Post-Game Talk: GAME #48 - B's blow 3 goal lead but get the loser point - Detroit 6 BRUINS 5 F/SO

[Seidenbergy]

I have brought this up time and time again, last year, year before that and this year.

Rask has good numbers so far this year but he lacks the ability to come up big when needed (last night he was needed) he starting to show his true colours. I get it the defence is not great but he's suppose to help that out on a consistent basis. He's just not the goalie I would have signed but hey not my call I guess

Talk about a dishonest argument.

How many 1-0 and 2-1 type games have we won this season solely due to him stealing the game? Most of them. I suppose he wasn't needed in those?

Funny how, according to you, he was only needed in our losses. I guess in your world any goalie that isn't undefeated lacks the ability to come up big when needed. Unreal.

Vezina finalist numbers season after season??? Last year and the year before that were Vezina numbers??

I never said that, but thanks for mis-quoting me.

 

[BruinDust]

This is exactly right. He covered up the porous defense for 2 months, but eventually all players cool off. Now that he's not throwing up a .940 save percentage, the team is being exposed. This whole season has been a house of cards. Forwards being asked to come back and cover more for the crappy d. Goalies being expected to play out of their minds just to cover up the crappy d. And yes, that speaks to a failure on Sweeney's part, but let's not forget who picks the players to dress, the TOI, and the roles they're used in. That's a huge part of it too. This nonsense for two seasons that the system is going to be tweaked, yet never does is all on Claude.

We agree on a lot but I disagree with you here somewhat on Rask bailing out a bad team.

The team D the first 20 or so games was good. Not great but good, quality. Krug had a rough start offensively, but the best play we seen from Chara-Carlo-Liles-McQuaid was during this time prior to mid-November. Even Colin Miller was good on that 3rd pair with Liles and formed a decent 3rd pair puck-moving tandem.

It allowed Rask to play stay controlled, make saves look easy. Maintain his focus and reduce both physical and mental fatigue. And when Rask was asked to come up with a big save, he was ready to do so.

You watch him last night, expending too much energy, scrambling around, poor technique, getting more aggravated with each goal and mistake by his D.

As the Team D has regressed, so has the play of Tuukka Rask. They go hand in hand.

 

[LSCII]

We agree on a lot but I disagree with you here somewhat on Rask bailing out a bad team.

The team D the first 20 or so games was good. Not great but good, quality. Krug had a rough start offensively, but the best play we seen from Chara-Carlo-Liles-McQuaid was during this time prior to mid-November. Even Colin Miller was good on that 3rd pair with Liles and formed a decent 3rd pair puck-moving tandem.

It allowed Rask to play stay controlled, make saves look easy. Maintain his focus and reduce both physical and mental fatigue. And when Rask was asked to come up with a big save, he was ready to do so.

You watch him last night, expending too much energy, scrambling around, poor technique, getting more aggravated with each goal and mistake by his D.

As the Team D has regressed, so has the play of Tuukka Rask. They go hand in hand.

That's fine, and it's really a chicken or the egg kind of scenario. Is the goalie playing well and making the d look good or is the d playing well and making the goalie look better than he is? I can see both sides, but I tend to put it more on Rask simply because any time someone not named Rask played, it looked like a dumpster fire. Or much like we saw the last week or two from Rask. That to me says he was on a hot streak and has now cooled down, so every miscue on the back end is creating issues and that he's scrambling to try and cover for them.

 

[EverettMike]

When I think about this team and last night, this is what I think of:

I was surprised they came out playing so well.

I was not surprised they blew that lead.


Do you agree or disagree with those sentiments? If you agree, probably time to start focusing on next year and the year after, right? Why throw good money after bad to just make the playoffs this year?

 

[Gee Wally]

When I think about this team and last night, this is what I think of:

I was surprised they came out playing so well.

I was not surprised they blew that lead.


Do you agree or disagree with those sentiments? If you agree, probably time to start focusing on next year and the year after, right? Why throw good money after bad to just make the playoffs this year?

I agree. To me there are two questions.

What is the next window?

Who leads the way?

 

[BruinDust]

When I think about this team and last night, this is what I think of:

I was surprised they came out playing so well.

I was not surprised they blew that lead.


Do you agree or disagree with those sentiments? If you agree, probably time to start focusing on next year and the year after, right? Why throw good money after bad to just make the playoffs this year?

I was not surprised they came out playing so well. Between laying an egg on Monday, and the rumors of Julien's impending demise, I thought they would have a strong start.

I was not surprised at all when they blew that lead. Not one little bit.

I fully expected this entitled group to put their feet up after 1 period and try to sit on 3 goal lead.

 

[itsablurr]

When I think about this team and last night, this is what I think of:

I was surprised they came out playing so well.

I was not surprised they blew that lead.


Do you agree or disagree with those sentiments? If you agree, probably time to start focusing on next year and the year after, right? Why throw good money after bad to just make the playoffs this year?

