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Post by fforr on Aug 22, 2020 8:58:23 GMT -5
Bruins 6 Isles 6 Aves 6 Nucks 6
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 22, 2020 8:58:39 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Bruins 7 Islanders vs Flyers Islanders 6 Stars vs Aves Aves 6 Nucks vs Vegas Vegas 5 Bruins in 6 {On second thought} Flyers in 6 [tough one] Avalanche in 7 [great series] Vegas in 6 [Nucks might upset again] I think Bruins and Tampa are very even when it comes to offense and defense. My concern is goaltending.Big question is: Can Halak keep up with Vasilevskiy? He cant play good game bad game. Remember 2 seasons ago? Oct/Nov 2018, Rask wasnt on his game,in fact, he went home to his family for a short period[family was in Boston]..Halak played lights out when he 1st came to Boston. THIS is the Halak we're gonna need against a very tough Tampa team, even without Stamkos..
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Post by madmarx on Aug 22, 2020 11:27:25 GMT -5
Offwego 62 Ksjo8. 59 Fforr 55 Rascal Houdi 52 Kj2 52 Orym 49 Madmarx 47 Seabass 34 Losing my mind 20 Nfld77 14 I refuse to believe this is accurate unless lower score is best..Well to be honest,lol, I'm wondering how I got even 14 pts..Man, I'm a distant last..The shame I feel..NOT!!! Good showing guys, BUT I'll get my revenge next round..Double NOT!!! I didn’t see your picks for the first round, those points are from the play ins ??
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Post by orym on Aug 22, 2020 14:14:53 GMT -5
Bruins in 7.
Islanders in 7.
Avs in 5.
Nucks in 6.
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Post by orym on Aug 22, 2020 14:19:02 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Bruins 7 Islanders vs Flyers Islanders 6 Stars vs Aves Aves 6 Nucks vs Vegas Vegas 5 Tampa in 6 {hope Halak proves me wrong} You spelled Bruins wrong, Ernest!
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Post by SeaBass on Aug 22, 2020 17:28:50 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Islanders vs Flyers Stars vs Aves Nucks vs Vegas 10 points Win 20 points games Bruins in 6 Islanders in 6 Avs in 4 Vegas in 5
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 22, 2020 21:37:40 GMT -5
I refuse to believe this is accurate unless lower score is best..Well to be honest,lol, I'm wondering how I got even 14 pts..Man, I'm a distant last..The shame I feel..NOT!!! Good showing guys, BUT I'll get my revenge next round..Double NOT!!! I didn’t see your picks for the first round, those points are from the play ins ?? I think that was same time I had a really bad back and spent alot of time either stretched out on couch or bed..Darn, sorry bout that guys!!
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 22, 2020 21:38:41 GMT -5
Tampa in 6 {hope Halak proves me wrong} You spelled Bruins wrong, Ernest! Got er fixed brudder, on 2nd thought, lol
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Post by kjc2 on Aug 23, 2020 5:21:10 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Islanders vs Flyers Stars vs Aves Nucks vs Vegas Bruins in 7 Flyers in 7 Aves in 7 Vegas in 5 I’m late on the Dallas vs Aves game but I was picking Aves either way.
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Post by orym on Aug 23, 2020 7:36:20 GMT -5
You spelled Bruins wrong, Ernest! Got er fixed brudder, on 2nd thought, lol I knew you'd come around!
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 23, 2020 9:29:26 GMT -5
Got er fixed brudder, on 2nd thought, lol I knew you'd come around! Haha, you know mw too good brother!!
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Post by offwego on Aug 23, 2020 18:21:04 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Islanders vs Flyers Stars vs Aves Nucks vs Vegas 10 points Win 20 points games Bruins in 7 Flyers in 6. Hope I'm wrong Aves in 7 Vegas in 6
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Post by madmarx on Aug 24, 2020 11:21:33 GMT -5
Z played his 146th playoff game last night to pass Cashman for second all time ..
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 24, 2020 18:58:21 GMT -5
Z played his 146th playoff game last night to pass Cashman for second all time .. Wow, pretty darn impressive. He's also 1 up on Bergeron who is of course tied with Cashman for 3rd..Bourque is number one with 180 games played. Bergy needs 35 more PO games to tie Bourque, Krejci just 4 behind Bergy..
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Post by Losing my mind on Aug 24, 2020 19:18:30 GMT -5
Bruins vs Bolts Bruins 6
Islanders vs Flyers Islanders 6
Stars vs Aves Aves 5
Nucks vs Vegas Vegas 4
Sorry I'm late...
