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Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Bruins are Back!

By Matt Ingram
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff


Last night's debacle was one of worst played games I have seen in the last 20 years of Bruin hockey. To lay an egg like that in a pivotal game four was reminiscent of the Joe Thornton , Sergei Samsonov (scored Carolina's third goal last night to put the game out of reach) era. But all is right with the world now, this is the Bruins team that I remember. A team that shows no grit, no desire, no passion, and no sense of urgency.

In the third period, the most crucial period of their season, nobody was skating hard if even skating at all. It took me back to the Bruins of the 90's with the old dump and chase mentality. Why try to setup any plays just dump it in the zone and see if you can chase it down before the defenseman get to it first. This can work for some teams, not this team though. The Bruins form of dump and chase consisted of one guy dumping the puck in the zone, two forwards chasing it, and the other forward standing around the blue line just in case the defense gets there first. The problem was the Bruins were actually getting to the puck first but the third forward was never around to help the offense. There were multiple times that Boston got to the puck in the corner and just threw it in front of Canes goalie Cam Ward, but no one was there for a shot. This created easy brake-outs for Carolina into neutral ice.

The one stat that you need to look at is the shot total: Hurricanes 31, Bruins 21. In the third period the Canes out shot the B's 14-7, but it was not all the offense fault. The turnovers in their own zone have cost them dearly in the series and last night was no exception. The scoring started last night with a horrible pass from Mark Recchi back to Mark Stuart stolen by Ray Whitney creating Eric Staal's first of two bookend goals(his second goal wrapped up the game late in the third).

If the Bruins want to play hockey past Sunday night they have to get back to basics. The B's have to create turnovers in their defensive end leading to odd number rushes, this has been their game all year. Another key is pressure, pressure, pressure. They must put more shots on Cam Ward, they're making him look like an All-Star out there, he's not.

I hope Zdeno Chara and the rest of the Bruins have that sick feeling in their stomach because I almost threw up in my mouth last night by the end of that game. Let's hope that they show some balls out there and take it to the Canes. If they don't then so be it, another season will end like so many have in the past.