(Photo courtesy of the AP)
By Dakota Antelman
After going 1-1-1 on a three game road trip, the Bruins return home bedraggled and questioned. Things have not gone well for the Black and Gold this month and as we near the NHL Christmas break, they find themselves on the outside looking in on the playoff picture.
33 games into the season they have accrued just 35 points. They sit a point behind the Rangers for the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot and nine points behind the Canadians in the divisional race that they were favored to win back in the preseason. Big losses in marquee games against the Ducks, Blackhawks and Sharks this month have decimated what little momentum they built with their five game win streak back in November.
This free-fall has them angry but dangerously non-productive. Also, it is beginning to solicit anger and discontent from the fans.
Said discontent, if defended before this most recent road trip, was painfully validated by the 1-1-1 finish.
"I'm not happy,” said Bruins coach Claude Julian after the trip’s final game, a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. “Because we could have came back - the way we were playing - we could have came back with five out of six."
He extrapolated saying, "And if we're happy with that (three out of six points), we're going to be on vacation there in the beginning of April. We're going to need more than that, to be honest with you. We've got to string some wins together here and this was an opportunity that we missed [Friday night]."
The Bruins were outscored 6-7 on the trip; an unimposing deficit until the shot totals are noticed. In 190 minutes of play on the road trip, the Bruins were outshot 104-91. They struggled to sustain zone pressure and failed to capitalize on goal scoring opportunities directly in front of the net.
"You just have to look at the scoresheet - there's guys that end up with no shots and all that stuff and you say, with the amount of ice and positions they're put in, they should be getting shots at the net," said Julien of the lack of opportunistic play. "We need more out of certain players, no ifs or buts about that."
One image that will likely be a lasting one of this road trip shows Loui Eriksson with complete separation from the Winnipeg defense late in a then 2-1 game. He had the puck on his stick, one on one with the goaltender, yet he held onto the puck and simply never took the shot.
"I had too much time to do something there. I should keep it simple and try to get a shot quick there," Eriksson defended.
Too much time, too many opportunities; with the exception of the Predators really, the three teams the Bruins played on their road trip were ones they had huge opportunities to beat. But they did not beat them, getting, in the words of many players, “too cute” with the puck.
"…the biggest thing for me is that we passed up on so many shot opportunities and looked for the cute plays and that's not our team," said Julien.
This lack of simplicity in play is evident across the board.
On the back end, Zdeno Chara, rather than elevating the play of the defensive unit in his return from injury, has taken a long time to get his timing back and cost the team any number of goals. The defense has struggled to clear pucks out of the crease leaving their goaltenders, who have not played half bad, to pick up the slack and steal the few games they have won this month.
Weak forechecking and lackadaisical coverage has forced the goalies to be perfect. That is simply not a good strategy.
For a team that prides itself in smart plays and logical strategy, loosing this kind of identity has been a talking point and omnipresent point of sadness for the team and its coach.
“Costly mistakes end up in our net and then the lack of wanting to put pucks at the net with a purpose versus trying to be cute, which is not our team, is what we struggled with," Coach Julian said.
The Bruins have been confessing their problems and confessing them again for weeks now but very little is changing in regards to the effort recognized by coaching. Goals are not coming for the Bruins and neither is timely shut down defense.
Things need to change for the Bruins who will be starting the second half of their season soon; because this is not the kind of team that misses the playoffs.
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