first time.
On this particular play, Lindholm went toward Point as far as the right post to guard that side of the net in case Point reversed course. Peeke, in front facing the goal, took a quick look behind him and saw Anthony Duclair to his right and committed to him for a moment before deciding to go over and try to cover the left post to thwart the speedy Point. Peeke got there a bit too late, as did Ullmark, who had trouble setting his arm on the right post after the slap shot and that cost him too much time on his slide across to where Point was going.
Related: Lightning Series Win Over Bruins Embodies Their 2023-24 Season
Sure, in many cases, Peeke being worried about Duclair and deciding to cover him would have been the absolute best thing to do. But Lindholm was already on that side to ostensibly block a pass to Duclair had Point chosen to do that, so Peeke getting over to the left post as fast as possible was optimal instead of leaving Point with so much room to maneuver.
Ah, but it’s these fast-paced plays that can cross up anyone, and it happens on a daily basis, so there’s no need to dwell on it and play the blame game.
For fun, let’s also look at the Lightning’s mistake on the Bruins’ only goal (at about the 2:00 mark of the video). This was a case of defenseman Matt Dumba not moving the puck fast enough from behind his own net and allowing David Pastrnak to sneak in and poke it away, leading to a bang-bang Pavel Zacha to Danton Heinen goal.
Bruins Have Tough Stretch Ahead
Defensive lapses are going to happen no matter what, but the more the Bruins can stick with their structure, the better.
And, as mentioned earlier, Boston’s overall defense is fundamentally sound for the most part. Let’s see if the Bruins (43-17-15, 101 points) can avoid those split-second errant decisions and stick to their responsibilities moving forward in their quest for the Atlantic Division title while preparing for what hopefully turns out to be a long playoff run.
A good sign came on Saturday when the Bruins’ defense did not get burned by positional irresponsibility in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals. Boston meets the Nashville Predators on Tuesday before facing a huge three-game test against the Carolina Hurricanes (47-21-7, 101 points, April 4), Florida Panthers (47-22-5, 99 points, April 6), and the Hurricanes again (April 9).
