I’ll say right off the bat, this was the game the NHL should have featured in prime-time on NBC. From the first face off, this Sharks-Bruins match up had the feel of a second round, Game 5. It was fast and furious hockey at its best. (and DVR-ing it made it even better, although I had to keep stopping to watch that Wings-Flyers promo…)
No one really needs a Wings fan blogging about this game, there are plenty of Sharks fans and a Bruins fan or two who should have plenty to say. But I watched this game with an eye toward rooting out the weaknesses of both teams. And let me tell you this was no easy task. Hey- I know Wings can stop the Sharks, but the Bruins??? Well last fall I didn’t see that we had answer to their style of play. So this blog is really nothing more than an exercise in basically educating myself. These are my “scouting” observations, read on if you are that damn bored. And if you are? Let me know if you think I got it wrong or right.
Speed Kills. Faster Still Faster, Pussycat. Why did the Sharks win? Sharks had the speed and the legs in the third, a flawless Kill, won all the face offs and finished their forechecks. They wore Boston down and eventually figured out how to open up the neutral zone.
STACKED PADS!!! Nabby is fearless. He’ll poke check when there is tons of traffic. Nabby’s initial saves are always amazing, but his weakness is the rebound. He never controls them. The only shots he controls are long slappers. Not only that, but he practically aims the rebound right at an opposing player. And the Bruins knew this- they always had a second guy right there waiting for it.
Boo Bears. The Bruins fans that booed Joe Thornton have less class than the Chicago fans who yelled “Detroit Sucks” and the Pens fans who booed Hossa- I mean – are you really gonna tell me that it was that all about last year’s hit? Hmmmm. Even so, remember, it was the Bruins who got rid of him: Big Joe T. did not ask to leave. SOO glad he got a goal.
Clogging the Neutral Bruins play 5 back, 5 in the neutral, 3 up.The Bruins are fast enough and physical enough to play 5 in the neutral and pull all 5 back in their own zone, clear the puck out without dumping, but they get tired. Bruins are smothering in the neutral until they get tired. They CLOG the blues- half the time all 5 players are between ‘em.
Boston is ineffective if you tire them out and open up the neutral zone. A speedy left wing lock should work on them. By the second half of the third, they weren’t as fast as the Sharks. So you gotta tire them out, open it up, spread them out to the boards, get them in the situation where they have 2 wings between the blues and three guys back. Like I said before, burst through with speed, or open them up and their “trap-like” defense falls apart.
That said, I fully expected them to walk through that third with the one goal lead and just clog the lanes and sit on their lead with a stifling defense.
Aggressive Forechecking The Sharks were successful at throwing the Bruins off the puck when they were aggressive in their forecheck. Make the Bruins run, they aren’t a puck possession passing team, there is nothing pretty about it. Also they don’t finish their forechecks.
B-Boys Best Boy Lucic wanted the hat trick! Boston’s hardest working players? My boy Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference, Bergeron, Savard, Widman and the sniper Lucic.
Sharks best players in this game? Plihal, Boyle, Vlasic, Michalek, and Pavalski. Boy Aaron Ward had Pavalski’s number…Hardest working Sharks? Thornton, Marleau and Clowe.
Cap’t Leading by Example Marleau’s goal was the most important goal of the game- captain giving his team a lift, bringing their heads back into it- you could instantly see the skip in the Shark step and their momentum rise. Stevie Y used to do that, Nic Lids will one time from the point and give our team a lift like that too. It’s what good captains do.
Face Offs – they Are Important Bruins were terrible on the face off. The won only a single face off, (when Thornton was removed from the circle). Losing a face off to SJ turned out to be dangerous because the Sharks love to try and hit the one timer from the blueline off the face off. (Now where have I seen this before??? Hmmm… No. 5, No. 5, No. 5….)
Sharks PP and PK Sharks first goal on the PP, very nice. When the sharks settle on their PP, they will hit the net, don’t let them settle. Its ok if they “cycle”, but don’t let them slow down and see the net.
Sharks’ kill was great. They ate up the first minute of three Kills keeping the Bruins off the cycle. Their Kill reminded me of a Red Wings kill- except no Lilja body blocks. I am partial to the Lilja Body Block. He is, after all, … well you know.
No Sign of Olivia Newton John This game was not nearly as physical as I expected. But the Sharks finish their forechecks, and that is how they got a several of their turnovers and rolled into their pretty passing game. The Shark’s awareness of where other teammates are is really, really impressive. Its only half the equation, however.
Mistakes Were Costly Sharks give away for the Bruin’s second goal on the line change was a disastrous mistake. Even worse, Nabby gave it up on the rebound- Big mistakes. Lucic wasn’t even that fast. Seemed like Nabby was just nervous.
Other Observations:
Neither team played an agitator in front of the opposing goal. I think it’s because neither could slow the game down enough to control it.
Boston’s puck handling is sub-par, but that drop pass to Lucic with 4 minutes in the second (where it looked like a 2 on 1) was brilliant.
Loved seeing Aaron Ward playing and his hit on Vlasic really put the Sharks in a Pickle!
Claude le Mew helped his team. He’s still a kitty cat.
Sharks never really had a good shot on net until the Bruins got tired. Bruins lost because they could not keep up with the Shark’s fast pace in the third.
You can’t let the Bruins go into the third with a lead, because they will stifle on the defense and slow a fast team, UNLESS… unless you have tired them out.
I hate watching regular TV now, this is the second game I have watched on DVR, and its so much better! And when I paused the game to watch scrubs, when I came back- it was in the same spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Weird fact of the Night? I wanted Boston to win so the Sharks lost the point, and with a win for my Wings, that would have allowed us to pull even in the West. PLUS I drafted both Widman and Chara for my fantasy team, but know what? I found myself cheering for the Sharks. I don’t know what that says about me.
Capper of the Day? My Wings won handily and my Pasha has 40 points since December- the most of any player in the league. LOVE Ya Pasha!
Jooce-crest out.
No comments:
Post a Comment