Haggerty: Foundation of defense and goaltending betrays B's

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BOSTON – The Bruins once proudly trumpeted defense and goaltending as the bedrock of their winning game.

It was the structure by which their entire success was based over the last eight years, and the foundation for their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2011. Now it seems to have almost completely abandoned them to start a 2015-16 season that has begun to look like a beginner’s manual on “How not to play defense in the NHL.”

The plummeting Boston Bruins have dropped to 0-3-0 on the season, and have allowed a whopping 16 goals in the process during three stunning defeats that are undoubtedly serving as a stunning dose of reality for those used to recent Black and Gold success.

Multiple times during his postgame comments, David Krejci said “Honestly, I don’t even know what to say right now” and Patrice Bergeron admitted “it’s hard to find the words right now” to talk about any positives.

These are seasoned Bruins players that have seen epic highs and despairing lows in their careers, both seemed legitimately stunned at what’s going on around them.

The latest eye-opening setback was a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday afternoon at TD Garden where many things conspired for the high goals allowed total: leaky goaltending, bad systems work and just plain, old porous defense where the five skaters on the ice weren’t even close to supporting each other. It was extensive panoply of very bad things, obviously, but it all amounted to being nowhere close to the Bruins hockey club that they used to be.

“The amount of goals [allowed], from the goaltender on out, defense, the forwards coming back, we’ve just got to be better. [Defense] used to be our strength and right now it’s our weakness,” said Claude Julien. “Those goals against are definitely our fault. We could handle those situations better. That goal they scored from the slot area, we had the numbers coming back and we didn’t pick up the right guys from the neutral zone.

“If we’re not gonna get the puck in deep, we might as well eat it. When they come back and they score those goals from – the shorthanded goal, we’re making a risky play at the blue line. We have to get better in those areas. It’s one mistake after another. A lot of [the three losses] is us shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Given the new faces brought on board this season and the youngsters on the B’s back end, it’s not surprising there are mistakes and moments of uncertainty on the ice. But it’s got to be alarming to hear some Bruins veterans lamenting players on the roster that don’t seem to be know the Bruins system like the back of their hand. The B’s coaching staff has had nearly a month to install the new, tweaked offensive and defensive system, and there are clearly players that haven’t fully grasped what they’re doing on the ice.

A prime example was the first goal allowed when the Bruins had a 2-0 lead: Victor Hedman carried the puck deep along the half-wall and attracted the attention of the entire Bruins fourth line as he made his move toward the net. Joonas Kemppainen, the center, has responsibility to guard the slot, and keep anybody from getting off a good scoring chance in that prime scoring area. Instead the NHL rookie moved toward Hedman, and that opened up Brian Boyle for the wide open blast from the slot. It’s not an example that should put too much blame on an undrafted Finnish center playing in his first few NHL games, but it instead underscores the subtle – and sometimes not-so-subtle – gaffes being made in the defensive zone.

“The amount of goals we’re giving up is uncharacteristic of this group. Regardless of how many new faces there is, Boston has always been a good defending team. Right now that doesn’t seem to be the case,” said Chris Kelly. “We really need to concentrate and be professional, and realize that we have to be prepared to play for 60 minutes, and realize that there’s a system in place.

“I think [it’s] just knowing what your job is. Everyone has a job to do and everyone can do their job well, or they wouldn’t be here. It’s just if you have any questions about the system, not knowing the system, you know…any gray areas...I think everyone’s here to help and fill that [void]. I think once those gray areas are gone, you’re going to see this team really thrive and do well because we have a great group in here. I really have a good feeling about the group we have in the room, and there are just maybe some gray areas that we just need to correct.”

The obvious killer goal was the game-winning power play strike from Steve Stamkos at the end of the second period, a score that Claude Julien felt should have been wiped out by Tampa interference right off the face-off.  But the real stake through Boston’s heart was Tampa’s insurance fifth goal scored in the third period to make it a 5-3 game.

On that play the Bruins defended well while keeping Jonathan Drouin to the perimeter, but he was able to sneak a tumbling change of pace shot past Tuukka Rask for a soft serve special. On the aforementioned first goal the systems let them down, and when the system held up then the goaltending sagged with the B’s were battling to keep it a one goal deficit. That’s what one would call a total and complete breakdown on the defensive side of the puck, and that’s an apt way to describe these first three B’s games.  

“In the first period, there was that one breakdown and we get scored on, and that was it,” said Rask. “But when your team is kind of balancing and trying to find that balance, then the goalie needs to step up and maybe make that one or two very big saves to give that extra boost. I think we’re at that point now. We want to be tighter than we were, [if we] keep that going and we’ll be fine.”

While some like Kelly and Rask sounded an optimistic tone that things will get better for the Bruins, it’s hard to see that given the mounting evidence in three games that this Bruins team is spiraling downward into puck oblivion rather quickly.

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