Agreed. 4-1, and I was thinking to myself, "They're going to blow it. Somehow, some way, they are going to crap themselves and manage to blow it."

It's games/seasons like these that mold the archetypal Boston fan.

 

[BruinDust]

That's fine, and it's really a chicken or the egg kind of scenario. Is the goalie playing well and making the d look good or is the d playing well and making the goalie look better than he is? I can see both sides, but I tend to put it more on Rask simply because any time someone not named Rask played, it looked like a dumpster fire. Or much like we saw the last week or two from Rask. That to me says he was on a hot streak and has now cooled down, so every miscue on the back end is creating issues and that he's scrambling to try and cover for them.

And it was a hot streak. No doubt. I didn't expect him to sustain a 940 SP the rest of the way no matter how good the D was.

I know this much, a scrambling, fatigued, aggravated Rask is not a good goaltender. When he stays calm, cool, and composed, he's an elite level guy.

Question is how do they fix it? I don't see a way to fix the D this year and get Rask even back to a happy middle ground between what were seeing now, and the guy who was red hot in Oct/early Nov.

 

[Seidenbergy]

Question is how do they fix it? I don't see a way to fix the D this year and get Rask even back to a happy middle ground between what were seeing now, and the guy who was red hot in Oct/early Nov.

He's pitched 2 shutouts and had 2 other one goal games in the last month. They just need to not throw him out there every freaking game. Give him some damn rest and the whole team will benefit.

 

[BruinDust]

He's pitched 2 shutouts and had 2 other one goal games in the last month. They just need to not throw him out there every freaking game. Give him some damn rest and the whole team will benefit.

I don't disagree with ample rest being a key to a quality Rask.

He hasn't played in any B2Bs that I am aware of. But if it's not a B2B, he's played pretty much every game.

At the same time, if you can't get 60 games out of a 7 million dollar starter, is he worth 7 million?

I also don't think it's a coincidence the last really good season we've seen from Rask was the same time the Bruins last had a true quality back-up goaltender (Johnson in 2014).

 

[Dr Hook]

He's pitched 2 shutouts and had 2 other one goal games in the last month. They just need to not throw him out there every freaking game. Give him some damn rest and the whole team will benefit.

Isn't he on pace to start about 60 this year, and isn't that a reasonable expectation for a top starter in the league? Not saying he might not benefit from more rest, but it doesn't seem like he is being overused, unless it's just the pace at which the games are coming in this slightly compressed season.

 

[PB37]

We go from watching the first 40 games of the Bruins playing good team D that piles up scoring chances but no goals to a team that is piling up goals but porous D.

 

[Seidenbergy]

Isn't he on pace to start about 60 this year, and isn't that a reasonable expectation for a top starter in the league? Not saying he might not benefit from more rest, but it doesn't seem like he is being overused, unless it's just the pace at which the games are coming in this slightly compressed season.

This is the key IMO. The pace overall is fine, but the fact that we've played 5 or so more games than most other teams, and Rask has played them all, has hurt. The more reasonable schedule going forward should help. Even more so if he can get out of having to deal with the all star game BS.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

When I think about this team and last night, this is what I think of:

I was surprised they came out playing so well.

I was not surprised they blew that lead.


Do you agree or disagree with those sentiments? If you agree, probably time to start focusing on next year and the year after, right? Why throw good money after bad to just make the playoffs this year?

Disagree with that. I was surprised. I thought they would hold the lead and they did untill Spooner declined to play D on the tying goal...

They were 19-0-1 when leading after two. That was good for 2nd in the league before yesterday.

They are now 19-0-2 and fell to 7th place.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?aggre...lter=gamesPlayed,gte,&sort=winPctgAfterLead2p

 

[PB37]

Silver linings

- The PP has been a weapon again and it's climbed up to 17th in the league. Also, after years ( decades to be technical ) of having some of the fewest PP chances in the league, the Bruins are just out of the top 10 in PP chances.

- The Bruins have also climbed up to 18th in goals scored

- The PK is still strong, ranked 2nd in the league and the 5th fewest goals allowed

- 4th best team on the draw ( 52.9 )

- To show just how much parity there is in the league and how it's come to the point where ( just like in football ) every game matters, the Bruins are 7th in the NHL in wins. Just imagine where the team would be if we hadn't given away wins to some of the worst teams in the league or teams in the midst of dreadful slumps.

- Bergeron has 11 points in his last 11 games, with points in 7 of those 11 games. Bergeron is back and if this team is going to make the playoffs, he's going to be the one leading the way.


Biggest issue to address:

- top 4 dman. I think the first 30 percent of the season lulled us into thinking this team D approach would be fine and could help cover some of the flaws on the blueline. The addition of one good dman ( Carlo ) had done wonders the first three months into the season but it's becoming clearer that the team is missing one good top 4 guy if it plans on going anywhere.

 

[Sheppy]

I was not surprised they came out playing so well. Between laying an egg on Monday, and the rumors of Julien's impending demise, I thought they would have a strong start.

I was not surprised at all when they blew that lead. Not one little bit.

