May 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) sits on the wall during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

After their performance in Game 1 with a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, many of us believed we’d see more of the same in Game 2; and we did.. just not on our end. The Toronto Maple Leafs fought Boston’s fire with water and they let their guard down big time after Game 1. It’s easy to forget that despite the team not making the playoffs since 2004, there are still players on the Leafs with past playoff experience (coincidentally those are the only Leafs who have scored in this series.).

But the Boston Bruins had quite a few factors going against them in Game 2. For starters, the team was with out their best puck battling and pinching defenceman in Andrew Ference. Despite his major up and downs all season, he came alive in Game 1 and his constant pinching and buck battling helped keep the Bruins sustained pressure game running on all cylinders. Having to break up the strong defence pairing of Game 1 in order to make the adjustments for Game 2 was a huge factor that cannot be over looked. If anything the coaching staff needs to keep a lot of it together but now when and where to shake it up and mix players.

Say for example:

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg are  frequently paired up with one another during the post-season and in Game 1 the two of them combined for a pretty strong defence tandem. That duo, without a doubt, needs to stay together during 5-on-5 play. But on the powerplay it wouldn’t hurt to put Chara with old time partner Wade Redden and cycle out a system of Ference – Boychuk or McQuaid - Sides for the 2nd unit.

Speaking of the powerplay, things have been looking good but the team is still failing to put the puck in the back of the net when up a man. A good solution for this to tie the hottest guys together. On the first powerplay unit it should be Jagr – Bergeron – Horton with Redden and Chara on the back. Bergeron is a great face off man and puck battler and Jagr can easily move in and around the 4 opposing players on the ice and dish it to Nathan Horton who always knows how to be in the right place at the right time when it comes to scoring (Game 5 against Montreal, Game 7 against Tampa and Game 1 against the Leafs). The second unit can be Lucic/Marchand – Krejci – Seguin; Lucic has been coming out of his shell lately and his big body can be thrown to stop a clearing attempt or to move the puck and Seguin and Krejci are great at setting up plays from the back of the net to the front and with Ference, Seidenberg, McQuaid and Boychuk rotating at the blue line, these three will definitely screen the net to get a good tip in.

But all of this line shaking and mixing up could be all for not, because there is still one major factor the Boston Bruins need to get under control. Do Not Lose Your Cool

In Game 1 the Bruins did very well not buying into the Leafs chippy antics (until the last buzzer when Komarov and Kelly exchanged solid punches). They need to keep it up for Game 3 and bait the Leafs the same way they’ve been trying to bait the Bruins. If they can do that and get the Leafs into 5-on-4 or 5-0n-3 situations the Bruins can capitalize and bring this series to a close in 5 for the Black and Gold. If it means getting in front of the net and taking a few slashes on the leg to draw a slashing call, do it. If it means they don’t fight back in a scrum and let the Leafs get the punches in, then do it. If they wanna play that kind of game, the Bruins can show them that two can play at the game.

There is still much that can be improved for the Bruins, but it just needs to start with putting together the best puck moving lines up front and best pressure lines in the back. Wear and grind the Leafs down, trap them in their zone, roll out the scorers and light them up. The Bruins know the kind of game they need to play, it’s time to tilt the ice and remember what you are in it for.

Mar 3, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Wade Redden (6) warms up before the game against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Blues 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Well, they weren’t the moves most Bruins fans were looking for at the deadline, but just a day after adding future hall of fame forward Jaromir Jagr, the Bruins have today swapped a pair of minor leaguers and added veteran defenseman Wade Redden.

In what was the first move of the NHL trade deadline day, Boston sent prospect Maxime Suave, who had reached his pick in the Bruins organization to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange center prospect Rob Flick.

At 6’3″, Flick is a solid replacement for the recently departed Lane MacDermid‘s skill set. Flick is big, can bang and can fight. After that there isn’t much going on as he has 2 goals and 3 assists to go with 97 penalty minutes so far this season in 51 games playing for Chicago’s AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

This was nothing more than a prospect swap, but later in the day and actually after the 3PM EST trade deadline had passed, the Bruins added a veteran presence to their blue line in Redden from the Blues in exchange for a 7th round pick.

After being stuck in purgatory in the New York Rangers organization for a a couple years, Redden was finally dealt to the St. Louis Blues shortly after this year’s lockout ended. Redden came out like a bullet out of a gun for the Blues scoring a goal in each of his first two games for them. He’s since slowed his production and has just been a steady/reliable presence on the back end for the Blues.

Redden has 2 goals and 3 assists in 23 games for the Blues this year and will most likely be the 7th defenseman for the Boston Bruins once Adam McQuaid returns from injury, which should be shortly.

I like the addition of Redden and people who don’t need to remember the Bruins have been putting Aaron Johnson on the ice for the better half of a month. Also, Redden has familiarity with the Bruins having played in Ottawa under Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli and alongside Zdeno Chara and Chris Kelly. He’s not a world beater but he’s definitely a better deadline addition than Mike Mottau or Shane Hnidy, which are some players Chiarelli has added in the past.

Again, not the blockbusters fans were hoping for, but the additions of Jagr and Redden make the team better and should help them gear up for a run at the Stanley Cup in 2013.

UFA Defenseman Wade Redden. Photo credit: Getty Images.

They say Wade Redden played well with current Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara when he was paired with the monster of a man that is Big-Z during their days as Ottawa Senators. They say that Redden can still be a serviceable NHL-level defenseman and that the Bruins are one of the teams interested in his services. Do you believe it?

Do you think the Bruins should add a veteran d-man like Redden, who will most likely get the veteran minimum after recently being bought out of the final 2 years of his 6-year, $39 million contract by the New York Rangers? Its very well a possibility as we all know Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli will do anything and everything he can do in order to get the Bruins back to the promised land and as Causeway Crowd editor Andrew Thompson often says, “Rescue the cup”.

But what about cap space? Aren’t the Bruins up against the salary cap? Yes, yes they are. In fact they have one of the larger payrolls in the NHL. However, the Tim Thomas trade market isn’t dead just yet as a handful of teams are still below the cap floor and may take on a contract like Thomas’ (who as we all know is planning to sit out the entire 2013 season) and they could add him for cheap and not touch their projected starting lineups.

They pay Thomas to sit at home, they reach the cap floor and the Bruins are rid of Thomas’ $5 million cap hit for this season. Sounds like a win/win for everyone if you ask me. That would then open the door for the Bruins to trade for a bigger contract (looking at you Bobby Ryan) or add a few free agents to help solidify their already solid organizational depth, but truth be told they could probably use another veteran defenseman and Redden could be that man.

This all could open the door for Redden or someone else, maybe the B’s may never deal Thomas and just find another way to sign Redden, or quite possibly none of this could ever happen. But it’s important to notice that the B’s adding Redden and subtracting Thomas are both currently being talked about, so the possibility of one or the other happening is just that, a possibility.

If they could deal Thomas that would be very ideal, if they were able to rid themselves of that now useless cap hit I would love it and love their salary cap flexibility.

If they add Redden for cheap I don’t have a problem with that either, however I would love to see what the kid Dougie Hamilton can do at the NHL-level for at least 5 games. But, if they do sign Redden or another veteran defenseman I will never have a problem with it, you can never ever have too much depth at any position. Especially during what should be an injury plagued, condensed 48-game NHL schedule.