This Bruins team really pisses me off. They no longer hold leads. Not in games, not in series. It was once a trademark of this team under Julien, that when they were up 2, they'd win. And once again, they've blown a 3-1 lead.
James Reimer has gained all the confidence in the world. And why not? He has all of southern Ontario behind him, and the Bruins have allowed his success. The B's forwards have not been able to consistently get body position in front of the net in order to take advantage of the rebounds Reimer allows. Is Marck Recchi available tonight?
Some Bruins have improved in this series over their regular season form. Milan Lucic, for instance. Nathan Horton as well, although in Game 6 in the box score claims he played 17:38 and I didn't notice him on the ice at all.
Other Bruins, such as Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin, have played worse than their regular season form. Neither have scored. Marchand has 2 assists and is -1. Seguin has no assists and is even. In the regular season these two combined for 34 goals and were the top 2 goal-scorers on the team. No THREE Bruins could combine for that many goals. Marchand and Seguin scored 27% of the Bruins goals in the regular season. So that's one fourth of the offense not producing in this series.
I also think the Bruins aren't as talented as we thought they were. I think this team essentially has two fourth lines. The third line has been meaningless in these games. Kelly and Peverley are both -3. So not only are they not scoring, they're getting scored on. Which goes against the Claude Julien system.
This team has scored 17 goals in the series. The Krejci line has 9 of those. Defensemen have 5. So only 3 goals have been scored by lines 2 through 4. Three goals from 9 forwards.
Horton and Lucic are each +8 in this series. Krejci is +7. The Bergeron line is -1. The Peverley line is -3. The Campbell line is even. Only one line is scoring. The second line can't score. The third line isn't scoring, and is allowing goals. The fourth line is doing what it does with its minimal ice-time. Only two lines are doing their jobs. The Bergeron line is capable of doing better. I don't think the Peverley line is.
This Game 7 tonight is an important game for the direction of this team. With a win, then things are fine. With a loss, then there needs to be a serious reevaluation of the coach, the staff, and the roster.
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette
