If we’ve learned anything about this most frustrating of Bruins’ teams, it is that they don’t stand much of chance to win unless they play a well-structured, stingy defensive game.
That, however, is not always enough.
In their loss against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, they didn’t really give the Blueshirts all that much, just 22 shots on net. But conversely, the B’s only managed 17 of their own against a team that’s not all that stingy and dropped an important game to another team vying for a wild card berth.
In their last game before the Four Nations break, generating offense will only get harder. Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights are in town and, though they’re not the toughest team to score on, they’re certainly not the easiest. They’re tied for eighth in goals against per game (2.73) and are coming off a smothering 3-1 win over the Devils in which they outshot New Jersey, 40-15. That snapped an uncharacteristic four-game losing streak (0-2-2) for the Knights.
When the Bruins suffer offense outages, it is often because they don’t do the simplest of things – shoot the puck.
That’s something coach Joe Sacco wants to see more of so the B’s can go into the two-week break feeling good about themselves.
“We’re deferring too much, at times,” said Sacco. “I go back to last game, we had some time in the offensive zone. I give the Rangers some credit. They did a good job defensively. But on the flipside we didn’t do a good enough job playing off the shot. I thought we over-passed sometimes when we could have gotten pucks to the net with two on the inside. For our group, it’s a constant reminder about how we have to play offensively. A little more shot volume. We did that earlier on. I think get away from it sometimes and that’s when we don’t generate enough offense. And our power play. Our power play had been going OK for a little while but last game it didn’t do as well. And that’s an opportunity for us, especially our top guys. When they’re moving the puck well on the power play, they’re building confidence, on 5-on-5, too. But like I said, it’s little bit more of a shot mindset, playing off the shot, looking for rebounds, two-for-one opportunities. That’s how we’re going to generate more offense for this group.”
While he’s far from the only culprit, Charlie Coyle is a player known to be hesitant to pull the trigger. He said at times it’s something that players need to keep telling themselves.
“You can’t always look for the perfect play, because it’s usually not there. It usually doesn’t come,” said Coyle. “When you play off the shot, they have to move around and things open up that way…One, it could go in. We get the puck to the net, bodies to the net and we bang home the rebound. Or we get the rebound and then we’re coming up with the puck and they’re a little lost. Who knows? Things open up, seams open up and that’s when you make your play and you score. In the grand scheme of things, playing off the shot is never a bad thing when you have a body or two there and you get the team overthinking and running around.”
If Coyle doesn’t tell himself to shoot more, someone else will..
“I’ve been told that my whole life. My Dad coached me all the way up to high school,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s nothing new. It’s something I’ve got to continue to harp on myself. I don’t have a lack of texts and messages about that.”
A win on Saturday will keep the B’s still well within striking distance of a playoff spot. But each loss puts them closer to some bodies being moved for future assets in the retool that both Cam Neely and Don Sweeney have acknowledged is on the table.
“We took the last four games and treated it like playoff hockey. So far we’re 2-1 out of the four and we’ve got one more game to finish it off,” said Sacco. “It’s a massive opportunity for us. I feel if we can play a good, sound hockey game for us against one of the better teams in the league the last couple of years, it sets us up and puts us in a good spot going into the break. Because as we all know the standings are tight….there’s a logjam there. I look at it as an opportunity to go into the break, put ourselves in a better position and then when we get back, understanding what’s in front of us the last 25 games.”…
Sacco was Cassidy’s assistant here in Boston for five-plus years and this will be the first time the two will battle it out as head coaches.
“A real good coach. Well-prepared, sees the game well. I thought he did a real good job getting a lot of out the group,” said Sacco of Cassidy. “A good all-around coach. Understands the game. He did a really good job I think of changing a little bit from the offensive side of the game when he came in implementing some things offensively. We already had a good, sound structure defensively (under Claude Julien)…There’s a lot of things he does well as coach. I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to work with him for six years. You learn from every coach you’re with and I certainly learned from him as well, too.”…
Whether it was with Buffalo or now Vegas, Chelmsford’s Jack Eichel has been a pretty prolific scorer against his hometown team. In 18 games, he has 7-9-16 totals.