Boston Bruins: 3 adjustments B’s must make to even series vs Caps
No. 1: Boston Bruins need to get more shots on goal
When Vitek Vanecek went down with an injury after trying to make a save on Jake DeBrusk’s opening goal, forcing Craig Anderson into net, it seemed like the Bruins were set to add to their tally throughout the game.
Anderson is a 39 year old veteran who only played in four games this season, so it seemed like the Bruins were in a great spot to pounce on the Capitals goalie situation. However, they only added one more goal on the night as a result of their inability to do much of anything offensively.
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The Bruins only got 26 shots on goal on the night, with 22 of those coming against Anderson. Anderson simply wasn’t tested enough on the night, and if the Bruins put more shots on net they probably could have snuck another one by the rarely used netminder.
On the shots that Anderson did face, he looked OK at best. He seemed to struggle locating the puck on several occasions, and continued to allow some juicy rebounds fall in front of him. But the Bruins failed to capitalize, and although Washington’s goalie situation is certainly going to be cloudy heading into Game 2, the Bruins failed to take advantage of Craig Anderson, and it may cost them down the line.
In similar fashion to how the power play struggled, the Bruins really failed to generate any sort of consistency offensively. The struggled to hold the puck in the Caps zone for long periods of time, and when they did it didn’t really result in many scoring chances. A more cohesive offensive attack is going to be necessary in Game 2.
The key to fixing this issue is more zone time. Too often the Bruins tried to force passes that the Capitals would easily snatch up, and either launch it out or build up an attack of their own. Sometimes passing back is more beneficial than passing forward, and too often it felt like a questionable pass ended a Bruins offensive attack.
Next. Bruins lose Game 1 in OT to Caps. dark
The Bruins defensive players weren’t of much help on offense though, which made establishing zone time difficult. They played a very soft presence on the blue line, and when their forechecking was more aggressive during the third period, it felt like things were finally clicking offensively. The defense will need to be more aggressive going forward to counter the Capitals own aggressive style of play.
Regardless of who is in net for Washington tomorrow night, the Bruins need to put more pucks on net. Their two goals on the night came from firing the puck towards net and hoping for the best, so it’s confusing why they were so hesitant to pull the trigger on the night.
You can’t score if you don’t shoot, and the Bruins will need to up the ante and start creating more offensive pressure if they want to tie this series back up in Game 2.