Bergeron overvalued by Bruins? Loss to Lightning proves otherwise
It would seem that if he’s trying to create two trios with a modicum of defensive responsibility, just flipping Peverley and Kelly would add some defense to one line and more playmaking to another. He might even have to bit the bullet and let Seguin center Recchi and Marchand for a shift just to light a fire under the boys. Another option could be breaking up the Campbell line to make up for Campbell and Paille’s deficiencies while adding some grit to other units.
Julien blamed his team’s inability to match Tampa Bay’s effort as the main culprit for the team’s loss. He’s probably right. When you look at those faceoff numbers and Tampa Bay’s 17 blocked shots and the 31 saves Dwayne Roloson made without many screens or much traffic, that’s a reflection of the work ethic lacking.
But better effort isn’t going to transform the Campbell line into the type of two-way threat the balanced Bruins need to succeed at the end of the night against the multi-talented Lightning. Just plugging Kelly into Bergeron’s spot doesn’t mean the Bruins can plow straight ahead and continue to win games the way they were when they reeled off eight victories in nine games before tonight.
The best solution for the Bruins’ problem, obviously, is the return of a healthy Patrice Bergeron. For all we know he could be back as soon as Game 2 or 3 and make this all moot.
Unfortunately, when he returns Bergeron won’t be any richer than the deal he’s finishing up this season and the one he’ll start playing under next season.
The Bruins, however, are only wealthy when they have their No. 37 in his spot on the second line. We saw just how poor a Bergeron-less Bruins team would look tonight.
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I don’t think Krejci was awful when he had the puck, but he was definitely awful on the face offs and not too strong defensively. Lucic was laying some hits though-which is more than he has done in a while.
I think the new Kelly line was awful and that made the Krejci line even easier to defend.
I also don’t think Seidenberg is a liability-and he has been rather good for most of the play offs, but I think last night the defense as a whole-other than Boychuk pretty much didn’t show up. I actually think Seidenberg and Chara generally make a pretty good pairing. Kaberle however is awful-the B’s got burned big time in that trade and I am sure the leafs are clapping their hands over pulling that one off.
it was clear (again, again and again) that Ryder, Seidenberg and Kaberle are defensive liabilities. extra care should be taken to assure these guys are one the ice as infrequently as possible and they certainly should never skate at the same time. Seguin should stick around, but he isn’t strong enough in enough areas to hold down the center position. I’d be fine with sitting Thornton in this series. I’m not sure if I want the lines back to “normal” or everything mixed up, but I know I wouldn’t be comfortable with Kaberle or Seidenberg out there while the nearly defenseless line of Ryder and Seguin are. the Lightning can score, so the Bruins need to be on their game at all points of the ice in order to shut Tampa down and produce enough goals to overcome the three that are likely to get by Tim each night of this series. Krejci was awful. the Bruins need him to win draws and produce decent scoring chances if they are to overcome this slight setback. they will also need Bergeron back ASAFP. I still don’t think the Lightning will win more than one more game, though, as I fully expect the Bruins to shine from here on. is it Tuesday, yet?
Well I am not sure Marchand and Kelly were clicking-they might still, but that whole line was pretty much non existent in the game.
The Peverly line with Ryder and Seguin would have been almost as silent had Seguin not scored or fed Boychuk.
There is no way the B’s are going to win this series if there isn’t more than one line clicking-it makes it too easy for the other team to make match-ups.
Easy there its only 1 game.Ryder did his job last night,what about Marchand? Lucic? Kaberle..is a joke on skates,someone in Toronto is having a good laugh at that one.
GO BRUINS GO!!! ALL OF EM.
I´ve said that we should try Seguin between Marchie and Recchi a long time ago. I hope that with Matt talking about it, it becomes real.
I didn´t get the sitting Seguin last night but Clodd. Once again he shows signs of a stupid dude.
complete strawman article. I’ve never seen anyone refer to Bergeron as over-valued. He’s a great player and one of the best faceoff men in the world right now.
Looks like the Bruins might be in a tough series…
Well I don’t think I ever had the opinion that Bergeron was overvalued by the team or that he was overpaid.
Honestly I think our team is built around Chara and Bergeron.
I think Seguin did fine for a rookie in his first playoff game ever-not great and not perfect, but the kid managed to skate in and score off a very nice pass from Ryder. He danced around the Tampa defense as if they were standing still.
The Boychuk goal off the skate of the Tampa player wasn’t going to happen if Seguin hadn’t played fetch to get the puck-so he is trying more.
I still fully expect to see him marched back to the press box when/if Bergeron comes back, but there is a part of me that thinks sitting Thornton with the Tampa series and dressing Seguin may give Julien a few more tools to work with. The only reason that fourth line got much time was because we don’t have Bergeron.
I also think our PP is still abysmal and embarrassing. Once they got entry into the zone it still mostly looked like 5 guys standing around waiting for a pass. Of course the guys don’t really get a chance to stand around and wait for the pass because they can’t seem to get into the offensive zone and maintain possession of the puck.
Sad news on what happened to Derek Boogaard. Seemed like a classy guy. After reading this comment about him, can’t help but think it is too bad that other players in the league (such as a big defenseman for Boston) are not more like him.
“Second, Derek would never fight someone who wasn’t in his “class”. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He had too much respect for the game, and the players had total respect for him. “
What is that magic thing that gets Marchand mad and he becomes the most dominat person on the ice. Some one has to know.
I needed to say this: Looch needs someone to fight with to get going.
This team needs a coach who will play the players that give you the best chance to win. Ryder is pathetic. and kaberle is a great weapon. For the other team.
everyone take a deep breath. Bergeron is not the reason we lost this game. I just think the B’s did not know how to play the lightning or did not know enough about them. They are a great team no doubt but two keys to winning this series will be first goal, and face offs. We were pee wee bad at face offs last night and Tampa took full advantage of it. Watch some tape and reorganize long way to go.