Keys to beating the Bruins

[Avengers*]

Get in the head of Tuuka Rask and let him choke like in the regular season.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

Discuss. I'll start with our speed, depth and power play. We need to capitalize on the powerplay!!

The Bruins are deeper, faster, and more more experienced than they were in 2011. We mustn't be deceived by the results of the regular season games. It won't be easy and we shouldn't be shocked if the series is one-sided (against the Habs).

 

[BubbleGumPlant]

- Capitalize on our 2 on 1s; getting that pass across

- Have our D jump in offensively more often

- Price be Price

- MT not affraid to juggle lines mid-game to throw off Julien, especially on the road

- Not fight back

- take time & space away from Marchand, keep Lucic to the outside (harder said then done)

- Subban be Subban

- DD and Gally continue to protect the puck well

- Briere offensively outproducing the Bruins' 4th line

- Douglas Murray, whom I presume will be playing because it's MT, to not f' up.

 

[habfaninvictoria]

Price has to outplay Rask.

Our forwards need to go wide and deep on Chara, Boychuk and Hamilton. Chara in particular does not like playing behind his own net, it flusters him. He's the biggest baby in the world if you hit him and are able to make him chase you.

Slowing Hamilton up on his transition through neutral zone on PP is key. If they get set we'll have a hard time moving Chara from the net. The reason their PP worked so well the last series was that Det couldn't contain both the forwards and the point. We have better shot blocking but the big bodies in front of the net will take a toll after a while.... best to keep Hamilton from the easy zone entries he got against Det.

Staying away from the drama is always key with the Bruins. They have a good team, but they also need something to feed off of. Don't give it to them.

 

[Bob b smith]

When we break out with the puck, they play a traditional 1-2-2 neutral zone trap (similar to Lemaire)... We need to take advantage of their D's inexperience by sowing confusion and hitting hard Krug, Hamilton and Bartkowski. We need to beat Boychuck and Miller to deep pucks with our speed.

 

[Habsawce]

The Bruins are deeper, faster, and more more experienced than they were in 2011. We mustn't be deceived by the results of the regular season games. It won't be easy and we shouldn't be shocked if the series is one-sided (against the Habs).

This Montreal team is night and day compared to the 2011 team. The reason we were in that series is because Price straight up outplayed Thomas (who went on the win the Conn Smythe). However, the back end was something like

Harmlik-Spacek
Gill-Subban
Wisniewski-Sopel

This club is a ton better on the back end and Price is coming off a series win (finally) and a gold medal at the Olympics where he gave up 3 goals in 5 games. Also, we don't have a top line of Moen-Gomez-Gionta anymore. This team is easily 3x better than that 2011 team.

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

I think that inspired personnel usage will make a difference. I don't agree with leaving Beaulieu and Tinordi on the sidelines throughout. Give either one of them a chance at #5 or #6, albeit not both at once.

After all, the Bruins were not afraid of breaking in Torey Krug.

This series is going to be about skating and high-octane, high-intensity hockey more than pure intimidation. I can see Beaulieu in particular making a difference.

 

[Rhiessan71]

Speed, speed and more speed.
It's our biggest advantage.

Next, WE HAVE TO GO TO THE FRONT OF THE NET!!!
That's too simple though. We have make the whole Boston D move around a lot, especially Chara. Just like we did to Tampa. We can't overpower them, we have stay mobile but we still have to go to the front of the net so Chara isn't free to just break up our cycle whenever he wants.
Forecheck like maniacs, be strong on the backcheck.
Our smaller, quicker forwards like Gally can drive Chara crazy just Koivu used to do.

Do not engage in their after whistle ********. They thrive on it and it drives them insane when they don't get a response.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Don't play their game, be hyper-focuseds on playing hockey and let all the **** storms pass by like this guy does.

 

[Habsfan2992]

Score more goals than them

 

[Bob b smith]

In their defensive zone, the Bruins play "Box + 1" where they concentrate on blocking passing lanes and can collapse in front of the net. It's a passive goalie-friendly system.

 

[Uber Coca]

They're a great team with few weaknesses. They play a tight system yet they don't have any gamebreakers. They have a big defensive core that the speedy forwards could take advantage of. They're pretty good everywhere else.

I'm confident Montreal can take this series though. The Canadiens depth matches Boston's in my opinion. I'd give a slight edge to Rask for the goaltenders (even if Rask tends to suck hard against Montreal). All in all, it'll be a tight series.

 

[LaP]

Piss them off.

When they worry about beating us up instead of beating us, that's when we win.

this +1000

Hit Chara and Lucic legally everytime it is possible. Those two guys don't like to be hit specially by smaller guys. The more they want to retaliate the less they actually play hockey and this is a good thing.

Emelin must legally hit hard Lucic at the very least once a game and then not drop the glove when Lucic or Chara want him to. They will say he is a chicken after the game but who cares i've been watching hockey since 1986 and never ever a non goon player had to drop after a legal body check. It's not because the Bruins want to rewrite the non written rules that it makes their new rules legit.

