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Bruins dominant 2nd period leads to win, score doesn’t tell the whole story |
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Game Summary:
Detroit outshot Boston in the first and third periods. Coming out of the first up 2-0 with an unlikely strong effort and solid special teams may have given false hope that today would see the league’s most dominant team give way to a team outside of the playoff picture. However, the 2nd period was so badly tilted in Boston’s direction that the score could easily have been much less friendly.
We’ve heard of coaches “peeling paint off the walls” between periods. In that Bruins room, it probably isn’t needed. There is enough leadership on the ice that probably peeled the paint for them. Boston came out like a team possessed and Detroit weathered an absolute blitz of being on the PK and outplayed for just over 12 minutes before fortunes began to turn and ultimately ended as most would have predicted.
Still an impressive effort in the first, less so but in the third. That middle section should give players pause. I don’t know if you force the team to watch it or lock it away. These 2 clubs have tomorrow to pick right back up and continue the saga.
Boston has had an incredible season. They are just in another league at times. Detroit has had the normal “rebuild” issues along with injuries and now departures. Regardless, these 2 programs are about as far as any polarity can be. There were moments of solid goal tending, moments where players looked ready to “punch up”. Only moments, though, with stretches of disastrous play.
I don’t know how you tell players to stay out of the box any more clearly. You can see bad habits work their way back in situations where execution needs to be as close to perfect as you can get. Without a goalie that overperformed at times, is this a 5-2 game?
The good news, this is not next year’s lineup. If you missed it, Yzerman briefly said the other day that Bertuzzi wasn’t going to be able to be signed before the deadline. It was a passing comment that I almost missed. I knew there’d been no communication recently, and Yzerman doesn’t sound optimistic about the cap ceiling (especially with Seider needing a deal soonish). I don’t even know what the ask is or if it will change. No bonus $ for Larkin signals the office trying to even out costs. (Think of what Toronto has paid out in July at times).
My expectation for next year is that someone is being told, “you’re playing for a job”. Maybe several someone’s. There is some talent playing in Denver that may project higher if they decided to go pro. Cops exit interview will probably be, “you had a big surgery, expectations are much higher. Be ready for camp”. It is still rebuild, and unless the lottery goes exceptionally well, it will be intra system promotion and free agency.
Tomorrow is a new day, but the season is close to over. There’s still some uphill work to be done.
First Period Detroit goals:
Seeing Boston go on the man advantage early certainly didn’t inspire a lot of confidence, but a turnover at Detroit’s blue line found Copp skating hard down ice as it looked like he and Suter were set up for a 2 on 1. Copp went ahead and sent a wrist shot from the half wall and scored low far side, unassisted, to get Detroit on the scoreboard first. 1-0 Detroit. 1:36
Chiasson had an emotional response to finding his way back to the NHL. Today he found his first goal as a Red Wing at 4:32 on the power play. Perron was on the half wall with Larkin in the slot, and were moving the puck back to Seider at the blue line. Seider got the puck back to Larkin, and a quick pass to Perron was followed by a cross seam where Chiasson had his stick on the ice just inside the goal post for a tic-tac-goal on the power play. 2-0 Detroit.
Shots: 15-11 DET
Score: 2-0 DET
Second Period Detroit goals:
No second period Detroit goals
The Bruins came out and dominated Detroit who were being outshot nearly 10 to 1 when Boston finally broke through at 12:43. 2-1 DET
Less than 2 minutes later Boston tied it up on a power play (Detroit continues to just give them advantage after advantage). 2-2
Shots: 29-17 BOS (Detroit outshot 18 - 2)
Score: 2-2
Third Period Detroit goals:
Boston finally grabs the lead at 13:54 in the third. 3-2 BOS
Final Shots: 38-31 BOS (Detroit outshot 14-9 in 3rd)
Final Score: 3-2 BOS
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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