Boston Bruins D-Men Puck Possession Key Strategy

At the onset of the season, the Boston Bruins made a commitment to a possession-driven strategy in which defensemen would bring the puck further up ice and push a faster pace with the forwards into the offensive zone.

When the Bruins have followed the strategy, they have kept teams honest and done well. In games where they have struggled, such as the Winter Classic, they have gotten away from that approach and found themselves chasing teams, getting hemmed in their zone, unable to break out, hold possession or generate offense.

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In Saturday’s hard-fought 2-1 overtime win against the Sabres, the B’s were utilizing some of their new speed throughout the lineup to push the pace with the strategy paying off. “They’re a hard team to play against,” coach Claude Julien said on the Bruins website. “It was a good pace to the game. Even the referees were mentioning how quick of a pace of a game that was, back and forth. I thought we battled hard — both teams did. I like the way our guys are competing right now, and just by working the way we have and committing a little bit more, we’re only going to get better.”

But as the B’s have struggled with consistency this year, a key indicator is their possession numbers, particularly from the blueline. Overall the team is ranked 18^th in the league in Corsi at 49.7%, according to stats.hockeyanalysis.com. Corsi counts all goals, saves, missed and blocked shots for and against, so if a team or player has a higher Corsi it usually indicates they are possessing the puck more often in the offensive zone than the D zone.

Corsi has become a key stat as the NHL has moved its focus and rules to favor a faster, higher skilled offensive game rather than one centered on brawn or sheer defense. Often it starts with the defensemen being able to carry the puck further up ice or work the puck to the forwards through short outlet passes and give and go’s to maintain possession into the offensive zone, as opposed to dumping and chasing.

“The big thing in today’s game is you have to be able (to) forecheck and backcheck, and you have to have the puck,” LA Kings coach Darryl Sutter told the Sporting News in 2014. “You can’t give the puck up. We don’t play in our zone, so there’s not much defending. The game’s changed. They think there’s defending in today’s game. Nah, it’s how much you have the puck. Teams that play around in their own zone (say) they’re defending, but they’re generally getting scored on or taking face-offs and they need a goalie to stand on his head if that’s the way they play.”

It’s not a surprise that the Kings have the best Corsi in the league currently at 54.6% and are among the best teams. The other top teams all have good possession numbers, as well.

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A lot of it starts with skating or passing the puck well out of the defensive end. It worked for Canada’s gold medal team a couple years ago. “Our defense were pretty good at skating themselves out of trouble, but I think everyone talks about our defensive play — we just have the puck for most of the game,” Sidney Crosby added on the Sporting News. “I think we possessed the puck, and we were able to control the puck a lot in the offensive zone. When you do that, teams don’t get a lot of time or energy to come against you. Defensively, there’s no doubt that we backtracked really hard when we needed to, but I think that’s something that’s preached on every team and something that’s important to every team winning. I think on the flipside, you see the effect that playing the offensive zone has, and you want to make sure that that’s something you continue to do (in the NHL).”

The Bruins have had mixed results from their defensemen in the possession game so far, which may be one of the reasons why they have struggled with consistency.

While the B’s speedier, more offensive-minded blueliners Torey Krug (56.6%), Colin Miller (53.7%) and Joe Morrow (50%) all have good Corsi numbers this season, their aging veterans and slower defensemen have struggled. Zdeno Chara (47.7%) has his lowest Corsi in nine seasons in Boston, Dennis Seidenberg (43%) his lowest in seven seasons and Adam McQuaid (42.5%) his lowest ever. Kevan Miller (44.4%) and Zach Trotman (47%) have also struggled.

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Some of those players have made up for it in other ways, such as the physical game. K. Miller leads the defense with 111 hits and 86 blocks, while Chara has 79 hits and 80 blocks, and Seidenberg has 83 hits and 79 blocks in just 36 games. McQuaid has added 89 hits and 67 blocks in only 38 games, while Trotman has provided 60 hits and 40 blocks in 30 games. However Chara is also 5^th in the league in giveaways with 63, although he frequently handles the puck.

It’s notable that C. Miller has chipped in 43 hits and 34 blocks in 38 games, and Krug has 67 blocks while Morrow has 24 in just 19 games, so they bring some bite to the defensive side of the ice, too.

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But the Corsi numbers could be a larger indicator that a little more ice time balance between the young quicker D-men on the team and older veterans could pay off in the Bruins’ new approach to pushing the pace more quickly out of the zone, up ice and keeping the puck in the opposing end. Taking three minutes a game off Chara’s shoulders, for example, or matching quick D with slower D throughout the lineup might help give the B’s more consistent opportunities in the possession game. And if the B’s have the puck more in the other end, it would negate the need for some of those hits and blocked shots in the defensive zone.