I fully expected this entitled group to put their feet up after 1 period and try to sit on 3 goal lead.

Same here. In fact, i bet my dad $10 that Detroit would tie it up.

 

[bp13]

Disagree with that. I was surprised. I thought they would hold the lead and they did untill Spooner declined to play D on the tying goal...

They were 19-0-1 when leading after two. That was good for 2nd in the league before yesterday.

They are now 19-0-2 and fell to 7th place.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?aggre...lter=gamesPlayed,gte,&sort=winPctgAfterLead2p

Get out of here with your "stats".

I'm with you. I was surprised they blew the lead. But when I saw the players responsible, I was not remotely surprised.

 

[Glove Malfunction]

Disagree with that. I was surprised. I thought they would hold the lead and they did untill Spooner declined to play D on the tying goal...

They were 19-0-1 when leading after two. That was good for 2nd in the league before yesterday.

They are now 19-0-2 and fell to 7th place.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?aggre...lter=gamesPlayed,gte,&sort=winPctgAfterLead2p

That was more Krug's mistake than Spooner's. Krug lost his guy and stood there. At least Spooner tried to get a sick in and break up the play.

 

[bp13]

Silver linings

- The PP has been a weapon again and it's climbed up to 17th in the league. Also, after years ( decades to be technical ) of having some of the fewest PP chances in the league, the Bruins are just out of the top 10 in PP chances.

- The Bruins have also climbed up to 18th in goals scored

- The PK is still strong, ranked 2nd in the league and the 5th fewest goals allowed

- 4th best team on the draw ( 52.9 )

- To show just how much parity there is in the league and how it's come to the point where ( just like in football ) every game matters, the Bruins are 7th in the NHL in wins. Just imagine where the team would be if we hadn't given away wins to some of the worst teams in the league or teams in the midst of dreadful slumps.

- Bergeron has 11 points in his last 11 games, with points in 7 of those 11 games. Bergeron is back and if this team is going to make the playoffs, he's going to be the one leading the way.


Biggest issue to address:

- top 4 dman. I think the first 30 percent of the season lulled us into thinking this team D approach would be fine and could help cover some of the flaws on the blueline. The addition of one good dman ( Carlo ) had done wonders the first three months into the season but it's becoming clearer that the team is missing one good top 4 guy if it plans on going anywhere.

The very same issue they have needed to address for 2 full years now.

Management failure.

 

[bruinmann77]

the bottom line is this a playoff team at this point believe the answer is NO.
i hope the bruins turn into sellers at this point.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

That was more Krug's mistake than Spooner's. Krug lost his guy and stood there. At least Spooner tried to get a sick in and break up the play.

Didn't try very hard to me...

 

[Sharp Shooting Neely]

Lots at talk on Hockey Central today on the Bruins situation following the fallout of last nights game in Detroit. Few topics they touched were:

The schedule imbalance to them is ridiculous for the NHL period. Boston stands out now in that regard due to how their break works. Lack of practice time not helping teams under the circumstances across the league. Nome of that changes the reality of their situation.

All giving Julien high marks for what he brings as a coach and don't see him as being the main area of concern. Added he would be employed elsewhere in short order should he ever be dismissed.

Touched on goal scoring issues beyond Marchand and Pastrnak this season being unusual given the shots and possession numbers.

Attributed much of the situation they find themselves in at the moment to be on back up goaltending. The number of points picked up from back ups this year has been beyond dismal. Offered that the issue with back ups in the NHL right now as simply being bad league wide. GM's are struggling in the off season to find answers for the void that exists around the league. Lamented on what could have been for the B's this season if the could have kept a guy like Johnson n the mix. (Note: Not sure hindsight on that situation is relevant today. He did struggle initially after leaving the Bruins. Definetly found something in Calgary this year and that makes it easier to reflect on him now).

Concern with Rask being on pace to play in close to 65 games as being too much to ask of any starter. Something near average performance from the current back up situation would ease his load. That itself would have made all the current noise around the team a moot point. Hard to disagree with them on that front.

 

[Hali33]

Isn't he on pace to start about 60 this year, and isn't that a reasonable expectation for a top starter in the league? Not saying he might not benefit from more rest, but it doesn't seem like he is being overused, unless it's just the pace at which the games are coming in this slightly compressed season.

He missed 4 or 5 games due to injury at the start of the season which shouldn't really be included in his rest games. Might bring the overall number of games he plays down but not doing anything to battle against fatigue at this point in the season.

Maybe it's just a rough spell and he's back in business next week but regardless of what you want him to do he doesn't seem like a goalie that fatigues well, if this kind of play prolongs.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

power play and pk are looking good now.

3 goal leads are just brutal. especially when you get them early on.

we still shouldvr been up at least by 5/6 goals after that first period.


also- complete blown penalty shot call on marchand in ot. that ref should be fined

 

[Glove Malfunction]

Didn't try very hard to me...

Doesn't change the fact it was Krug's guy in the first place. Krug just stood there and watched it happen.