Peverley/By S. Bradley
WILMINGTON, Mass. — Fresh off their depressing 3-0 loss to Carolina last night, the Bruins took the ice at Ristuccia Arena for practice today.
Everyone but Nathan Horton was on the ice and all players were wearing the jerseys typically assigned to their respective lines. So no shake-up just yet for a team that’s just gone 4-4-1 in its last nine games. A guy like Rich Peverley (2 goals last 12) or Benoit Pouliot (0 goals last 10) could benefit from a change of scenery, but so far head coach Claude Julien has kept thing consistent.
The Bruins host Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon.
Published By mattk Fri. February 3, 2012 11:45 am EDT
PCL,
I agree with your sentiment. Something is obviously not quite right in the locker room. I think it could be as “harmless” as overconfidence or a problem between teammates. I’d think if it’s just overconfidence, you give them a little time to work it out for themselves and see what they can do. Sure, it’s not as fun to watch for a little while, but they will be better for overcoming it. If it’s a dispute amongst the players, then I hope they trade away the problem (I hear Montreal likes problem players). Either way, I think I lean more towards trying to develop their young leaders some, although someone who could be a full-time A in the future could be very useful.
I think this team needs a veteran voice/presence in the dressing room, a la Recchi. They came out flying last night and if it weren’t for Cam Ward, they would have had a pretty nice lead. But, he made some great saves and kept the B’s off of the board and then the Canes get one, which totally seemed to deflate the Bruins.
A veteran voice may have been able to pull them out of that funk and get them back on track for last night’s game and others that have been similar.
It could just be that Carolina has their number, but it goes beyond this last game, IMO. The goals against in the last bunch of games is concerning. Not being able to get out of their own end is concerning. & the d-zone breakdowns in coverage is concerning.
Maybe it’s a mid-season funk; you know that they were due for one, and that’s it. But, I think a move that should be made, besides going for another/better PMD, is a veteran voice/presence of some sort. Problem is, how does that person get the ear of the room in short order?