Post-Game Talk: 10/15 Game #2 - Bruins look listless in a 4-1 loss to Toronto

[BigGoalBrad]

You're gonna have games like this when half your D corps is inexperienced - 2 rookies and a near-rook (C Miller). And your back-up goalie looks rusty.

I'd like to keep Carlo around and send O'Gara and CMiller to Prov once KMiller and McQuade are ready.

Hope Backes' hand isn't hurt too bad. He's got a history with Khadri. Wonder if he should have maybe not taken the bait there, especially as we're already down a C.

Not sure C Miller passes waivers or we are in a position to lose him.


We need to see if McQuaid can play well before we send C Miller down. If McQuaid struggles I think we have no choice but to live with C Miller and hope K Miller and Carlo hold up.


Problem with Colin Miller is that he'll make big mistakes even when he plays well like Cbus (deflected goal and losing that edge for the 2-1 when he was already out of position) but when he doesn't play like hes faster and more talented and bigger than most D men he becomes flat out bad. I think hes just a guy who's meant to be an AHL superstar but not good enough for the NHL. Still young though he could get it and improve.

 

[Hali33]

I don't think 2 games will tell us much about where they'll end up, but as shaky as the D has looked, both as indiviudals and the group as a whole, at least three of the goals they've given up have been entirely the fault of the goaltender.

That's what? 40% of their GA....that were not the fault of the defense?

I agree.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Not sure C Miller passes waivers or we are in a position to lose him.


We need to see if McQuaid can play well before we send C Miller down. If McQuaid struggles I think we have no choice but to live with C Miller and hope K Miller and Carlo hold up.


Problem with Colin Miller is that he'll make big mistakes even when he plays well like Cbus (deflected goal and losing that edge for the 2-1 when he was already out of position) but when he doesn't play like hes faster and more talented and bigger than most D men he becomes flat out bad. I think hes just a guy who's meant to be an AHL superstar but not good enough for the NHL. Still young though he could get it and improve.

I would rather he goes and give Morrow his minutes. C Miller is not a good hockey player. Not saying Morrow will be either but I think Morrows offensive upside is worth some patients.

C Miller is a disaster waiting to happen every time he's on the ice.

 

[Cronuss]

Worst game of Colin Miller's short career.

 

[HumBucker]

Not sure C Miller passes waivers or we are in a position to lose him.


We need to see if McQuaid can play well before we send C Miller down. If McQuaid struggles I think we have no choice but to live with C Miller and hope K Miller and Carlo hold up.


Problem with Colin Miller is that he'll make big mistakes even when he plays well like Cbus (deflected goal and losing that edge for the 2-1 when he was already out of position) but when he doesn't play like hes faster and more talented and bigger than most D men he becomes flat out bad. I think hes just a guy who's meant to be an AHL superstar but not good enough for the NHL. Still young though he could get it and improve.

Hmmm, hadn't considered the waivers situation.

I agree that if McQuaid (or KMiller) struggle, then CMiller is an option, but as much they take flack around here, both McQ and KMiller are better defensively than CMiller right now, and would help stabilize things. We have Krug and Liles (and Chara) as puck-movers - we need reliability to complement them.

Ideally, it's great to be able to generate O from your D consistently, but for the time being, I'm happy to put the priority on stabilizing the D zone.

 

[PlayMakers]

It's funny what one game does to opinions. There were folks arguing Miller was our best D in Cbus. That he "carried" Liles that night. Now he's an AHL'er.

Statistically speaking, he helps generate a lot of shots but he also allows a lot of shots against. 2nd most shots for, most shots against, among defensemen.

 

[smithformeragent]

It's funny what one game does to opinions. There were folks arguing Miller was our best D in Cbus. That he "carried" Liles that night. Now he's an AHL'er.

Statistically speaking, he helps generate a lot of shots but he also allows a lot of shots against. 2nd most shots for, most shots against, among defensemen.

I think that this will be a trend for the season with the team in general.

I expect lots of ups and downs.

Nights where they look like world beaters and others where they look like a lottery team.

 

[The Zapper]

You have to be kidding. Too bad Krug, can't take a hit and Chara has to respond to in a 4 -1 game?
Chara was just happy to get 7 minutes in penalties so he didn't have be on the ice any more.

If Chara wanted to help the Bruins, he better get back to being a good Dman. He seems to have lost it in the way of mobility and speed (I don't blame him) just an aging fact.

