The Boston Bruins just beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. At home, even.
The B’s got goals from Patrice Bergeron (25), Brad Marchand (33), Ryan Spooner (12) and Loui Eriksson (24) to earn a crucial 2 points and move to 2-0 in March- their toughest month of the season.
Claude Julien was behind the bench for his team’s 36th win of the season which gives him 387 with Boston, good for a tie for the club’s top spot all-time with Art Ross. What a way to get there in style, coach!
More important- they move into a (temporary) tie with Tampa Bay at 78 points, who are currently leading the Ottawa Senators and within two points of division-leading Florida, down 2-1 early to Colorado. Every game, every point is important, as we all learned last year. The victory gives them a tiny bit of breathing room against idle Detroit, building a three-point cushion for third place.
The Blackhawks played last night and started backup Scott Darling, and he at times looked like the No. 2 in Chi-Town, but that should not take away from Boston’s effort- they were gritty, tenacious and overcame a bad goal to Tomas Fleischmann late in the second which cut the 4-1 Boston lead in half.
However, as he did most of the night, Tuukka Rask shut Chicago’s attack down.
Those who want to look for negative things will no doubt find plenty, but I have to say- John-Michael Liles has impressed in his first two games. He skates like his legs are 25 not 35, and he’s always got his head up, looking to advance the puck. He had two helpers tonight but none prettier than the aerial sauce pass he fed to Eriksson, who was chugging right up the middle of the slot to the net. Loui deftly redirected a shot through the wickets to put an exclamation point on the contest. He went from a team that was selling off parts at the deadline after making an admirable push, to a club that is firmly in the thick of things. Even if the Bruins aren’t realistically a contender this year, Liles is playing with the energy and passion of someone who thinks they are.
The B’s get to face the nemesis Washington Capitals next on Saturday, and they’ll have a tough row to hoe. At least backup Philipp Grubauer will be in net and not the “Holtbeast”- Braden Holtby, who truly has Boston’s number and has pretty much owned them since earning his first career NHL win against the Black and Gold.
All you want from a team is pluck…a willingness to get after it and not fold in the face of pressure. The B’s passed their first major test of many this month and the first half of April. They’ll get to take one again agains Chicago on the road before the regular season ends, but at least we know the team has a split.
Now, the Bruins need to bear down and steal some games against playoff-bound opponents and not play down to those looking up at them in the standings.
Like we said- every point is important. This is why they opted to hold onto Eriksson rather than take a less than optimal return. He showed everyone why tonight, but there is much more work ahead.
The Boston Bruins won their second consecutive road game Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 contest in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild. The team’s 30th win of the season earned them sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division, just four points out of first. The B’s had to get it done today without Patrice Bergeron, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury after fighting Blake Wheeler in Winnipeg Thursday.
Brad Marchand (27), David Krejci (13), Loui Eriksson (18) and Zdeno Chara (8) all scored for the B’s, and Jonas Gustavsson had a solid game in net with 33 saves to earn his tenth W of the season. Claude Julien earned his 500th win in the NHL and moved closer to Art Ross to take over the top spot in team history- six more victories ties him at 387.
On the other end of the spectrum the Wild dismissed head coach Mike Yeo after his team’s eighth consecutive loss. Yeo, you may recall, was the toast of the Twin Cities a year ago after his club made the playoffs with a great second-half run (of which Devan Dubnyk played a huge part), but pro sports is a results oriented business, so less than a year later, Yeo is out.
The bigger issue with the Wild is all of the passengers- they’re paying boatloads of money to veterans who simply aren’t producing/giving the the team any bang for the buck. If Bruins fans think their team has problems, they ought to take a close look at Minnesota’s woes. I don’t think a coaching change (John Torchetti will take the reins on an interim basis to finish out the year) is going to make much of a difference if the guys earning the big dough don’t start holding up their end of the bargain.
After Marchand tallied his fourth shorthanded tally of the year to take a 1-0 lead, the B’s gave up a bad goal in the second period on a fumbled exchange behind the net between Gustavsson and Kevan Miller, who heeled the puck over to Thomas Vanek at the left side. He pinballed a shot that squirted through the B’s goaltender for his 15th tally.
Krejci came right back moments later with a nice 2-on-1 rush that was started with a nifty play by Matt Beleskey in the neutral zone to take a hit to make the pass that launched the Czech Mates- Krejci and David Pastrnak– up the ice. The two did a give-and-go with Krejci instantly recognizing that Nino Niederreiter was sliding towards his own net and rapidly running out of an angle to shoot into the open side, he victimized Wild backup Darcy Kuemper (and Niederreiter) by banking the puck off the crashing forward and over the goal line before he knocked the Minnesota net of its moorings.
Boston extended its lead to 3-1 when Eriksson took a pass from Ryan Spooner and broke away from the Wild defenders, sliding a backhander under Kemper. After Chara fired a 160-foot shot down the ice and into the empty net to make it 4-1, rookie Mike Reilly scored his first NHL goal and point with a late shot that beat Gustavsson but did nothing to alter Minnesota’s fate.
The B’s continue on their road swing Sunday afternoon where they take on the Detroit Red Wings in an important Atlantic Division contest. Tuukka Rask will be back in net for the B’s, and the fans will hope to get a shot in the arm from Bergeron as well.
For once, it wasn’t the Boston Bruins surrendering a two-goal lead in a game.
Ryan Spooner started and finished the comeback against the Buffalo Sabres at the First Niagara Center Thursday night with a goal in the second period and the lone shootout strike to secure a 3-2 road victory for the B’s.
Evander Kane registered the opening tally after a bumbling sequence in the Sabres zone that saw neither of David Pastrnak or Kevan Miller make a play on the puck, allowing an odd-man rush the other way. With the B’s out of position in their own end, Kane was able to corral a loose puck to Tuukka Rask’s left and slip a shot into the net behind him for a 1-0 lead.
Sam Reinhart added to Buffalo’s lead just 47 seconds into the second frame when he deflected Mark Pysyk’s point shot past Rask to make it 2-0.
Spooner answered just 58 seconds later when he dug a puck out from Matt Beleskey’s feet and flipped backhander into the net on former Bruin Chad Johnson’s blocker side. It was Spooner’s 11th goal of the season.
Brad Marchand tallied the equalizer with his team-leading 23rd marker on a nifty rush and backhand shot that Johnson appeared to have the angle on, but was unable to stop from sneaking through him and over the goal line.
From there, Rask held down the fort. Even as the teams exchanged 4-on-3 power plays in overtime, neither squad was able to break through. Patrice Bergeron had the best chance to end it when he was standing just outside the crease, got his stick on a loose puck and fired it on net, only to be denied by Johnson’s glove.
That set the stage for Spooner’s quick cut and shot that beat Johnson and stood up as the winning tally in the shootout, giving the B’s the extra point.
As the old adage goes- the scoreboard don’t say how- just how many. This is a game that against a more skilled opponent, the Bruins likely don’t battle back from, but it moved the team into third place in the Atlantic Division and keeps Boston firmly in the playoff hunt as the 2016 NHL season enters the real stretch drive.
The Boston Bruins have gone 1-1 in their last two games at home, losing a 4-2 match to the Vancouver Canucks Thursday night and then giving up a two-goal lead to the Columbus Blue Jackets but getting a 3-2 victory in the shootout.
