To me it's all about speed. Rangers were not playing particularly fast and so the Bruins, with a solid work ethic, did well. When they face teams that are really motoring they make blunders, poor decisions, can't keep up and sometimes the wheels fall off and they get blown out like Buffalo and Winnipeg. Look at all the games they've lost big this year and it's pretty much all fast teams that play up tempo. Bruins can keep up for parts of those games but never for a full 60.
Poitras. You can clearly see the skill. A natural playmaker, but he also illustrates how little high end talent is on this roster. On the ice with Pasta he made perfect set up plays and they got goals. This is also the problem with these guys when we dump them on the third line with middling muckers. They need other skilled players to play with to succeed. It'll be the same with Lysell or Merkulov or anybody else. Talent needs to be on lines with other talent. It's a problem.
Also still really worried about Poitras getting hurt. These kids today just don't play the wall the way players used to and they aren't ready for the cheap hits from behind. Turned his back on the penalty and also on the set up to the goal. Same moves. He needs more awareness as he grows or he's going to get hurt.
Don't be fooled, this team needs to sell. A retool if they use cap money wisely might not take too long, but staying the course will be a big mistake.
