The Boston Bruins were able to snatch up a victory in Monday’s home opener. Even though the B’s were victorious there are a few things they need to work on.
The TD Garden crowd was gifted a great game in the Boston Bruins home opener on Monday. The Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3 and showed that they were the dominant team.
The game was never in doubt. Even as the Senators crept back into the game you weren’t worried.
If there are any Senators fans reading this you probably already know that you are going to have a long season. It’s never easy losing a franchise player such as Erik Karlsson.
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When watching Ottawa you can just see that they are disjointed. They could barely break the puck out of their own zone during a power play.
The Bruins offense has continued to shine this season. It seems like scoring won’t be a problem for the Bruins. In their last 2 games, they have scored 10 goals. Some may say that the scoring is only coming from one line, but as long as pucks are going in the net, does it really matter?
The issue for Boston is defending in their own zone and the play of their goaltenders. It seems like the opening night blowout courtesy of the Washington Capitals was an anomaly and not something fans should be worried about.
There is plenty of things to talk about so here are my 3 takeaways from the Boston Bruins electric home opener.
1. Patrice Bergeron could not be stopped
Patrice Bergeron had a legendary afternoon. The Bruins center notched the first Bruins hat trick in the home opener since 1995.
Bergeron was his usual self. He was all over the ice and dominating the faceoff circle.
Bergeron kicked off the scoring 30 seconds into the game by driving hard to the net and sneaking the puck past Mike Condon. His 2nd goal was a beauty and the result of a great pass from Brad Marchand. Bergy’s 3rd goal was a gift from Condon because I think I could have stopped that backhand by simply laying on the ground.
The most impressive thing about Bergeron’s scoring outburst is his efficiency. he scored 3 goals on just 4 shots. You can’t get much better than that.
The Bruins first line just continues to be dominant. There seems to be no one that can stop them. I expect them to be a major problem for the rest of the NHL.
2. Rask recovers
It’s hard to play a worse game after giving up 5 goals in a period and a half, but Tuukka Rask looked much better on Monday. Rask stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced, but can’t be blamed for any of the goals that were given up.
The Senators first goal of the game was due to the Bruins inability to clear the puck out of their zone and just overall poor defense. There was nothing Rask could really do in that situation.
The 2nd goal that Rask gave up was due to poor management by Bruce Cassidy. It appeared that the Bruins were playing with 4 men on the ice for some reason and the mistake backfired.
You may wish that Rask can stop that shot, but it’s hard when you are giving opponents a free man advantage.
Finally, on Ottawa’s final goal of the game there is a crowd of bodies in front of Rask. When you add in a late deflection the puck is basically impossible to stop.
Tuukka looked much more comfortable in net and made some truly amazing saves. A play that stuck out to me came early in the 3rd period when Alex Formenton had a breakaway and Rask was aggressive and made a poke check and caused Formenton to stumble over him.
If Rask’s misses there it’s an easy goal. That is the type of confidence you want from a starting goaltender.
Tuukka Rask had a much better outing on Monday, but hopefully he will continue to improve.
3. Matt Grzelcyk looked rough out there
One player who had a particularly bad game was Matt Grzelcyk. The young defender made too many mistakes and had some juicy turnovers. Monday could have been a much closer game if it wasn’t for Tuukka Rask.
Grzelcyk isn’t a rookie anymore. He can’t be making these stupid plays. Especially with Torey Krug out for an extended period of time the Bruins need Grzelcyk to be succesful.
Bruce Cassidy isn’t afraid to play with the lines so maybe Bruce should sit Grzelcyk for a game and let him watch from the 9th floor.
The Bruins have Steven Kampfer on their active roster, why not use him?
Another defensive takeaway is that the Bruins were much better covering Ottawa’s cherrypicking attack. The Senators love to have a forward sprint down the ice and just throw the puck up and see what they can do. Ottawa found out it’s much harder to be succesful doing this without a supreme defenseman like Erik Karlsson.
All that matters is that the Boston Bruins got the win and will be riding high before facing the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.