The loss to the Canucks served as a good reminder about what currently ails the team, as Vancouver’s forecheck and play along the walls created turnovers and prevented Boston from getting much going on the breakout. When Boston did have offensive zone possession in that one, they had a tough time working the puck to the middle of the ice and goaltender Jacob Markstrom had a relatively easy night.
Against Columbus, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead, with the first goal coming from the newly-formed line of Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand-Ryan Spooner (on the RW). Whether that was an audition to try and see what life might look like if Loui Eriksson gets moved in the near future or just a hunch by Claude Julien, the unit looked pretty good, as the speed/skill combo of Marchand-Spooner with Bergeron’s high-end vision and smarts gave Columbus all they could handle.
When David Pastrnak scored his fifth of the season with David Krejci and Eriksson assisting at 3:34 into the second period, it looked like the B’s might run away with it. As has been the case in the TD Garden far too often this season, the visiting team came back and scored two goals (Dalton Prout and Nick Foligno) to knot the score at two goals apiece.
That opened the door for Spooner and Torey Krug to score shootout goals and secure the extra point for the B’s. Krug’s goal went top shelf as he cut across the grain- it’s a shame he’s only managed to find the back of the net three times (no goals in his last 20 games) this season, because the chances have certainly been there.
Night of Jonas
Tuukka Rask was originally supposed to start, but he was “not 100%” according to Julien, so Jonas Gustavsson stepped in and played well in making 31 saves. Gustavsson out dueled Joonas Korpisalo at the other end…he prevented B’s center Joonas Kemppainen from scoring any goals. All the while- winter storm Jonas did its work on the East Coast yesterday. Boston was spared the worst of the storm, which hit the Mid-Atlantic region hard and saw the postponement of several NHL games. Gustavsson played Prout’s band-angle shot poorly on the first goal he allowed and took ownership of the score afterwards, but more than made up for it in the final period when Columbus carried the play and generated some quality scoring chances that he all turned away. ‘Gus’ is now 9-3-1 in 14 games as the Boston backup. In contrast Niklas Svedberg had just 7 wins all of last season in 18 appearances, but interestingly enough- had a higher save percentage (.918 to .917).
Marchand surging
It took some time for No. 63 to get going after he returned from his three-game suspension, but his 19 goals in 42 games leads the B’s. He’s not just scoring and using his speed, but he’s playing disruptive game, getting in on opposing puck carriers and pushing the pace every time he’s on the ice. It was interesting to see the way he and Spooner worked together Saturday night, as the Blue Jackets had a tough time containing their quickness and ability to handle the puck. I won’t jump to conclusions that the line combination was expressly rolled out to see if Spooner can handle duties as a top-two line forward on his off-wing in the event that Eriksson is moved before the trade deadline, but that strategy makes sense, and for one game at least, Marchand and Spooner looked like a good fit together.
I was in and out for this one, so not going to publish a complete game recap (and sorry for missing the win over Florida, so maybe I’ll do a twofer of limited observations in this post) of Edmonton’s 3-2 overtime victory in Peter Chiarelli’s return to the TD Garden (his club is 2-0 against Boston, taking the season sweep).
The Boston Bruins played well enough to win this one, battling back from an 0-2 deficit on goals from Matt Beleskey (a flukey play that happened because of his sheer work and hustle) and Brad Marchand, who wired a snipe top cheddar to tie it late in regulation for his team-leading 15th goal.
First period breakdowns led to goals by Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (that one happening when Zdeno Chara lost an edge in the corner by Boston’s net and gave the puck up to Eberle.) The Bruins actually caught a break when Eberle scored what should have been his second goal of the game but the refs had blown the whistle and assessed Marchand with a hooking call. It didn’t make sense, and should have given the Oil a 3-1 lead, but instead, gave Boston a chance to salvage a point. See? The officiating isn’t always out to get the Bruins…they lucked out on this one.
So, without further ado, here are some observations. I’ll post a prospects update in the morning. Sorry for the lack of posts, but my other life has intervened of late, so given that I’m not getting paid to do this blog, you can appreciate where the priorities lie.
Beleskey is a true Bruin. Yes, he only has 4 goals as the B’s approach the 30-game mark, but man- the guy is a gamer. Tonight, his goal was vintage Beleskey as he took the puck to the net and from beside the left post chipped it in at Cam Talbot, who had completely stymied the Bruins on some great scoring chances. The puck seemed to skip over Talbot’s left pad, then dropped in behind him and when he tried to close his right leg, he pushed the puck over the goal line. Ugly? You betcha. Will Boston take it? Absolutely! Sometimes, you just need to make your own luck and after a season in which Beleskey hasn’t had a whole lot of bounces go his way, that one was a gift from some sympathetic Hockey Gods, perhaps.
Curious decision by Claude Julien to go with the combo of Landon Ferraro-Ryan Spooner- Torey Krug in the 3-on-3 overtime. Edmonton won the faceoff and possessed the puck the entire time, as none of Boston’s players could make a play in the defensive zone. Andrej Sekera’s winning goal happened because Ferraro got stationary and when an initial shot from the veteran defenseman hit Krug, Sekera motored around Ferraro, who was puck watching (as NESN’s Andy Brickley correctly observed) and fired it into the net behind Jonas Gustavsson.
Boston fans immediately took to Twitter to lambaste Julien for not having at least one (if not more) of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand or David Krejci out there to start the OT. They’re right. But, I can also live with the decision, as costly as it was and here’s why. Some of the same fans lighting the coach up are probably the same folks who have jumped on the coach in the past for playing favorites or sticking with veterans over some of the younger, more exciting players like Spooner. If he wins the draw and the Bruins take it the other way and score, Julien looks like a genius. It didn’t work out, and so we’re left with a good teaching point here- the next time Julien is rolling out some of the savvier veterans in OT and they are perhaps getting beaten by the other guys, you’ll remember that he wasn’t averse to giving the kiddos a shot in the past. Hey- the other guys wearing blue and orange get a vote, too- they made the plays and won the game. There’s no guarantee that Bergeron and/or Marchand, Krejci would have played it any differently. But of course- when you’re on the couch or sitting in front of the computer- it’s pretty easy to wag the finger and talk about what Julien should have done. I’m not saying you’re wrong for thinking that, but I guess I don’t have as big an issue with the roll of the dice he made as others do. Spooner and Ferraro have the speed/quickness and skill to excel in the extra space afforded them by the 3-on-3 format. Unfortunately, they got outplayed by Edmonton’s starting trio. It happens.
Speaking of Marchand…wow! That was just a wicked, wicked shot and goal on a guy in Cam Talbot who was having a career night. He almost stole the game in regulation, so B’s fans should be happy their team got a point out of it, and great setup pass by Ferraro to give Marchand the time and space to rip that one into the upper corner. He’s a snipah!
Frank Vatrano is finding ways to contribute, even if the pucks aren’t going in for him of late. He negated an icing call with a Charlie Hustle play in the first period and you can see the way he recognizes instant openings in the unfolding play and takes off up the ice. That’s a good sign, even if he might not quite be ready for primetime and could be sent back down to Providence at some point. So far, though, I have to think the coaches are fine with the lack of production because he’s doing the little things that are usually out of place for a rookie. Now, that’s not to say he’s got it figured out, but the kid from Western Mass. has been good. Better than good. Everything he does this season in the NHL should be gravy, but when David Pastrnak returns to action, I’m thinking that Vatrano might be headed back down I-95. We’ll see.
