Yep. Not a lot to cheer about. Hawks dont seem to have the legs tonight to get out of Boston's forecheck without consequence.
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Yep. Not a lot to cheer about. Hawks dont seem to have the legs tonight to get out of Boston's forecheck without consequence.
No offense, but forget the ice condition excuses, they were both playing on the same surface. The Bruin defense and Rask were the difference.
Yesterday might be as hot and humid a day as we get here all summer, the ice should be much better for the next game unless the forecast is way off.
I wasnt making the excuse about the ice. Both teams were on it. Im a lousy loser I will admit. Even if the Bruins win the best youre likely to get out of me is that the Hawks didnt play their game lol. But I didnt mean to imply it was because of the ice.
It was just nasty ugly hockey last night that wasnt much fun to watch.
Rask is zoned in at the moment. He may win this series all by himself.
As a neutral, I'm still pretty stoked to see an Original Six final. The intensity in the arenas has been spectacular. It's not just two teams playing for a Stanley Cup, it's a collision of pride and history as well. Very cool.
I didn't feel that Rask was actually tested a whole lot. Almost all of the Hawks real good chances simply missed the net (a handful of times a Hawk trailer had time in the slot and an open shot to the net... each time the shot missed by an inch).......... each of the Bruins last 3 goals have gone off the post and in.
In all, I just don't don't see the large difference that media and most fans are making the serious out to be. Yes, Bruins are smothering Hawks deep in the defensive zone, but has come at a cost of giving the Hawks trailors time and space. Hawks need to make the adjustment with chip ins instead of ringing the pucks around the boards, get possession to the outside, and there will be room to get scoring chances. It's not going to be downlow by the net. It's going to come from point shots and medium open slot opportunities.
Rask has been good no question, but for bulk of the time has not been tested heavily (only time he was sounded testly was first 20 minutes of game 2, which admittedly, made a number of stops that kept the Bruins in at early).
I guess I might have been watching a different game, Patrick.
The game I saw was controlled by the Bruins and had Claude Julien stamped all over it. The Bruins won virtually every faceoff and played their coach's style of layered defense to control all three zones.
I don't think it is fair to dismiss the Bruins' effort last night. Blackhawks are a great team, and Boston simply outplayed them employing their style of play. It wasn't luck. The Bruins played their game, and it worked perfectly. Wednesday night might be different story, but from last night, the Bruins deserve credit for playing their game against another great team.
Faceoffs aren't a new thing. The Hawks have been controlling puck possession all year despite below average faceoff ability. Boston has 3 elite faceoff guys, that's normally how they drive possession, not surprisingly, the biggest advantage Boston has over Chi.
And yet, with all the control Boston had, Hawks did have better puck possession numbers (by a material amount to boot). The Bruins chances generally, were better than the Hawks (I think generally the Hawks d-men got caught being too yippy when faced with pressure last night with - ie. Roszival blindly ringing around the boards when faced with only one Boston forechecker which directly related to goal #1).
I'm not saying the Bruins won as a result of luck. I think it was more the Blackhawks making more than their normal share of goofball decisions in their own end and powerplay which led to some very high end Bruin chances. Essentially I'm arguing that Boston isn't creating a heck of a lot of chances from their rush/forecheck any more (perhaps even less than the Hawks), but have been getting the odd goal from some opportunistic chances.
Boston well deserves to be up 2-1, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Hawks aren't a few tweaks away from turning their possession into more prime opportunities in the middle of the ice with some traffic into some goals. It's clear the tactics the Hawks have been eploying have been well covered by the Bruins and is not consistent with the style the Hawks ought to be employing.
If they can make those tweaks, Boston wont be able to cover every seem, and Rask will be tested. And if the Hawks get a few by him, I don't think Boston will be able to keep up purely as a result of opportunistic chances.
I wish this game would hurry up and start. I've already started pacing.
Hawks out strong tonight. As with several goals this series a Hawks mistake is buried by the B's.
One thing I could do without in hockey in general is the chanting of the goalies name after giving up a goal. Not just a Bruins thing, its done in many arenas and I've always found it sort of dumb.
the hawks have scored more today, than the reds the past two games...:lol:
damn, this second period is exciting:beerme:
Hell of a game so far.