Boston Bruins: What the Bruins need against the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Boston Bruins lost 4-3 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday night. The bad news is that the Bruins failed to pick up two points. The good news is they have a chance for immediate retribution.
The Boston Bruins play the Maple Leafs again on Tuesday night. This time, the two teams meet at the TD Garden. The Bruins didn’t play poorly in Toronto on Saturday, but there are some things they need to correct in the rematch:
More consistency from the first power play unit
The Boston Bruins had three power play opportunities against Toronto. They did score on the last one, but the power plays didn’t look great overall.
The first power play unit in particular had some struggles.
Boston got the first opportunity on the man advantage early in the second period. This was an excellent chance for the Bruins to erase Toronto’s one-goal lead.
Unfortunately, the first unit failed to produce many chances. In fact, the unit had a difficult time maintaining possession in the offensive zone.
Torey Krug had a couple turnovers in the neutral zone that ruined zone entries. These turnovers also resulted in easy clearances for Toronto’s penalty killers.
The second power play was as sluggish as the first one. Boston’s top forwards couldn’t generate much of anything with the man advantage.
Finally, the Bruins broke through on their third and final power play chance of the night. But, it was the second unit, not the first unit, that scored. Danton Heinen got the goal for Boston.
Toronto isn’t a strong penalty-killing team. The Leafs only killed 23 out of 29 penalties so far this season. Boston’s top unit should get chances on Tuesday night. If they do, they need to capitalize.
Better results at the faceoff dot
Boston always seems to be near the top of the league in faceoff percentage. This wasn’t the case in the game against the Leafs.
The Bruins went 23-26 at the faceoff dot on Saturday, good for a 47% success rate. Toronto isn’t exactly a strong faceoff team, so they Bruins simply need to be better.
Patrice Bergeron is Boston’s best faceoff option. Actually, he’s one of the best options in the entire league. Bergeron’s career percentage is 58.2%.
Bergeron won 12 out of 23 draws against Toronto. This was a majority, but it did remain below his career average. With the last chance at home, expect Bergeron to be much better on Tuesday.
Charlie Coyle had an especially rough night at the faceoff dot. He only won three out of his 10 draws. The Bruins definitely need Coyle, who will likely be their second line center again, to be better on faceoffs.
Faceoffs may seem unimportant and uneventful, but they do impact a game. Maybe you can’t win a game with faceoffs, but you certainly can lose one.
Teams that win faceoffs, as you can imagine, typically see more of the puck. Puck possession, especially for a team like Boston, usually leads to good things on the ice.
If the Bruins dominate puck possession against a team like Toronto, they’ll win the game. It’s that simple. And faceoffs are one of the keys to possession.
Stronger play in net
Jaroslav Halak got the start in net Saturday night against the Leafs. Halak had a solid game, and he certainly was not the reason why the Bruins lost in overtime.
Nonetheless, the Bruins need stronger goaltending in the rematch against Toronto.
Full disclosure: Halak’s been great this season. He’s been awesome in fact. Halak is one of the best backups in the league, and he should instill confidence in everyone.
That said, Halak didn’t have his best game against the Leafs. Halak only saved 25 out of 29 shots, which is a 0.862 save percentage. This is certainly below his high standards.
The first goal wasn’t Halak’s fault at all, as the puck took a few crazy deflections out front. Halak, however, probably should have saved the second goal.
Dmytro Timashov capitalized on a turnover and fired a wrist shot over Halak’s glove. This was Timashov’s first goal of his career. Halak doesn’t want to be beat by someone who’s far from an elite scorer.
The third goal wasn’t as bad as the second, but Halak could’ve done better. He gave up a rebound off a shot from the point, and Alexander Kerfoot banged it home.
Look, Halak wasn’t bad against Toronto, but he didn’t reach his lofty expectations. Expect for him to be better in his next start.
We still don’t know if Halak or Tuukka Rask will get the nod in the second game against Toronto. Regardless of who starts, the Bruins need stronger play in net.
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The Boston Bruins had a solid game against Toronto on Saturday, but they’ll need to play a little better to take the full two points on Tuesday. Based on their track record, look for the Bruins to do just that.