And on that note about the little things- Jimmy Hayes continues to struggle. He’s a lumbering skater who like most big men tends to glide and it often looks like he’s not trying even if not necessarily the case. Unfortunately for the Dorchester native, he’s also not getting many pucks to the net, so his issues are magnified. I think Hayes needs to simplify his approach…stop gripping the stick so tight. Just go to the net, get the stick down look for a simple play and not try to make it all back up on one single shift. Hayes is too talented not to be doing more for this club, but it looks like the pressure is getting to him.
Not a great night for Jonas Gustavsson…he wasn’t terrible, but when the other guy stands on his head, the guy seeing less action’s mistakes are magnified. He was giving up fat rebounds all night and the one to Nugent-Hopkins was particularly egregious. With Tuukka Rask playing his best hockey of the season, Gus might be taking a seat for a while. Cam Talbot was outstanding- if not for him, the B’s could have run the Oilers out of the building because they played well enough to do that if some of those quality shots he nullified had gone in. Sometimes, it’s okay to give the other goalie credit and admit that this just wasn’t your night.
The Oilers are for real. This was their sixth win in a row, the second over Boston this season and first in TD Garden since Mariusz Czerkawski scored a hat trick against his old club and Curtis Joseph blanked the B’s in a 6-0 shellacking on November 7, 1996. B’s were bound to lose one to the Oil on home ice eventually.
I’ve killed Kevan Miller on this blog quite a bit this season, but I’ve also tried to be fair. Sometimes, it’s easy to pile on him, because he’s getting more ice time than a player of his caliber should receive. I don’t say this to be condescending to Miller, but back in the day, the B’s were forced to play Hal Gill in a bigger (no pun intended) role than he was suited for and it put the spotlight on him for negativity. Miller had one particular memorable play tonight when Krug made a bad pinch up into the offensive zone with the game tied, allowing what looked like a potential odd-man rush for the Oilers the other way. Miller shut it down by taking a good angle on the Edmonton puck carrier and snuffing out the rush. It was one play, and I’m sure there were some mistakes out there too (and there will be many more of them over the course of the season, thank you) but in a game I didn’t admittedly see all of, the B’s had bigger issues than Miller tonight. Chara’s mistakes are proving pretty costly in their own right, for example. But that’s a story for another time- even with some of the gaffes from the captain, the B’s are screwed without him- warts and all.
And on that note, I’m signing off. Thanks for reading.
Brad Marchand is on a career-best goal scoring pace and is none the worse for wear after a Brandon Prust spearing incident (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)
The Boston Bruins closed out their three-game Western Canada road swing with a decisive win over the fallen-on-hard-times Vancouver Canucks with a 4-0 win at the Rogers Arena Saturday night.
Brad Marchand continued his blistering scoring pace (8 goals in his last 9 games) by potting the game-winner just 2:54 into his 400th career NHL game. His 13th goal of the season has him on a 40+ goal pace, which would easily eclipse his personal best of 28 (in 76 games) which came during the 2011-12 season. To put it in perspective, Marchand’s best goals-per-game ratio happened during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season when he tallied 18 markers in 45 regular season games. With 13 in 23, he is en fuego, and it could not have come at a more important time for the team as the defense collectively continues to be an adventure from night to night.
Torey Krug ripped a one-timer slap shot past Canucks starter Jacob Markstrom and high into the net to make it 2-0, and for Krug, you had to figure that some of the many pucks (74 shots in 25 games) he’s been getting on opposing goaltenders would start to go through. It was Krug’s second goal in three games after going the first 15 contests of 2015-16 before finding the back of the net against Detroit on Nov. 14. Krug got off to a very good start as one of the most effective defenders in Boston, but hit a rough patch last month, when it appeared he was trying to do a little too much and started coughing up pucks and making ill-advised decisions with his passes. Of late, he’s settling back in (though his ice time has gone down on average from the highs of 24-26 minutes a game in late October to hovering around 20-22), and has focused more on the defensive side of his game. He had a season-high five shot blocks in the loss to Calgary Friday and has registered a total of 13 in his last four games. As an undersized player, Krug is never going to have it in him to take on the majority of the NHL forwards he goes up against in a sheer physical contest, but he can play it smart positionally and by giving up the body to deny scoring chances on his net minders, he’s doing the little things.
Landon Ferraro has been a revelation. He wired a shot past Markstrom in the second period after taking a long lead pass from Zdeno Chara and using his speed to create a shooting lane. His drive from the right side was may have been deflected by a Canucks player on the way in, but his family including father Ray, and stepmother Cammi Granato (yes, that Cammi Granato and check out Landon’s younger stepbrothers all decked out in Bruins gear) were in the building to see him score his second goal as a member of the Bruins (he added an assist on Tyler Randell’s third period goal for his first career multi-point game in the NHL). Ferraro was an early second-round pick in 2009 who came out of the WHL with the reputation for speed and scoring, but not seen as all that accomplished in terms of playing a complete, 200-foot game. Well, the 24-year-old has addressed that, as he’s brought an energy, tenacity and diligence that Claude Julien and the coaches demand from the players. Ferraro was unable to carve out a niche for himself in the Motor City, but he looks like a real find for the Bruins to stabilize the bottom line for now, with a chance to develop and expand his role on the team going forward (two goals, four points in his six games with the B’s to date). When you consider that the team failed with their first rounder Jordan Caron, the fact that Ferraro and Randell are giving them life from the 2009 draft, it takes some (but nowhere near all) of the sour taste away from Boston’s failures in that arena from 2007-09. The name of the game in the modern NHL is to have the complementary, lower-cost but effective and productive pieces in place to offset higher veteran salaries to manage the available cap space. With a cap hit of about $452k this season, Ferraro is doing precisely that for his new team. Having looked at film of him with Red Deer and Everett of the WHL and Grand Rapids (AHL) and Detroit, I have little doubt that Ferraro has a chance to develop into a high-end third line forward and special teams ace. He’s not likely to be a legitimate top-six forward option, but getting those types off the waiver wire is hard to do. On a team that needed an infusion of speed and puck skills, he’s brought that. But Ferraro has also played with more jam than I thought he would. Give Don Sweeney and his pro scouts (Adam Creighton chief among them) credit here- they may have found themselves a keeper.
Zach Trotman is playing on the top line and doing well given the circumstances. He’s got the natural size you want from a defender and as a right shot, he’s the best one suited to play on the other side with Chara. I said before the season that Trotman is a solid, if unspectacular option who isn’t likely to ever develop into a true No. 1 or 2 at the NHL level. Pointing to his mere presence on the top pairing and calling him a No. 2 is not how it works, guys. Having said that, I believe he is a serviceable player who just needs to keep playing in order to get the best out of him, and Julien has done that after benching him early in the year. Trotman is at an interesting nexus between statistical performance and trends and the long accepted “eye test” with his play. He’s more Allen Pedersen or Hal Gill (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that when employed properly) than he is a top two-way defender, but with his cannon and ability to make an effective first pass, he’s getting the job done with Chara. Trotman will still make poor decisions and giveaways in high danger areas in his own end- he’s got to cut down on that. But while I don’t agree with at least one supporter who sees him as a legitimate top defender at this level, I do not see him as a liability the way other critics do. He’s not as snarly as Kevan Miller is, but he’s a far more effective player in terms of his skating and the way he handles the puck and sees the ice. At the end of the day, both can play at this level, but if you’re counting on both of them in the top-six rotation at the same time, then the B’s are probably going to have issues being a real team in contention over the long haul.
