http://bostonherald.com/sports/bruins_nhl
May 28, 2013
Talk to some NHL scouts and the general feeling about the Bruins-Penguins Eastern Conference title series is that the B’s can beat the super-talented Pens — but only if they play nearly perfect hockey and contain Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh stars.
“In my mind, they do have a chance — if they can shut down the Big Three: (Jarome) Iginla, (Evgeni) Malkin and obviously Crosby,” said one longtime pro-level scout. “If they can contain those guys, they’ve got a chance. If they can’t, then it’s going be an uphill battle for them.
“I think it is going to be an interesting series. I thought the Bruins played very well against the Rangers. Momentum and emotion are going to be a big part of it. I think the Bruins have to go down there and win one of the first two games.”
TSN analyst Aaron Ward, who knows the Bruins well (having spent two-plus seasons with the team through 2008-09), is a bit more upbeat about their upset chances. He didn’t exactly predict it, but he believes the B’s are going to present some serious challenges for the Pens.
And, yes, they can win.
“Oh, absolutely, absolutely,” Ward said yesterday. “The biggest thing for me — and this is for both teams — is who has the ability to adjust? If Boston is doing something that works well, how does Pittsburgh adjust? That’s one of the biggest questions for both teams.”
What Ward wants to see from the Bruins is not a team that reacts to what the Penguins are doing, but plays its own get-pucks-deep and attack-heavy game.
“You don’t play a reactionary game; you play a game where you instigate and play the way you need to play,” Ward said. “You can’t approach a game as though you’re going to respond to what the Pens bring; you have to be the instigators, the aggressors.”
And that means putting as much pressure as possible — with speed, aggressiveness and physicality — on the Pittsburgh defense corps. The Pens’ group of forwards may be the finest in the game, but their rearguard is fairly average.
Kris Letang is a obviously one of the most talented offensive defensemen in the league (3-13-16 totals in 11 playoff games), and veteran Paul Martin (2-7-9) is a good two-way performer. Ex-BC star Brooks Orpik is one of the most physical guys in the league (24 hits in eight games). Douglas Murray is big and slow, yet effective defensively. Matt Niskanen is OK both ways, and veteran Mark Eaton is a journeyman stay-at-homer.
It’s a group that does its job well enough but, if the Bruins are playing their effective forechecking game, faces a tough challenge.
“With Pittsburgh, if you’re looking for their Achilles’ heel, it’s that they’ve struggled with . . . defensive zone coverage,” said Ward.
“Get pucks deep and go down there and hit them. Make Letang and Martin go back for the puck and punish them every opportunity you get. And let’s see what the war of attrition brings to some of these skill guys.
“I think this Boston team presents to the Pens something that they haven’t seen: a D-corps with a little bit different makeup. The Penguins didn’t see a (defensive) stopper in Ottawa like (Zdeno) Chara.
“Malkin and Crosby at some points are going to cross the path of Chara for a good period of time. They didn’t encounter that kind of physicality in the first two rounds. With the Ottawa Senators, they were more concerned with containing, rather than punishing. I think Z is more of a punisher.
“If you look at how teams are built, the Bruins are just more of a complete team (than the Islanders and Senators). On depth alone, Boston presents a bigger challenge than the past two teams.”
Ward said the Pens sometimes have problems with a second wave of attackers — like Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson, who is so dangerous jumping up ice. That aspect of the B’s game plan has grown with the emergence of highly mobile, puck-carrying youngsters Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug.
“The Bruins have that now; they like to press up the ice,” Ward said. “You’ve got a guy like (Johnny) Boychuk, who likes to jump offensively. And if Torey Krug can consistently manufacture the same type of performances he had against the Rangers — where he’s aggressive, but also responsible — that will cause that team fits.”
Ward loved the play of the Bruins fourth line — whose members have produced 5-8-13 totals in the postseason — and it creates a tough test for the Pens. But he also likes Pittsburgh’s fourth line, with guys like Craig Adams, Tanner Glass and Tyler Kennedy.
“That will be an interesting matchup,” Ward said.
The Penguins, of course, feature prolific power-play talent and have produced 13 man-advantage goals in 11 playoff games. The Bruins will have their hands full trying to defend the Penguins attackers — and if that means taking a bundle of penalties, their series hopes go from longshot to impossible dream.
“For the Bruins, discipline will be a key factor,” Ward said. “If you look at the talent on the Pittsburgh power play, it’s tough to pick what part of the power play you want to try and shut down.
“I mean, if you take away Letang out high — and Martin has played pretty well, too — then they move the puck to those guys down low and they outnumber you down there. It’s a tough matchup.”
And speaking of tough matchups, how do you stop Crosby?
“Ah, well . . .,” Ward said after a long silence, “I don’t think you can. The one thing you have to do is, whenever he gets the puck, there has to be an immediate reaction by someone — to force him, block his path, slow him down. Because you see what happens when he gets a head of steam.”
Ward figures the decisions by Iginla and Brenden Morrow to accept trades to Pittsburgh and not Boston will add spice to a series that’s been eagerly anticipated by many.
“People have been looking forward to this,” Ward said. “We’re going to see what seemed inevitable: the two top teams in the East meeting up with each other.”
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