By: Declan Flavin | Follow me on Twitter / X @FlavinDeclan
After a December slump forced players and coaches to look themselves in the mirror, the team has found its stride again, winning eight of its last nine games. Their run is being fueled not just by the usual culprits like David Pastrnak, who has eight points in his last five games, but by increased attention to detail from the entire roster.
For the Boston Bruins, this attention to detail has been especially evident in their on-ice positioning, an area that had failed them many times in the defensive zone not long ago. Teams have been quick to expose this sporadic issue, pairing this approach with increased pressure on taxed defensemen like Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.
Team Structure
Even during the recent third-period onslaught by the Vegas Golden Knights, most of the goals came from opposing players being a step quicker rather than from any structural negligence. Forwards and defensemen were sticking with their man when the puck was around the perimeter and collapsing around the net when it was down low, addressing the area between the dots that has hurt the franchise in recent years.
This can be seen on Vegas’ first goal, scored by Jack Eichel, where Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha work to stick to perimeter players while McAvoy remains positioned in the middle with his man assignment. You don’t want to get too excited about solid decision-making that leads to a failed outcome, but it’s encouraging to see that head coach Marco Sturm’s plan is clearly in their heads.
In the grand scheme of things, the new system under this coach is a challenging one for any player to operate within during its first year. The man-zone mix in the defensive zone relies on players setting aside their individual style and contributing to the collective, more than some fans even realize.
Do you think Pastrnak, who has scored a whopping 412 goals in his career, wants to pick up a Tomas Hertl or Eichel in his own zone? Probably not, but he and the rest of the team have worked to buy into the plan laid out by the new coaching regime, and despite various setbacks, the team has shown a persistent awareness of what they need to reprioritize.
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