Of course, with Adam McQuaid’s status up in the air after leaving last night’s game with what appeared to be a wrist injury, the team might end up doing just that. Here’s hoping we’ll see more of Dennis Seidenberg and Colin Miller, but you never quite know how the Boston coaches see things versus the rest of us.
Patrice Bergeron and Marchand are the best, most recognized center-wing combo in Boston since Adam Oates and Cam Neely– such a shame they only truly had just two seasons (one of them being the lockout year of 1994-95 at that) to make their magic together. I guess one could make the case for Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov or Glen Murray and that’s a fair assertion to make. Either way, when it comes to what the fans crave and respect, it does not get much better than what Bergeron and Marchand are doing right now, and have done in the past. Bergeron is at just below a point-per-game pace with 24 in 25- but his previous season best for points was 73 in 81 games way back when he was 20 years old in the 2005-06 season. Not sure if his current production rate is sustainable, but given he led the club with 55 points a year ago, we’ll certainly take it. Bergeron does the little things that often go unnoticed and the fact that Marchand is finishing off the chances he’s getting from his center feeds into that production. As long as these two stay hot, the B’s have a chance at staying firmly in the playoff hunt.
Speaking of sustainable paces vs. unsustainable…Tyler Randell’s shooting percentage of 34 won’t stay up there, but there is a lot to be said for a guy who gets as little ice time as he does having four goals in just 14 of his team’s 25 games. His skating is better…the hands/shot were always there…he’s got to keep working hard and moving his feet. If you had told me before the season to guess a player with no previous NHL experience who would have the same or more goals than either of Jimmy Hayes and Matt Beleskey but in fewer games, Randell’s name would not have been on the tip of my tongue. He’s a tough bastard, too…he’s earned his limited ice time and should have an opportunity to get some more as the season goes on. His effort level is what will determine to a large degree how much of a role he can establish for himself, so that’s on Randell. He’s just got to keep grinding away, but so far, so good. And as for Hayes, he was a healthy scratch for the second time already this season- he’s on notice that when he doesn’t move his feet, he’s not accomplishing much. The team expects and ought to get more from him.
Speaking of the fourth line, even Zac Rinaldo got into the act of helping last night, coming up short in a quest for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with an assist and his first fight as a Bruin against Derek Dorsett in one of the more spirited bouts I’ve seen this season. See for yourself if you like that sort of thing.
Tuukka Rask came in and gave his club a chance to win the Calgary game. Last night, en route to earning his third shutout of the season and 29th of his career (just two away from tying Timmy Thomas for third in franchise history) he wasn’t tested all that much (17 saves) by what is a pretty moribund Canucks team. Still, he’s trending upwards and has played much more of late like the former Vezina Trophy winner. I have always respected Rask’s talent, but his body language and attitude at times has been an area of contention for me. He’s certainly not alone in that regard when it comes to goalies over the years. Patrick Roy was infamous for this kind of thing when it wasn’t going his way, but he’s also a Hall of Fame player and four-time Stanley Cup champ. I was raised in a culture that the goalie is the last line of defense and even when the team in front of you screws up, you don’t show them up and jump on their case after a goal is scored against. Besides, most everyone watching who understands the game knew where the breakdown occurred, anyway. Rask has always been one of those guys where when he’s playing well, you hear him say “I…I…I…” a lot and “We…we…we…” when the club is losing or not playing well. Even the most ardent Rask supporters know that in their hearts he’s moody and tends to get surly when the good times aren’t rolling. On a team like Boston as currently constructed, where we all knew coming in that we were going to see peaks and valleys, that’s not necessarily a positive fit. So, I’ll just say that as long as he keeps playing like this, the Bruins have a chance. Good on him for shutting the Canucks down last night and allowing the B’s to maintain control throughout. That’s the type of play the Bruins need from their top goalie and proof that he doesn’t have to stand on his head every night to be effective.
Finally, Brandon Prust and his spear on Marchand’s “fun spot” (his words not mine) in the game’s final moments (he got a match penalty but the Bruins didn’t get a power play out of it) is a fitting coda last night and spotlight to the mess the Canucks are right now.
Their goaltending isn’t very good…their core players are aging…the young players, while skilled and impressive options for the future aren’t ready for primetime. Prust’s actions, while meet with jeers from Boston fans and cheers from everyone else who despises Marchand, demonstrate the hypocrisy that has become so ugly and prevalent in the modern age of the Internet. There is simply no excuse for that kind of lousy sportsmanship and blatant disrespect. As someone who did not ever once defend Milan Lucic when he did it himself while wearing a Boston uniform and has at times been critical of Marchand’s on- and off-ice antics that have distracted away from the professional pursuit of winning, I don’t want to ever see or hear any righteous finger wagging coming from Vancouver and their fans/analysts again. At some point, we have to get past the intellectually dishonest partisanship of justifying bad behavior and call things for what they are.
What happens to Prust is up to the NHL and its player safety department, but I’m disappointed in those who seem to think that spear was in any way justified or acceptable. You instantly lose any moral high ground you think you own when you resort to that kind of moral equivalence in your reasoning, and to be frank- it’s beneath contempt and shameful. Prust embarrassed himself, his team, the league and the sport. This from a guy who ranted at an opponent recently on Twitter for fighting one of his young teammates, too. The hypocrisy from Prust and his enablers over the entire course of his checkered hockey career going back to the cheapshot he delivered to former Bruin Matt Lashoff when the two were in the OHL, reeks.
I expect a lot more from a Willie Desjardins-coached team, and being around him during his time with the Texas Stars, I bet he wasn’t at all amused with Prust’s actions last night and the stain (however small) that put on Vancouver in what was a pretty putrid game for them overall. Enough with the moral outrage out of that lovely city (man, they’re such a riot sometimes)- that team and their fans have just given up the right to complain about anything for a while and maybe they should just shut up and worry about winning hockey games from now on? Just a thought. No Cups in 45 years. No Cups for that franchise, period. Let that sink in for a bit and one more thing: scoreboard, Vancouver- better luck next time.
Okay- off the soapbox. Bruins got four out of six points on the roadie. Maybe not enough to inspire another Meatloaf song, but good enough to get them back into the tight jockeying for playoffs in the East.
If not for the numbers, it would not be a stretch to argue that left wing Matt Beleskey is one of the Boston Bruins’ most valuable players over the first quarter of the 2015-16 NHL season.
The two goals and 10 points in 20 games is disappointing given he scored a career-high of 22 a year ago with the Anaheim Ducks and was expected to reach the 20-goal plateau at least this season after the B’s made him their priority target in free agency last July. Signed to a five-year pact that carries an AAV/cap hit of $3.8 million per season, Beleskey is currently the eighth-highest paid Bruin on the roster. However, this blog post will argue that he’s closer the top-five in terms of impact and importance to the team’s fortunes. That may not translate when it comes to pure production, but in terms of other traditional and advanced metrics, Beleskey has been one of the more consistent forwards on a team that has had other players provide the needed scoring impetus early on. Based on his role in Anaheim a year go, Beleskey will eventually bring more in terms of production, and when he does, his overall physicality, energy and grit will be even more significant in proper context.
