By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
The Boston Bruins took home ice this weekend hoping to start creating more separation from their total of 15 losses, and they simply played inconsistently. Although the first game versus the Vancouver Canucks felt in some ways like a back-and-forth shootout, the mistakes the team did make quickly piled up in the following game versus the Ottawa Senators.
The group generated offensive chances, but they ultimately ruined the momentum with subpar attention to detail on the opposite side of the ice. For a spectator at the game, it almost felt like the Bruins knew they were facing an undermanned opponent or one coming off a prior game, and decided to cheat toward the offensive side of things.
Forward Linus Karlsson Scores at 15:38 of the Second Period
So, for the first of two mistakes worthy of highlighting from the Canucks game, the opening Karlsson goal stands out, as it displays some of the lack of defensive awareness. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman is a little too nonchalant in dealing with the rolling puck and the aftermath, in which defenseman Andrew Peeke, wearing number 26, acts similarly and is unable to snuff out a highly probable pass-and-tap-in situation.
You don’t expect Swayman to handle every puck right, but you also don’t expect both your goalie and your defenseman to treat a failing breakout so casually.
With the goalie halfway into the crease and Karlsson, number 94, skating in right behind Peeke, it’s a decipherable situation turned into a pair of self-inflicted mistakes.
Forward Linus Karlsson Scores at 16:07 of the Third Period
A second goal by Karlsson later in the game exposed the group in the neutral zone, and it involved multiple breakdowns as well. A pass by centerman Fraser Minten into the skates of winger Tanner Jeannot turns into what looks like an unfortunate spot for forward Mark Kastelic and unfortunate positioning from defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
You would like the pass to be crisper initially, but the fact that it led to Kastelic slowing down and getting caught from behind, and Zadorov being caught too high in the play, is unacceptable. Zadorov got even higher up in the frame later on, and once again, a slower urgency at the start of the execution set off a domino effect, leading to more of the same later on.
Forward Drake Batherson Scores at 18:30 of the First Period
The issues against the Senators started right away, beginning with a misjudgment by forward Morgan Geekie. As you can see in the frame, Geekie takes a cut in front of the blue line in anticipation of the play turning into the attack, only to end up watching a puck battle that turns into a Batherson shot from far away, a vacant spot he could have snuffed out.
Forwards always have a tendency to lean the other way as part of the nature of their role, but since the puck was far from cleanly possessed and defenseman Mason Lohrei was high up in the zone, you cannot make such an assumption. It doesn’t matter how many goals you could be scoring; the team’s identity always comes from responsible defensive zone play.
Forward Fabian Zetterlund Scores at 2:34 of the Second Period
The sixth and final goal against the penalty kill was tough because of the Kastelic turnover, but the team also doesn’t prefer having both of their defensemen higher in the zone than their forward while still leaning that way. This led to a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that the unit wasn’t structured well enough to fend off.
You might want to dismiss it and burn the tape as a result of it being late in the game, but this final goal came in the second period. Inconsistent attention in your own zone, leading to sloppy structure, is catastrophic, and it’s contagious to the following play and to the following games.
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