Wednesday, January 12, 2011

SLAUGHTERAWA


There's really not much to analyze and discuss from this game. Ottawa is a bad team, that's in the middle of playing poorly, even for their standards. It's good to see the Bruins take care of business against teams like this. The last time they played Ottawa, the Bruins lost 2-0.

Patrice Bergeron is without a doubt the Bruins' best offensive player at the moment. 8 goals in his last 13 games, along with 9 assists. He's +11 in that stretch. He had the chance to celebrate scoring a hat-trick twice last night, as a goal initially credited to him was actually Marchand's, and was eventually switched. This was Bergeron's first career hat trick.

While he's this on fire, I'd like to see him be a center on the Power Play. He's been used at the point, which is fine, but the Bruins have plenty of defensemen who can get offensive on a Power Play (Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, and Kampfer). I'd like to see Bergeron center one of the PP lines, maybe with Krejci as a winger. He's sniping the puck, and it'd be nice to get him closer to the net on the Power Play.

I'm glad to see Marchand promoted to the 3rd line with Bergeron and Recchi. He's not just an agitator, he's got some talent. Nothing against Thornton or Campbell, but they're not exactly playmaking forwards that will help Marchand score 15 to 20 goals. I wouldn't mind seeing Wheeler on the 4th line, where maybe he can use his size as a physical player. For now, though, Paille's earning his spot on the roster, and gelling with Thornton and Campbell.

I guess there was some stuff to analyze and discuss after all. The Bruins host the Flyers on Thursday in a pretty big game.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo