Three takeaways from the Bruins’ victory over the Coyotes
What did we learn about the Bruins in their victory against Arizona?
The Boston Bruins visited Arizona on Saturday night to take on the new-look Coyotes. Unfortunately for the home team, the Bruins leave with their second victory of the young season.
Arizona started strong and carried play for most of the first period. Jaroslav Halak, however, stood tall and kept the Coyotes off the scoreboard. Brad Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead late in the first.
The second and third periods saw more of the same. The Coyotes generated a bunch of chances, but Halak stopped them all. He finished with his first shutout of the season. As such, he’s the big story coming out of the game.
Jaro Halak will make a major impact again this season
There’s really no other way to say it: Jaro Halak won the game against Arizona. He finished the game with 35 saves on 35 shots, but even that doesn’t do him justice.
Halak was especially dominant in the second period. After Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper made a big stop on Brad Marchand, Halak responded with a better one on Clayton Keller. He also made a strong save on a 2 on 1 with about five minutes left in the period.
One player in particular who will have nightmares of Halak is Phil Kessel. Kessel had a number of chances to tie the game in the third, but Halak stopped them all. At one point, Kessel couldn’t help but smile at his misfortune.
Halak’s shutout against Arizona doesn’t mean there’s a goalie controversy. Tuukka Rask remains the starter. Nonetheless, Halak showed that he’ll make a big impact on Boston’s season yet again.
Halak played in 40 games for the Bruins last season. His play took pressure of Rask and allowed Bruce Cassidy to manage his workload. As a result, Rask had enough energy left for a long playoff run.
Based on his game in Arizona, expect Halak to again play around 40 games this season. He may be a backup, but he’s one of Boston’s most important players.
Boston’s power play needs to keep it clean
The Bruins had one of the NHL’s top power play units last season. They finished third in league in power play percentage and total power play goals.
Boston, however, conceded way too many shorthanded chances. In fact, no team allowed more shorthanded goals than the Bruins last year.
This season has been more of the same. Boston had some decent looks on the power play, but Arizona had scoring chances as well.
Boston had a great opportunity to extend the lead on a power play in the second. After Patrice Bergeron lost the opening faceoff, Michael Grabner flew past the defensemen and got a breakaway. David Pastrnak hooked him, so the man advantage lasted only eight seconds.
The Bruins got another power play in the third period. This one lasted the full two minutes, but not before Vinnie Hinostroza had a half-chance against Halak.
The Bruins need to clean it up on the power play. They can’t afford to turn the puck over and give up odd-man rushes. There’s simply way too much talent on both power play units.
One thing Cassidy can do is put two defensemen on the power play units. He’s done this so far with the second unit; Matt Grzelcyk joins Charlie McAvoy on the backend. The Bruins prefer roll four forwards with the first unit, but this can’t last if the shorthanded chances continue.
Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo lead the way
Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy anchor Boston’s top defense pairing, and Torey Krug runs the power play. Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk, however, were Boston’s most reliable defenseman.
Carlo built off his game in Dallas and played well against the Coyotes. He looked smooth out there all night alongside Krug.
Carlo made a great play on a 2 on 1 in the second period. He noticed a bouncing puck and immediately attacked to prevent a scoring chance. Clayton Keller couldn’t get off a shot to test Halak.
In the third, Carlo had a strong penalty kill to help keep Arizona scoreless. He had the puck behind the net early in the kill and didn’t panic. Instead, he calmly looked around, noticed an opening, and cleared the puck away.
Grzelcyk, like Carlo, looked confident from start to finish against Arizona. He finished the game with two shots on goal and two blocked shots. He also had a takeaway.
On a power play in the third period, Grzelcyk held the puck in at the blue line three times to continue the attack. These plays won’t make any highlight reels, but they help set up quality chances. Look for Grzelcyk to continue to get power play time on Boston’s second unit.
Carlo and Grzelcyk don’t usually make exciting plays, and they don’t often find themselves on the scoresheet. Nonetheless, they play important roles on Boston’s backend. Both showed against Arizona that they are reliable top four defensemen in the NHL.
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