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Post by kjc2 on Aug 24, 2020 19:37:41 GMT -5
Z played his 146th playoff game last night to pass Cashman for second all time .. Wow, pretty darn impressive. He's also 1 up on Bergeron who is of course tied with Cashman for 3rd..Bourque is number one with 180 games played. Bergy needs 35 more PO games to tie Bourque, Krejci just 4 behind Bergy.. Where’s Bucyk on this list?
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Post by nfld77 on Aug 25, 2020 14:39:03 GMT -5
Wow, pretty darn impressive. He's also 1 up on Bergeron who is of course tied with Cashman for 3rd..Bourque is number one with 180 games played. Bergy needs 35 more PO games to tie Bourque, Krejci just 4 behind Bergy.. Where’s Bucyk on this list? #9 my friend..Yep surprises me he's not higher too BUT Bruins were bad in the 60's.. www.quanthockey.com/nhl/teams/boston-bruins-players-career-playoff-nhl-stats.html
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 3, 2020 8:38:46 GMT -5
Before Round 2 of the playoffs, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy knew his team had a flaw: scoring at 5-on-5.
The Bruins scored 139 5-on-5 goals during the regular season, 19th overall in the league. Tampa Bay and Toronto, their toughest division rivals, led the NHL with 161 apiece.
That flaw turned out to be fatal.
The Bruins scored 13 5-on-5 goals (1.3 per game) through two rounds. It was the least of any of the eight teams that advanced to Round 2. Tampa, in comparison, scored 27 (2.7). In Round 2, the Lightning outscored the Bruins by a 13-3 margin at 5-on-5.
It is no wonder, then, the Lightning only needed five games to end the Bruins’ season.
Under Cassidy, the Bruins have followed a five-point template:
1. Enjoy airtight goaltending.
2. Check the crap out of the opposition.
3. Let the first line do its thing.
4. Rely on the power play.
5. Hope that’s enough.
For the regular season, it was.
But the wheels fell off the wagon in the playoffs, starting with Tuukka Rask’s impromptu flight plan out of Toronto prior to Game 3 against Carolina. The Bruins defense, especially the net-front coverage, buckled against the buzzy Lightning. The No. 1 line was compromised because of David Pastrnak’s lower-body injury, plus the fact that missing all of camp was catching up to the right wing, as Cassidy acknowledged Wednesday. The power play went 5 for 17 (29.4 percent), but it was not enough to jerk the team out of its offensive quicksand.
Cassidy knows the locus of the problem: the back end.
Identifying the issue is the easy part. Fixing it is another thing.
What’s keeping Cassidy up at night is the likely compromise a repair will require. If the Bruins want their defensemen to think more about offense, their in-zone responsibilities will undoubtedly be affected.
“It cost us in this playoff series. It’s out there,” Cassidy said of the shortage of blue-line offensive assistance. “We need to be better at it. Does that mean we change the personnel on the blue line that are better able to do that? If we do, does it mean we lose something in our own end? Because some of the times you do that, your group is smaller. Those are all questions we have to look at. Do we want to sacrifice defense to gain a little more offense, and how much?”
The dilemma, especially in the playoffs, is that every team emphasizes net-front thoroughness. Coaches demand that their wingers collapse in the slot, negate sticks and reside in shooting lanes. This makes it challenging for teams like the Bruins, more muted than others in terms of up-front firepower, to generate in-zone offense. The plays that Cassidy emphasizes out of the corners — one-on-one maneuvers, passes to the slot, visits behind the net — are not always available.
It’s why teams like Tampa and Carolina stress jump-up defensemen and low-to-high looks more than the Bruins. The Hurricanes though, were vulnerable to counterattacks when they emptied the blue line.
“They do it well. Their (defensemen) are involved,” Cassidy said of Carolina. “But they pay the price at the other end. If you’re good defensively, you transition against that and counter it, they pay the price at the other end. You have to be careful to balance that.”
The Lightning managed to pull it off without that same vulnerability, however. That serves as reinforcement that it is possible to increase the offensive contributions of the defenders, without always compromising the defense.
Where Cassidy believes there is significant room for growth is for his defensemen to get pucks through the initial perimeter of blockers and for his forwards to tip rubber home. This must start with volume.
During the regular season, the Bruins’ defensemen totaled 999 5-on-5 attempted shots, according to Natural Stat Trick. It was the third-fewest in the Eastern Conference. Only New Jersey (895), Detroit (950) and Buffalo (987) had less. Montreal led the league with 1,378 attempts.
Krug led all team defensemen with 187 attempts. Krug, of course, is unsigned for next year. The Bruins are at risk of losing their highest-volume back-end shooter.