That fight with Martin was the only time Chara touched a Leaf all night. They walked around him all night.

It's just a joke.

 

[BruinDust]

I think that this will be a trend for the season with the team in general.

I expect lots of ups and downs.

Nights where they look like world beaters and others where they look like a lottery team.

I just hope they can tread water for the 1st quarter.

What this team needs the most is time. Time for the rookies and new players to get settled, for lines/pairs to get more solidified, for injured players to return, and for Krug and Krejci to get back up to speed after off-season surgery.

I expect this year's team with all the youth to be more of an upward trend, rather than a team that peaks in November, and drops off a cliff in March/April.

But the early going I expect to be rough.

 

[Pia8988]

I supposed, but why give him more PP time than far more established options? It's insanity to see that after last year Marchand still can't sniff first unit PP time. He's literally their best scorer. WTF are they thinking?

One, they didn't. Heinen had 2:08 to Marchand and Pastrnak's 3:03 and 3:01 respectively.
They probably also don't expect Bergeron to be out long and didn't want to re-do two units. Both Czarnik and Heinen tried to do their best Bergeron impressions as the bumper, but are not Bergeron of course. They should just switch Backes and Beleskey if they do anything and make that the first unit while Bergeron is out and Krejci and Krug are clearly not 100%.

 

[BruinDust]

One, they didn't. Heinen had 2:08 to Marchand and Pastrnak's 3:03 and 3:01 respectively.
They probably also don't expect Bergeron to be out long and didn't want to re-do two units. Both Czarnik and Heinen tried to do their best Bergeron impressions as the bumper, but are not Bergeron of course. They should just switch Backes and Beleskey if they do anything and make that the first unit while Bergeron is out and Krejci and Krug are clearly not 100%.

Whether it's Belesky, Marchand, or Heinen, they need to swap out Backes on the 1st unit for a left-handed shooter. Spooner looks lost without his left-hand shot Eriksson providing that easy down low option on the PP while he works the half-wall. A right hand shot in that spot to me is no good for their 1st units current set-up.

 

[The Zapper]

It's funny what one game does to opinions. There were folks arguing Miller was our best D in Cbus. That he "carried" Liles that night. Now he's an AHL'er.

Statistically speaking, he helps generate a lot of shots but he also allows a lot of shots against. 2nd most shots for, most shots against, among defensemen.

Agree. But, one game? More like one play. Honestly, are people expecting him to be Drew Doughty? How about his D partner; or, better yet, the defence as a whole? How many games has he played? 43?

*Gets traded or sent down: "WTF, ****ing Sweeney should be fired for giving up on him/not giving him enough games at the NHL level, blah blah blah"

Good lord.

 

[Rick74*]

I loved every second of this. And I hope this won't be the last time Z does this.

Martin needs to watch some tape, oniel seemed to flip chara fairly easily. You just need to stay close and get low

 

[xStanleyCupsFor]

I think what happened is this team played a team who`s bloody fast and has some nice talent. Like the Leafs (but a little less so), the B`s have a wack of young players on the ice and it`s going to result in nights like this.

Beleskey and Hayes absolutely invisible and ineffective, C Miller was a complete train wreck too.

Going to be nights like this for sure, this team is an average at best group. I haven`t a clue what the stats were/are but man did they even win a draw last night?

I keep hearing this and while I agree with the premise in general, for the most part, the younger players were NOT a huge issue last night. Sure, a few mistakes here and there, but Carlo, O'Gara, Heinen, acquitted themselves fairly well. Czarnik was meh, and C. Miller was the only "young" guy that truly struggled. The worst players on the ice were vets...Krejci, Beleskey, Hayes, Spooner(ok not a vet, but not a rookie)...to some extent Krug as well. Dobby was awful early on as well, and nobody could win a draw. Very few guys were going last night. Let's not blame it all on the youngsters.

Btw love what Chara did.

 

[Cronuss]

C. Miller's game last night was about the worst performance by a single Bruin in a long time.

As amazing as Marchand was in game 1, Miller was equally as terrible in game 2.

 

[LouJersey]

Miller had a bad game. Happens. I'd still take him over Liles a million times out of a million.

 

[Pia8988]

Miller had a bad game. Happens. I'd still take him over Liles a million times out of a million.

In your eyes, what has made Liles so bad?