Background: Beleskey was the 116th overall selection (fourth round) by Anaheim in the 2006NHL Entry Draft, spending his entire OHL career with the Belleville Bulls (2004-08). His best season was a 41-goal, 90-point affair for the Bulls in his final junior campaign in 2007-08, signing with Anaheim and spending the 2008-09 season in the AHL (he did have a two-game scoreless NHL stint with the Ducks that year.) Beleskey scored 11 goals in 60 NHL games the following season and established himself as a full-time NHLer in 2011-12. The lockout and injuries have conspired to deny him more than 70 games in a single season, but he hit a career best for goals and points last season in only 65 games. The Ducks attempted to keep him out of free agency with a contract extension offer before the regular season ended, but Beleskey opted instead to go the free agency route.
Traditional statistics: With just a pair of goals in 20 games, there is no denying that Beleskey’s production is way down from a year ago. He’s scored in a loss against Montreal and an October 31 win over Tampa Bay, so both of his goals have come against division rivals. However, his assist totals put him on pace for about 40 helpers, which will far exceed his career-best 15 assists from 2013-14. His points/60 min average is a little off from what it was a year ago, but is comparable, and he is on pace to surpass his top output of 32 points.
Granted- you expect more from your $3.8M than 40-50 points, but that’s not terrible value offensively. At even strength, where the B’s have not been the greatest this season, Beleskey is among the team’s leaders in points with a 1.89 points/60 rating. Compare that to David Krejci– 2.41; Patrice Bergeron– 1.23; Loui Eriksson– 1.73 and Brad Marchand– 1.70. That Krejci leads Beleskey by .52 P/60 5v5 is not a surprise, but would you have put money on him beating everyone else- and Bergeron by .66? Beleskey’s even strength P/60 are No. 3 on the team overall- behind Krejci and Tyler Randell (2.30), who has played a paltry 78 minutes at even strength. Beleskey’s even strength 1.89 P/60 would be only seventh-best on the Montreal Canadiens (just ahead of Tomas Plekanec), but he would lead the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose best 5v5 player, Jonathan Drouin, has just a 1.88 P/60 to boast of.
Beleskey has not had an opportunity of any significance with the man advantage or on the penalty kill, with just 6:39 of power play time (compared to his 285:38 and counting at even strength) and 49 seconds on the ice while shorthanded. The lack of impact on special teams is both a ding on him in terms of how valuable he is and an example of how successful he’s been despite the opportunities that his higher-scoring teammates receive in the special teams game. When you factor in the Bruins P/60 rates in all situations- Beleskey (1.97) drops to 10th on the team, with every forward on the active roster save for Frank Vatrano, Landon Ferraro, Joonas Kemppainen and Zac Rinaldo ahead of him. Colin Miller’s (2.00) rating puts him ahead of Beleskey, the only defender in the top-nine. On the Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, Beleskey’s 1.97 P/60 puts him fourth on that team.
Where Beleskey is shining is in the hits department, where he is currently in the top-10 with 82 hits, more than 4 per game on average. By comparison, Milan Lucic, the Boston forward Beleskey was widely considered to have been brought in to address the lost production from, has 78 hits in two more games. Beleskey doesn’t have Lucic’s natural size or ability to be as physically dominant, but he’s a scrappy, physical guy for his 6-foot-and change size. He’s always willing to finish his checks and make a big hit. Just ask Derek Stepan. Ouch…too soon? Que dites-vous, Alain Vigneault?
Beleskey is shooting the puck more than he did a year ago and right now, not a whole lot is going in for him, but when he starts finding the back of the net, watch for him to get on a streak. Beleskey fired five shots on Henrik Lundqvist Friday and if he continues to get pucks to the net, he’ll raise the scoring bar. A year ago, he scored 18 even strength goals on just 124 shots, a shooting percentage of 14.5 percent- well above his typical numbers (he tallied 10.3 percent in his 11-goal season during 2009-10, but typically scored at under a 10 percent clip in his other years), but most analysts predicted (correctly) a natural regression from that 14.5 percentage this season. Admittedly, the B’s need more than his current 6.67 shooting percentage, and he’s a good bet to get that number up closer to his career average of about 9-10 percent by season’s end.
Advanced statistics: Beleskey is on the positive side of the ledger in terms of goals scored for his team when he is on the ice versus goals against (per 60 minutes), with a GF60 of 2.941 and GA60 of 2.101. good for a GF percentage of 58.3. Bergeron’s even strength offensive numbers for example aren’t as good- the B’s have scored just 2.255 GF/60 but his GA/60 average is better with a 1.845. That gives him a 55.0 GF%. Bergeron’s iCorsi (74) is higher than Beleskey’s (66) because he takes more shots, but his even strength shooting percentage is lower.
Beleskey’s PDO (shot percentage + save percentage while player is on the ice- I like this stat because it tends to be a little more predictive versus some of the others) is 101.7, which is lower than his 103.8 and 103.0 in each of the last two seasons. Bergeron’s even strength PDO is 98.8- up two percentage points from the less productive 2013-14 season, when he posted a 96.8. Even in his 30-goal campaign of two years ago, his PDO was 102.4- just .7 points higher than Beleskey’s number as of today.
Bergeron significantly overtakes Beleskey on the power play where his production is tops on the Bruins with 9.88 P/60 (he has 11 of his 21 points against Beleskey’s 0.00. Bergeron’s PDO on the power play is 120.6 (compared to his 5v5 of 98.8), which gives you an idea of just how much his production with the man advantage skews the scoring totals in his favor. The bottom line for me when I look at the two players- at even strength, where the two have similar minutes on the ice, Beleskey is the more productive (note- I said productive not better) player. I won’t peel the onion back too much more in terms of Beleskey’s zone starts or how he does when close or trailing, but he’s been one of the more consistent performers at even strength- admittedly and area that the Bruins need to improve on going forward if they want to remain in the playoff picture.
(Statistical source: Hockey Analysis.com- David Johnson)
Intangibles: Going back to July 1, when Beleskey chose the Bruins in free agency, he’s said and done all the right things. He and his wife were active on social media and quickly traveled to Boston after signing, showing their excitement to be joining the organization at a time when the team’s outlook was anything but rosy. The B’s and Don Sweeney had just traded Dougie Hamilton and more questions than answers swirled around the B’s, even though Beleskey and trade acquisition Jimmy Hayes pumped some excitement into fans who had seen their contributions while wearing other team jerseys and envisioned good things from the new additions. Thus far, the two have combined for just six goals, which is well off of expectations given that they posted a total of 41 between the two of them with the Ducks and Florida Panthers a year ago.
Beleskey is hard-nosed- he’s had a couple of fights with Minnesota’s Brett Bulmer and NY Ranger Dylan McIlrath in the past seven days, racking up an impressive 10 total hits in both contests. He’s a gritty, willing combatant, which should endear him to Bruins fans as they warm up to him in Boston and see where his consistency and ruggedness comes from.
