I asked, they answered: On Canucks’ Kesler, Hamhuis, Luongo & more
1. Chara-Seidenberg vs. Sedin-Sedin-Burrows. The twins (and Alex Burrows) have had their hands full with shutdown pairings this postseason. In Round 1 they faced Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook (combining for 14 points); in Round 2 they faced Ryan Suter and Shea Weber (combining for nine). Then came the San Jose series. Dan Boyle-Douglas Murray played the shutdown role and the results were not pretty – the Sedin-Sedin-Burrows line exploded for 24 points.
2. Special teams. It’s been beaten to death, but Boston isn’t going to win a Stanley Cup scoring eight percent of the time with the man advantage. That has to improve. The Bruins also have to slow down a Vancouver PP that caught fire in the Western Conference final. In the first two rounds, the Canucks scored eight power play goals. In five games against San Jose, they scored nine.
3. The forecheck. Can Boston be effective on it? The Canucks moved the puck extremely well out of their own end and typically avoid the big hit, but against San Jose – a team that liked to dump-and-chase and get possession down low – both Aaron Rome and Christian Ehrhoff were knocked out of commission.
Prediction?
Vancouver’s team speed and defensive depth will get them through what should be a physical, hard-fought series. Canucks in 7.
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Coach – I agree. I think this PP thing is overblown. Can it be a factor – of course. Do I think it will be – not so much.
Really like the back and forth with these Couver cats. Better than the Tampa banter.
Seems people look back only one series when evaluating the Cup finals. People are evaluating Vancouver based on San Jose. Sorry, but I have no respect for that club. Same as Washington. Full of stats. Great Point totals in the Standings. Soft as those fruits in green suits. The Sedins are about to disappear. They will not be comfortable at all with the treatment they are about to receive. To rate this series by looking at SanJose is a mistake. Rate this series by imagining Nashville with more offensive depth.
Bs in 6! FINALLY! Just sorry, I can’t watch this with my Pop! He loved the Bs and he’d be wearing a Thomas jersey tonight if he were still sluggin’ beers with his boy.
Go Bs!!
The difference between a strong powerplay team played well by an effective Bruins PK and the Bruins terrible PP is approx. 2 goals over the course of a series.