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Miller had a bad game. Happens. I'd still take him over Liles a million times out of a million.

C Miller has many bad games. Liles even at his age is a better option for the Bruins when everyone is back and healthy, Miller I expect will be traded or waived soon after.

My guess is they are trying to get some value out of him by playing him and its backfiring . Guy is awful

 

[JOKER 192]

Heinen doesn't belong in the NHL just yet.

Simply, your wrong.

 

[Taz#24]

The D needs help.

CHARA is a #2, maybe even a solid #3 guys now. CARLO and O'GARA have bright futures but both are very inexperienced. Colin MLLER is a good #7 with some upside but he's not consistent enough to play a top four role yet. MCQUAID and K. MILLER are redundant to one another, we probably don't need both guys considering they eat up almost 5 million combined against the cap. Torey KRUG can create O and he's a good PP guy but he's not a prototypical top four minute muncher and he struggles against stronger forwards, and I dare say his 5.25 per is too much for what he brings. The future is bright, again along with CARLO, ZBORIL and MCAVOY all seem to have top four potential. There are also a few dark horses in LAUZON, ARNESSON and LINDGREN, a #5 type in O'GARA and a #6-7 project in SHERMAN. That's all good but they need someone to step in and be a #1 or at least soon to be #1 guys now. A LINDHOLM or TROUBA. Even then I suggest they need to try and grab a tier 2 guys like FOWLER as well to effectively solidify a top four that gives us a legit shot at playoffs.

There are two options going forward,

1. Wait for the young guys to hopefully be the future D, realistically that will take 3-4 years at the very least.

2. Move some of that future potential for proven help now.

Maybe there's a balance whereupon acquiring a guy like TROUBA and maybe FOWLER too, would still leave us with two of the potential top four D-men we currently have in the system but it would most sure cost KRUG as well.

 

[LouJersey]

In your eyes, what has made Liles so bad?

He is JAG. He wouldn't play on 70% of the teams in the NHL. Miller may turn out to not be the answer but I already know Liles isn't. No way do I waive anyone trying to send them down to keep Liles on the team.

 

[nfld77]

I would rather he goes and give Morrow his minutes. C Miller is not a good hockey player. Not saying Morrow will be either but I think Morrows offensive upside is worth some patients.

C Miller is a disaster waiting to happen every time he's on the ice.

I'm with you on this one..I would take Morrow over Miller every day of the week. Miller is a disaster waiting to happen. Oh wait, he was a disaster last night. I'm not talking about Miller 2 games into the season, I'm comparing Morrow to Miller since each made their nhl debut. I was never a fan of C Miller, he skates to fast for his legs sometimes, or his legs are way ahead of his head.. I still think Morrow has upside even though it seems we had him a long time, well since we traded Seguin, whatever year that was. But I think Morrow needs to play, he'll catch on to the NHL play a lot faster than Miller will if he EVER gets the opportunity. Just my opinion, I was wrong once. lol

 

[LouJersey]

C Miller has many bad games. Liles even at his age is a better option for the Bruins when everyone is back and healthy, Miller I expect will be traded or waived soon after.

My guess is they are trying to get some value out of him by playing him and its backfiring . Guy is awful

Miller makes a lot happen. Yes some nights it's pretty bad but he has tools. Needs to get that shot through, and also needs to know when to go into d mode. I'm certainly not ready to give up on him. He hasn't even hit the 50 game mark in the NHL for crying out loud.

 

[Pia8988]

He is JAG. He wouldn't play on 70% of the teams in the NHL. Miller may turn out to not be the answer but I already know Liles isn't. No way do I waive anyone trying to send them down to keep Liles on the team.

Sometimes you need that. The Bruins already have 3 players with under 50 games at the NHL level skating right now. As an added bonus, he keeps Chara off the PP which is something people have been crying about for years.

 

[JOKER 192]

You're gonna have games like this when half your D corps is inexperienced - 2 rookies and a near-rook (C Miller). And your back-up goalie looks rusty.

I'd like to keep Carlo around and send O'Gara and CMiller to Prov once KMiller and McQuade are ready.

Hope Backes' hand isn't hurt too bad. He's got a history with Khadri. Wonder if he should have maybe not taken the bait there, especially as we're already down a C.

I don't wonder at all, he clearly shouldn't have had any part of that. That was plain stupid and selfish.