Against McIlrath, Beleskey was out of his weight class and took some shots and jabs from the much larger former WHL pugilist and first-round pick before coming back with a right cross and then went to the ice.
Beleskey did a lot better in his scrap against Bulmer, however…
What’s more- Beleskey wants to be here. Sweeney did a good job of moving guys who didn’t feel the same way out. If you’re going to invest millions in a player- at least pay for the ones who want to be a part of the solution. These guys are only human and sometimes we forget that if someone doesn’t want it as badly, we can expect them to be professionals, but without being able to see inside a person’s heart, we don’t know if they are giving it their all. One need not do any more than simply watch the way Beleskey hurtles around the ice on every shift, looking to to make a hit or force a turnover if he’s anywhere near the puck when someone with another jersey has it, to know that the guy is giving it his maximum effort.
Beleskey was in the news this past week when he and his wife purchased $2,000 worth of pies and distributed them to homeless veteran charities in Boston for Thanksgiving. It’s a nice gesture from a player who has backed up his words of being proud to be a part of the Bruins organization with the kind of gritty play the team values, as well as taking the time to give back to the community.
Summary: The Bruins are getting the guy they coveted from the West Coast. The goals aren’t there, but he’s brought a needed effort each and every night and plays hard, providing the all-important leadership by example. His 10 points in 20 games has him on pace for his best offensive season, and he’s creating space for his line mates with his physical brand of hockey. Beleskey doesn’t have the natural size to be a classic and even feared power forward, but he’s not shy about sticking his nose in and taking one for the team.
There are some who will just point to the $3.8M cap hit and draw a direct correlation to the downturn in goals, but when you consider that some pundits were predicting him to sign for upwards of $4.5 or 5 million last July, the Bruins are getting solid value. At age 27 and with four more years on the books, he’ll probably live up to the contract and then some so long as he can stay healthy. Because of his kamikaze style of play, it takes a toll on his average frame. However, when all is said and done, no one will ever accuse Beleskey of being soft.
In short, you win with guys like that, and this is why- as we look at Boston’s record after 22 games- they sit at a solid 13-8-1 overall. There aren’t many who would have put money on them being 5 games over .500 at the quarter pole with the team they had on paper coming into the season. Beleskey’s contributions, especially at even strength when the power play has not been there to carry the club offensively, are a big reason you can make a case that he’s right up there with the big guns- Krejci, Bergeron, Marchand, Eriksson as one of the team’s most valuable players during this stretch of the season.
The Boston Bruins benefited from a superb goalie duel between Tuukka Rask and James Reimer, winning a second consecutive home game for the first time this season in sending the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs away in a 2-0 contest.
The game was scoreless going into the final five minutes, as both teams waged a see-saw battle that began with a good, uptempo pace from the opening puck drop and continued throughout, with just a couple of penalties to slow the momentum.
This was hockey the way it was meant to be played, even though there was just one goal scored with a netminder between the pipes- Brad Marchand’s empty-netter in the waning seconds made sure the Leafs didn’t send the TD Garden faithful into a panic with late-game heroics.
Reiner stopped Boston’s first 35 shots on him and has reinvented himself after buying into the head trajectory concept, which is gaining momentum with goalies around the NHL. In a word, it comes down to this: tracking. By tracking the puck by leading your save movement with the head and maintaining a visual at all times before the shot, at the time of save and through completion of its trajectory on the rebound, Reimer is on a hot streak, having entered the game with a .951 save percentage since pushing Jonathan Bernier out of the Toronto crease.
Alas, Reimer’s excellence in net was not enough for the Leafs, as Matt Beleskey won a puck battle down low late in the third period, dishing the puck out to Zach Trotman at the right point. Trotman faked a shot to freeze his man, then slid the puck over to his d-partner Zdeno Chara. Instead of shooting, Chara had a lane to the net and took it- skating about 15 feet in and uncorking a hard snapshot that beat Reimer through the wickets with traffic in front.
The Boston captain’s third goal of the season was all the Bruins needed.
In net, Rask was good when he had to be, making several key stops on Leafs forward Shawn Matthias, including a first period breakaway when Colin Miller lost an edge on a reverse crossover at his own blue line, allowing Matthias to walk in alone.
Zdeno Chara had a great night in the Boston victory (photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)
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Zdeno Chara- Big Zee gets a lot of flak on my Twitter feed as a diminishing star who is not the player he once was, but tonight, he reminded us all of why he’s a future Hall of Famer. He played a snarly game, doling out hits and cracking Toronto pest Leo Komarov in the back with his stick during one sequence. During a scrum between Marchand and James van Riemsdyk, Chara locked up with Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and dearly wanted to fight him, something Phaneuf seemed all too happy to let the officials keep from happening. Then with a little under five minutes left, Chara unleashed a bomb from the slot to win the game. Life means that certain sports fans will adopt a “what have you done for me lately?” attitude and there’s not much you can do about that. People are entitled to their opinions, and while Chara’s best years are behind him, it was nice to see him at the top of his game on this night.
Tuukka Rask- The Leafs have been kicking themselves ever since trading him to Boston nearly a decade ago, and Rask posted his 28th career shutout- good for fourth all-time in Boston franchise history behind Cecil “Tiny” Thompson, Frank “Mr. Zero” Brimsek and Tim “Timmy” Thomas. It’s been a tough year for Rask, but he came up big when his team needed him, and he was pretty quiet in the net, keeping things simple and making the saves look pretty routine. It was a nice change of pace from the off-kilter Rask we’ve seen more often than not this year, and goes to show that when he’s on, he’s one of the best in the game.
Brad Marchand- Marchand played a great game. He had a highlight reel sequence in the opening frame when he screwed Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly into the ice on an inside-out move, then decked Reimer, ultimately losing the puck off his stick before he could get a shot off. During a collision with Komarov that looked worse than it was, van Riemsdyk went to him and Marchand dropped the gloves, pulling the much-larger JVR to the ice and getting a roughing penalty in the process. He played with speed, energy and grit all night and didn’t get too out of control, which is usually the only issue with him. His ENG was icing on the cake of a solid night overall.
Zach Trotman- I tweeted that he’s my unsung hero for the past week-plus for steady, effective play since getting a chance to skate regularly in the lineup again. He’s never going to be a top defenseman or two-way threat, but Trotman has the size, mobility, smarts and character to be a serviceable defender at this level. He was unfairly banished to the press box after having to debut on opening night with Matt Irwin, who had a disastrous two-game performance that caused Trotman to pay a larger price, missing about a month of games as a healthy scratch. But, the former Lake Superior State standout didn’t sulk or complain- he just kept working at it and was ready to go when his chance came. NESN analyst and colleague Billy Jaffe takes it a step further, saying that Trotman has been among the team’s best defensemen since returning to the lineup. Not bad for the last overall selection in 2010…
Zach Trotman has been an unsung hero for Boston since getting another chance to skate regular minutes (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)
Matt Belesekey- His point totals are nothing to write home about, but this guy is a quintessential Bruin in the way that he blasts around the ice doing the little things. I think the production will start to flow more in the coming games, but you certainly notice the guy and he made the right play on Chara’s winning goal. If he doesn’t win that battle for a loose puck, maybe this game gets to OT and we have a completely different outcome. Luckily for Boston, he didn’t lose and a few seconds later, Chara’s rocket was tickling the twine.