 

[Lshap]

The Bruins are deeper, faster, and more more experienced than they were in 2011. We mustn't be deceived by the results of the regular season games. It won't be easy and we shouldn't be shocked if the series is one-sided (against the Habs).

Boston has more raw talent than they did in 2011, but much of it is raw. Hamilton, Krug, Bartkowski and Miller are all very young and represent most of Boston's D. They've played very well but don't have the experience or smarts of Dennis Seidenberg. Actually, other than forwards, there are only two Bruins from 2011 playing for them now: Chara and Boychuk. Of their goalie and dmen from 2011, those are the only two guys left.

Obviously, that lack of defensive experience hasn't hurt Boston up until now, but Habs can change that with four solid lines of forechecking. Detroit's forward depth was hurt or missing, so Boston had an easier time matching lines and shutting down Datsyuk. If our lines are effective, we can wear down Chara, get around Bergeron and force them to make mistakes. Depth, depth, depth.

Now, in return we have to counter their depth. If Paille remains out they lose speed and we have an advantage. Can we keep Boston from winning puck battles in our end, setting up and screening Price? If we can, we can short-circuit their strength.

 

[24Cups]

3. Not be intimidated by the "Big Bad Bruins" reputation that they built before their last Cup run... The fighting majors, PMs, hits, and lineup don't justify it anymore. The only guys regularly giving face washes and doing crap after the whistle are 5'9 Marchand, 36-37 year old Thornton and Chara, plus Lucic... To a much lesser extent you'll see guys like Miller, Boychuk or Bartkowski assert themselves physically... The only guy that's not fake tough and is in his peak as a physical player is Milan Lucic. He'll crush you and hurt you all over the ice. But he absolutely hates being hit. So concentrate on hitting him.
4. Get Chara out of Price's crease on the PP.

These two points are the reason Murray should be in the line-up over BouBou. Get the Bruins thinking about getting hit and looking to hit throws their system out of wack. This is when the Habs speed can exploit open ice, when the Bruins are out of position. Both Therrien and Julien know this and this will be the game inside the game, keeping to the game plans. I am so looking forward to this series.

 

[Hackett]

Clearly, the pp will be a huge key. You probably won't get many calls at this time, but its important to have pp units that can captitlize. Otheriwse, the bruins will be taking liberties all over the ice without a second thought, and most of the skilled habs will have no answer for it.

If I remember correctly in the 2011 playoffs, the habs had a pretty good pp unit against them, and bruins were having a tough time on their pp. This time around, if the special teams are that lopsided, you have to think that Montreal has enough to get that 4th win.

Edit: just checked the stats and the bruins had a 0 % power play against Montreal in 2011 playoffs.

 

[dreamingofdrouin*]

If its carey price that wins this series....we're winning the cup.

 

[Angels]

I just hope no one gets badly hurt (On the Habs of course)...and Galchenyuk is healthy and back in the lineup.

 

[Bob b smith]

They're a great team with few weaknesses. They play a tight system yet they don't have any gamebreakers. They have a big defensive core that the speedy forwards could take advantage of. They're pretty good everywhere else.

Their Box+One system they play in their defensive zone is very hard to take advantage of.... It's basically 4 players in a tight box in front of the net, with the alternating 5th player (the player closest to puck) pressuring the other team.

Once they've fully set up their system at Even-Strength, the Bruins are really good at rotating in and out that alternating 5th player without breaking the Box. It's almost impossible to make cross-ice passes or to get the puck in the slot. So Rask has time to set up for the shot (isn't forced to move side to side), and the shot comes from the outside.

If it's not off the rush, teams can score on the Bruins when:
1- The Bruins didn't have time to completely setup their Box yet (Quick strike by the attackers).
2- The box collapses because of a bad judgment call or a missed assignment by a Bruins player (rare)
3- An attacker quickly sneaks into the middle of the Bruins box (and gets a pass just-in-time) and one-times the puck or shoots right away... If the attacker is just static in the box, he's useless (speed and movement are paramount).
4- A bad goal by Rask from the outside of the Box

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Price needs to be a heck of a lot better than he was in round 1.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Price needs to be a heck of a lot better than he was in round 1.

We can start by not scoring on our own net.

 

[Rapala]

We can start by not scoring on our own net.

Good start.

Surprise.
The Bruins don't know us like we know them.
They think they do but they don't.
Heck we don't even know us. Round one attests to that.
I think we can continue in the same vein and get even better at it.
There is one thing I know about Boston they HATE people in their space.
Their arrogance doesn't allow for it. They are the physical team and expect to have all the room in the world. This is what pisses them off most. Simply play smarter, they aren't overloaded with genius's over there.
That is how to beat the Bruins.

 

[Dagistitsyn]

 

[CHwest]

As has been noted, hit their big guys constantly and skate away. I would target Thornton as well as the rat face in that group.

Pk has to play well but within himself, and Carey has to get into their heads.

This is the Cup for me, beat Bos. and all is well in the world. LOL

 

[Et le But]

Keys to beating the Bruins:

Don't forget to wear your cup.