Cassidy also believes the defensemen could be better at turning attempts into shots on net. The latter can turn into goals or rebounds. It will require the defensemen to slingshot pucks through traffic instead of straight into its teeth.
Compared to his prime, Zdeno Chara is a lesser threat to score at the offensive blue line. But it was old man Chara whose flick from the left point bounced off a stick and onto the blade of David Krejci for the tying goal in Game 5.
Chara, meanwhile, scored four 5-on-5 goals during the regular season. Krug also had four. Forty defensemen scored more goals than Krug and Chara. John Carlson paced the league with 11.
“I think it’s one of the most underrated skill sets in the National Hockey League — a defenseman’s ability to walk the blue line laterally and find a stick, get a puck through in time,” Cassidy said. “Whether that’s a half-slapper, wrister, or if you have time for a slap shot, to create offense.”
Assistant Kevin Dean has been in charge of the defense. Cassidy pledged to do more next season. He was an offensive defenseman during his playing career. It may be that Cassidy hands over power-play duties to assistant Jay Pandolfo in order to prioritize blue-line pace-pushing.
“I need to get more involved with the (defensemen),” Cassidy said. “It’s where my roots are in terms of the offensive side of things. I think there’s more to give there.”
McAvoy and Grzelcyk, second and third behind Krug in attempts, have more to give. But it may fall on general manager Don Sweeney to provide outside reinforcements. Neither Jakub Zboril (3-16—19 in Providence) nor Urho Vaakanainen (5-9—14), next in line for promotions, is wired for offense first.
Cassidy’s trick will be how to push the pace just far enough without stretching out his down-low formation. The Lightning, especially Ondrej Palat, found soft spots in the Bruins’ coverage. If Cassidy opens things up next year, the net-front area could become even leakier.
“The heart and soul of our team is our team defense, net-front coverage,” Cassidy said. “They exposed us on that. So not only is it the scoring part, it’s a part of our bread-and-butter game that broke down as well. So is that them just being better? Or do we have to look at different players, change systems? Trust me, I’ve thought about that the last few days.”
This is the time, normally, that Cassidy turns long-marinating thoughts into action. But training camp, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17, is anything but certain.
Cassidy may have a long time to think.
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Post by madmarx on Sept 5, 2020 22:11:28 GMT -5
Offwego 72 Orym 69 Madmarx 67 Fforr 65 Kjc2 62 Kjo8 59 Seabass 54 Rascal Houdi 52 Losing my mind 40 Nfld77 24
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Post by madmarx on Sept 5, 2020 22:12:13 GMT -5
Tampa vs Islanders
Vegas vs Dallas
20pts win 40 pts games
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Post by madmarx on Sept 5, 2020 22:15:02 GMT -5
Tampa vs Islanders Tampa in 6
Vegas vs Dallas Vegas in 6
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Post by KSJ08 on Sept 6, 2020 9:30:19 GMT -5
Tampa vs Islanders Isle in 7
Vegas vs Dallas Dallas in 6
There's NOT a Canadian team in the final 4 YET the games are in Canada??? And in the LATE time zone (Not that I'm gonna watch much). Go Isle!!!!
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Post by fforr on Sept 6, 2020 11:31:54 GMT -5
Isles in 6
Stars in 7
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Post by offwego on Sept 6, 2020 11:41:55 GMT -5
Offwego 72 Orym 69 Madmarx 67 Fforr 65 Kjc2 62 Kjo8 59 Seabass 54 Rascal Houdi 52 Losing my mind 40 Nfld77 24 Wow I'm still in first 😳 how did that happen 😳 Ok here goes Ilses in 6 for Johnny Rocket Dallas in 7. For Doby
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Post by SeaBass on Sept 6, 2020 20:58:31 GMT -5
Tampa in 5 Dallas in 6
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Post by kjc2 on Sept 7, 2020 9:26:08 GMT -5
Tampa in 6 Vegas in 6
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Post by nfld77 on Sept 7, 2020 10:56:16 GMT -5
Tampa in 5
Vegas in 7
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Post by orym on Sept 9, 2020 15:28:42 GMT -5
I am very late so will accept the DQ if you hang it on me but I'd still like to guess Tampa in 7 Vegas in 7
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Post by madmarx on Sept 9, 2020 16:18:11 GMT -5
I am very late so will accept the DQ if you hang it on me but I'd still like to guess Tampa in 7 Vegas in 7 No worries here
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Post by fforr on Sept 9, 2020 18:12:22 GMT -5
I am very late so will accept the DQ if you hang it on me but I'd still like to guess Tampa in 7 Vegas in 7 👍 You’re in, you’re part of the show!
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