James Reimer- He’s a good guy off the ice and you have to give him credit for reinventing himself on a team that started horrendously. I don’t know that he’s for real- we saw a similar run back when he debuted and captured Toronto’s collective hearts in early 2011 when he was called up and stymied NHL shooters before coming back to earth and battling injuries in subsequent seasons. And of course- he was in net against Boston in the 2013 playoffs for that agonizing overtime defeat in Game 7. Tonight, he did everything in his power to give his team a chance to steal a couple of points.
No downers tonight. The Bruins got an important win for their psyche and are sitting in one of the two wild card spots as we speak. There’s still much hockey to be played, but given the way things started, I think most people will take that.
The Washington Capitals lately the nemesis of the Boston Bruins thanks in large part to the stellar play of goaltender Braden Holtby, gave the Black and Gold their first road loss of the season at the Verizon Center Thursday thanks to goals from Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich, John Carlson and Karl Alzner (empty net).
Boston opened scoring in the first period, breaking up Holtby’s shutout streak against the Bruins of nearly 200 minutes when Jimmy Hayes drove hard to the net and banged in Brett Connolly’s shot/pass to the front of the net at 12:47. Defenseman Colin Miller got the secondary assist on the play, adding to his five-game point streak (goal, 4 assists).
The lead did not last, as a Kevan Miller turnover saw the puck end up on Ovechkin’s stick, who fought through traffic to get a shot into the net past Tuukka Rask.
Laich gave the Caps a lead they would not relinquish, as he deflected a Dmitry Orlov point shot down and past Rask just as Bruins defender Joe Morrow arrived to knock him down.
Boston came unglued in the second period, as Hayes took a needless neutral zone slashing penalty, and while Boston’s NHL-worst penalty killing unit was on the ice, Brad Marchand got into a physical battle with the Caps’ TJ Oshie in front of the B’s net. Both players went down, but as Marchand got up, he rabbit-punched Oshie in the back of the head. End result, a 5-on-3 power play for 1:18 that the Caps cashed in on.
With Nicklas Backstrom holding the puck on the right side of the Boston net just behind the goal line and K. Miller down on his knees and out of position, Backstrom slipped a pass to Carlson as he snuck in past the slot penalty killer and fired a shot home to give the home team a decisive lead.
In a mostly scoreless third period, with both Rask and Holtby trading quality saves, Alzner scored into the empty net to finish out the offense on the night in a 4-1 game.
Tyler Randell got back into the Boston lineup for this one and had his first NHL fight against Caps forward Michael Latta, a rival from their OHL days. It was a pretty even bout, with Randell getting the edge in punches landed and the takedown, but Latta got a couple of hard rights in to make it a no decision.
For the Bruins, a tough week that began with the home loss to Dallas was made a little tougher by having to face a goaltender that has essentially owned them in his career. With just 1 goal given up in 246:43, and four consecutive wins against the Bruins, Holtby’s mojo persists.
Colin “Chiller” Miller has arrived in Boston- a keeper. (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)
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Colin Miller- It’s hard not to like what “Chiller” is bringing to the table. He’s scoring points and carrying the puck with confidence, as evidenced by a third period rush, when he skated through three Capitals in the neutral zone, gained the offensive blue line and then put a low shot that Holtby had to squeeze the pads together quickly to stop. As with any defenseman in their first NHL season, there are things to work on, mainly in his defensive coverage and decisions with the puck at times, as he will make higher-risk passes or skate the puck into danger zones when there are better options. But overall, the former Kings prospect has come exactly as advertised and his tangible production and impact- six points in his first 12 big league games- are probably better than anticipated. He’s a keeper.
Braden Holtby- He’s a workhorse, All-Star and he absolutely has Boston’s number. In his last four starts against the Bruins, he posted games with 29, 32, 27 saves- all shutouts, then stopped all but one of Boston’s 28 shots in this one. As someone who used to live in the D.C. area when Holtby was coming up through Washington’s system after a standout WHL career with the Saskatoon Blades, I was always far more impressed with him than I was with the other higher-touted goalies in Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth. When Holtby showed up in April of 2012 to beat the defending Stanley Cup champs in a seven-game first-round playoff series, some mocked me on Twitter at the time for saying the guy was headed for the upper echelon in the NHL. Not too many would deny him his spot there today. “Holt-beast” indeed.
DOWN-
Brad Marchand- His lack of discipline hurt the team badly, and there’s absolutely no excuse for it. If the team didn’t need him so much, it might have made sense to send him a sterner message. Marchand has always been on the edge, but his selfishness tends to manifest at the worst possible time. I’m sure he’ll take accountability for putting his team in the hole like he did if he’s not on record already doing it, but talk is cheap. At some point, he’s got to wake up and stop taking bad penalties like this. That the referees made a ticky-tack call on Hayes to put the B’s down a man to begin with is not the point- Marchand inexplicably gave a head shot to Oshie in full view of the referee. That kind of stuff is unacceptable, and there are no more passes for Marchand- he’s a veteran enough player to understand that by now.
Boston defense- We knew this group of players would have a rollercoaster season given their relative inexperience with Dennis Seidenberg still out (though getting closer to a return). The youngsters have done well for the most part, but tonight, they were a step behind and not effective at doing the corner work or keeping the front of their net clear. Washington forwards did a nice job of pinballing off of checks and working pucks to the net. This kind of thing is going to happen, and fans will have to understand that, but in a game the B’s had the lead in, it’s a shame to see the kinds of breakdowns on the back end that led to Washington goals. Rask didn’t have a lot of help and deserved a better fate. Morrow and K. Miller in particular had forgettable performances and will need to shake that off going forward.
Here are some postgame notes and quotes compliments of the Washington Capitals media relations team:
Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby on slowing down the Bruins… “[The Bruins] still do one thing really well – that’s getting shots to the front with traffic, and that presence. They’re still really good at that. They have some good D-men that can get the puck on net with wrist shots or what-not and create havoc, and that’s where their toughest plays for us were…I thought we did a good job, especially in the neutral zone – didn’t give them anything really throughout the whole game. We stuck to our game plan, and the power play was huge for us too.”
Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien on how the game got away from the Bruins…
“The first ten minutes were good. I thought once we scored that goal, that’s when I thought we took our foot off the gas and let them get themselves back into the game. Second period was a matter of some real bad penalties that kind of hurts your team and gives them some momentum. Third period we had to claw our way back into it. They’re a good defensive team, and we didn’t get enough shots on net, and we didn’t get enough players in that area as well to be able to score some goals.”
Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien on the effects of the Bruins’ penalties…
“All three penalties – you take a slashing in the neutral zone, you have too many men on the ice when your guy that you’re jumping for [is still on the ice] and the puck is coming – it’s like you’ve got to be smarter than that. So, it’s not just [Brad Marchand]. I thought the second period penalties were real bad penalties on our part.”
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand on playing against Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby…
“He’s a good goalie. I think they have a really good team over there, too. We just have to get a few more bodies out front. He’s one of the really good goalies in this league. We just have to find a way to beat him and just get bodies in front.”
The Bruins get to face Montreal on Saturday, with another game Sunday in Boston against the Islanders. This week isn’t going to get any easier.
