With the 2015-16 season approaching, it seems fitting to touch-base and size up the Bruins in comparison to each of their division rivals. The Boston Bruins had a mixed result when playing within their division, and this series of stories will explain what the Bruins have to do, and have to avoid to succeed within the Atlantic in the 2015-16 season. The first team to be analyzed, and probably the most fitting, will be the Montreal Canadiens.
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The 2014-15 season was rough one for the Boston Bruins, mixed with injuries, bad cap-management, and really just poor-effort almost all the way around, which led to the first missed playoffs since the 2006-07 season for the Bruins. To make matters worse, the Bruins lost all four meetings with the Montreal Canadiens with every loss came in regulation, which hasn’t happened since the 2008-09 season. The Bruins can succeed against Montreal, it will just take a full-team effort.
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The Bruins have had issues with keeping calm heads when playing against the Montreal Canadiens, and recently-departed Milan Lucic can attest to this. If the Bruins are to succeed against their long-time rivals, they will need to start by letting the game unfold without taking unacceptable penalties and without losing focus on their in-game strategies. If Boston can focus on playing to their strengths and minimize the bad decisions, the 2015-16 series can be a much different one than the 2014-15 series.
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The Bruins have been absolutely killed by the speed of the Montreal Canadiens in recent years. Lucky for the Bruins, the possible Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak combination lying in the wakes can change that. The speedy youngsters are very offensively gifted, and bring a whole new dynamic to the Bruins that has been sorely missed since Tyler Seguin wore the Spoked-B. The Bruins still have size and strength, and that can also be used to their advantage.
Puck Prose
If the Bruins have a line of young, skilled players like Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak, they will automatically force the Canadiens (and other teams) to re-evaluate their game-plan against the Bruins, which could lead to the size and strength of the Bruins to be utilized better in key situations. The dump-and-chase strategy that the Bruins have used over the last few seasons has become predictable, but with players like Pastrnak and Spooner skating the puck into the offensive zone, less time will be spent focusing on the one-dimensional attack, and as a result, a more diverse approach should lead to better results for the Bruins.
What do YOU think the Bruins will have to do to succeed against the Montreal Canadiens this season? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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