When you?ve scored only one goal in three of the four playoff games you?ve played, chances are the coach might tweak a thing or two.
Well, in the Bruins [team stats]? brief practice yesterday, coach Claude Julien left no forward line untweaked, rolling out four different combinations in preparation for today?s Game 5 against the Washington Capitals at the Garden.
How pivotal is this afternoon?s battle? There have been 216 best-of-seven series that have been deadlocked 2-2, and in those series, the team that wins Game 5 has taken the series 173 times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Those are odds Julien would surely like to get in his favor, and thus the heavy tinkering.
While you can?t always believe what you see in practice is going to hold true for the next game, it was clear Julien was looking to shake things up. Brian Rolston moved up to the David Krejci-Milan Lucic line, Patrice Bergeron centered Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly was between Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin (Jordan Caron was also in the mix on that line), and Brad Marchand went back to his fourth-line roots, skating with Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton.
?It?s just a part of trying to find solutions and it?s as simple as that,? Julien said after the 25-minute practice. ?You have to mix up guys. We?re not getting the results that we?d like, so you try to make changes that will help spark that part of our game.?
It is easy to read some things into the moves. Second-year players Seguin and Marchand, for instance, haven?t notched a point, and one would think these moves are a demotion for them ? or a promotion for Rolston and Paille, both of whom have scored in this series.
If that?s what Julien was going for, he wasn?t saying so yesterday.
?We?re just trying to give our lines a spark, more than the individuals themselves,? Julien said. ?I think right now we?re not getting the production we?d like to. Having said that, we?re doing a good job. We?re not playing a bad game. We?re breaking out of our end no problem. We?re going through the neutral zone no problem. We?re getting pucks in deep no problem.
?At the end of the day, it?s just a situation of trying to capitalize on our chances. They do a good job of sitting back and playing hard and the (capitalizing) on their opportunities. For us, it?s just a matter of finding that. It?s not them frustrating us; it?s us being frustrated at not being able to do the job. We?re working on it. We?re a confident group and we?ve faced adversity and challenges before, and we?re ready to face this one as well.?
Though the changes seem a little drastic, no one should be taken too far out of their comfort zone. Seguin played with Kelly in the playoffs last year, while Marchand played half the season last year with Campbell and Thornton.
?Maybe changing things up isn?t always a bad thing,? Kelly said. ?The luxury with our team is everyone?s played with one another at some point. Claude has lots of options. That?s one of our strengths, and why not use one of our strengths??
No matter what the lines look like today at 3 p.m., the objective of the forwards doesn?t change. Washington goalie Braden Holtby has been as good as he?s had to be. The B?s have thrown 148 shots on net and only seven have snuck by him for a save percentage of .953. But the B?s have allowed him to see most of the shots. And while he?s given up some rebounds, the B?s more often than not have been beaten to them by the Caps.
A little simplification is in order.
?I?m sure it?s preached in every locker room in the playoffs. The fact of the matter is, the cute plays aren?t there,? Rolston said. ?It?s simple hockey: Get pucks to the net, score off rebounds, things like that. Holtby?s been real good, especially on the first shot. Obviously, we have to get to the rebounds, but that?s nothing new that the coach hasn?t preached.?
Now the players must practice what the coach has preached.
Well, in the Bruins [team stats]? brief practice yesterday, coach Claude Julien left no forward line untweaked, rolling out four different combinations in preparation for today?s Game 5 against the Washington Capitals at the Garden.
How pivotal is this afternoon?s battle? There have been 216 best-of-seven series that have been deadlocked 2-2, and in those series, the team that wins Game 5 has taken the series 173 times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Those are odds Julien would surely like to get in his favor, and thus the heavy tinkering.
While you can?t always believe what you see in practice is going to hold true for the next game, it was clear Julien was looking to shake things up. Brian Rolston moved up to the David Krejci-Milan Lucic line, Patrice Bergeron centered Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly was between Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin (Jordan Caron was also in the mix on that line), and Brad Marchand went back to his fourth-line roots, skating with Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton.
?It?s just a part of trying to find solutions and it?s as simple as that,? Julien said after the 25-minute practice. ?You have to mix up guys. We?re not getting the results that we?d like, so you try to make changes that will help spark that part of our game.?
It is easy to read some things into the moves. Second-year players Seguin and Marchand, for instance, haven?t notched a point, and one would think these moves are a demotion for them ? or a promotion for Rolston and Paille, both of whom have scored in this series.
If that?s what Julien was going for, he wasn?t saying so yesterday.
?We?re just trying to give our lines a spark, more than the individuals themselves,? Julien said. ?I think right now we?re not getting the production we?d like to. Having said that, we?re doing a good job. We?re not playing a bad game. We?re breaking out of our end no problem. We?re going through the neutral zone no problem. We?re getting pucks in deep no problem.
?At the end of the day, it?s just a situation of trying to capitalize on our chances. They do a good job of sitting back and playing hard and the (capitalizing) on their opportunities. For us, it?s just a matter of finding that. It?s not them frustrating us; it?s us being frustrated at not being able to do the job. We?re working on it. We?re a confident group and we?ve faced adversity and challenges before, and we?re ready to face this one as well.?
Though the changes seem a little drastic, no one should be taken too far out of their comfort zone. Seguin played with Kelly in the playoffs last year, while Marchand played half the season last year with Campbell and Thornton.
?Maybe changing things up isn?t always a bad thing,? Kelly said. ?The luxury with our team is everyone?s played with one another at some point. Claude has lots of options. That?s one of our strengths, and why not use one of our strengths??
No matter what the lines look like today at 3 p.m., the objective of the forwards doesn?t change. Washington goalie Braden Holtby has been as good as he?s had to be. The B?s have thrown 148 shots on net and only seven have snuck by him for a save percentage of .953. But the B?s have allowed him to see most of the shots. And while he?s given up some rebounds, the B?s more often than not have been beaten to them by the Caps.
A little simplification is in order.
?I?m sure it?s preached in every locker room in the playoffs. The fact of the matter is, the cute plays aren?t there,? Rolston said. ?It?s simple hockey: Get pucks to the net, score off rebounds, things like that. Holtby?s been real good, especially on the first shot. Obviously, we have to get to the rebounds, but that?s nothing new that the coach hasn?t preached.?
Now the players must practice what the coach has preached.