Loui Eriksson is proof positive that bad things can happen to good people, but the best of them can use that adversity as an opportunity to adapt, overcome and ultimately reinvent themselves. Back before the season began, I predicted that Eriksson would be a prime candidate to be traded at some point this season given his impending unrestricted free agent status next summer and the opportunity for the Bruins to move him in exchange for asset(s) that would benefit the team going forward.
With 11 games in the books and Eriksson contributing to his team’s fortunes in all aspects of the game, it might be time to revisit that position.
Eriksson was the centerpiece of Boston’s most controversial trade since Mike O’Connell shipped a 26-year-old, in-his-prime Joe Thornton to San Jose for three “JAGs” (just another guy) in Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau. The JAG moniker is not meant to be disrespectful to Sturm, as of the three he provided the most impact and valuable service for the Bruins from late 2005 until the team traded his rights to Los Angeles for cap relief during the 2010-11 campaign, but when you measure his contributions against those of Thornton with the Sharks, you get the idea. Like Sturm, Eriksson has been able to establish himself as a regular contributor in Boston, but as an identified key piece of the 2013 summer deal between Boston and Dallas, has not produced at anywhere near the pace of the young star Boston gave up for him.
In Eriksson’s case, he was part of a futures package that came to Boston in the exchange for Tyler Seguin– the well-away-from-his-prime wunderkind who has since proven that the fears of him not living up to expectations as the second overall pick in 2010 were unfounded. Even if Seguin’s off-ice discipline and overall maturity are still a work in progress, the hockey product is continuing to improve as he has emerged as one of the NHL’s brightest scoring stars since the start of 2013-14.
However, the point of this post is not to revisit Boston’s decision to trade a 21-year-old Seguin, or to debate the return from Big D. For Eriksson, he became a victim not only of two concussions that essentially cost him his first and arguably most important season in Boston, but also of an expectation bias that based on his track record, he had little chance of overcoming.
Eriksson first year in Boston was during the 2013-14 campaign, when the B’s offense was near the top en route to the franchise’s first President’s Trophy as top regular season club since 1989-90. On paper, his statistics reflect the time lost to head injuries and the likely effects he had to contend with after completing the NHL’s concussion protocol after both events. In missing 21 games, his 10 goals and 37 points ranked 10th on that team in scoring, with David Krejci finishing on top with 19 goals and 69 points in 80 contests. Both Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla tied for the team lead in goals with 30. His two goals and five points in 12 playoff games, added fuel to the fire that Eriksson was a player in decline and a poor return for Seguin.
In 2014-15, Eriksson provided more consistent offense on a non-playoff club, finishing second on the team in goals scored with 22 to Brad Marchand’s 24.
When looking at some of the more advanced analytics out there on Eriksson, the contrast between his 2013-14 even strength numbers and those of this season are pretty striking, and not in the way you might think. His goals and points/60 minutes in 5 on 5 play are actually higher in his first season- (0.63 and 1.73) than both last year’s 22-goal campaign (0.60 G/60 and 1.54 Points/60) and this season’s hot 11 points in 11 games (0.38 GF, 1.54 P/60). Eriksson was more effective offensively in that first year that many pointed to as an abject failure given Seguin’s offensive explosion (and ability to stay healthy).
Where Eriksson has raised the game is on the power play in 2015-16 compared to past seasons. In 37:48 on the ice with the man advantage thus far, he’s on pace to shatter his totals from his two previous seasons in Boston. His three goals and five points are already half of what he produced in 188+ minutes of 5v4 play a year ago, and he had a total of 11 points in 115 man advantage minutes in 2013-14. His goals and points/60 totals on the power play are 4.76 and 7.94 respectively, impressive when compared against the 1.91 and 3.18 from a year ago (remember he finished second on the team in goals, and his 47 points were second to Bergeron’s 55). Eriksson’s 5v4 numbers in 2013-4 are closer- just 1.04 goals/60 but his assist ratio was a significantly higher 4.66 giving him a 5.70 points/60 during that “failed” season. David Krejci’s numbers look like a guy at the top of Boston’s pay scale- his 5v4 goals and points/60 are even higher than Eriksson’s- 2.92 and 10.21.
Time will tell if Boston can sustain its blistering power play pace, but you figure Eriksson and his teammates will come back down to Earth at some point. For now, however, he is making his presence felt, which is important given that the man advantage is helping to offset the disastrous last-place PK for Boston.
Eriksson’s shots per game are down from what they were in the previous two seasons, but he’s making more plays to pass the puck to teammates who are finishing them off with goals. His individual Corsi rating is down because he’s simply not shooting as much as he has in the past, but expect that to balance out as the season goes on.
So, if you look at Eriksson’s consistent production across the two full seasons and early part of a third, he’s actually been a good value for his current cap hit of $4.25M. At age 30, he’s not getting any younger but when you compare him to Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist, for example, his points/60 at even strength are comparable, but on the PP, Eriksson’s 7.94 far eclipses Hornqvist’s 2.46 (Hornqvist has played about 13 fewer minutes with the man advantage as Eriksson has). Jakub Voracek and James van Riemsdyk both make the same coin and are well behind the older Eriksson in terms of their 5on5 and 5on4 production. Calgary’s Michael Frolik makes $4.3M and is well ahead at even strength P/60 with 3.00, but is a big goose egg on the PP.
So- given the loss of Chris Kelly to a fractured femur and the fact that Eriksson is not only providing production, but quiet leadership as a respected teammate, don’t be so quick to advocate for his departure. It is entirely possible that by the end of the season, assuming he can continue to perform on a similar trajectory, talk of a modest AAV increase with a reasonable term of let’s say- three years- gives Eriksson an opportunity to be part of a better solution than what we have seen to date in Boston.
I realize that for some in Boston- there is simply no getting around the fact that Eriksson is not the player Seguin is and there will be a desire to move on and invest that cash on someone else perhaps a little younger with a more intriguing upside than the ‘Steady Eddie’ (Loui) No. 21 has been for the Bruins. That’s a fair point, but be careful what you wish for. At this stage of his career, Eriksson’s value can be measured in more than the statistics, and he’s probably less interested in cashing in than being valued and a part of a team that could be putting pieces in place to get back onto the road of contention in another 1-2 years.
Even in his “worst” year as a Bruin, Eriksson was a consistent producer who doesn’t get enough credit for his defensive play and willingness to do the little things to help his team have success. Some of those things come at the price of gaudier numbers and his mediocre open-ice speed is a point that critics can effectively argue against.
When all is said and done- the Bruins will be faced with an interesting choice this season. Trade him to a contender in the spring time and likely get a seller’s price for him, or invest in him continuing to be a solid citizen and contributor and make the effort to keep him in the fold come free agency. He’s proven that his play is not a fluke- he may not be putting up the pure production he did earlier in his career, but he’s providing balance and consistency, which is important to any winning club.This isn’t a Gregory Campbell situation here- if people are honest with themselves, it’s readily apparent that Eriksson is a superior offensive player who is not too old to continue his career trends for another 3 or 4 years if he can avoid any more TBI.
The case to trade Eriksson if Boston is selling at the deadline or keep him around for the next organizational iteration is something that my surface-level analysis of just a very few statistics can’t come close to effectively arguing for or against, but you can bet that someone out there is crunching the numbers.
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