| 27 May 2011
The first period of the biggest game so far this year is over for the Bruins. While the scoreboard still shows both team at 0, the play at both ends of the ice generated enough chances for either team to be ahead in this one. With that said, the momentum stayed with the Bruins and their fans through 1 and they'll look to keep pushing it into the 2nd.
Overall, the play of the black and gold was good. Players were quick to get back and help with defense, often forcing the play wide and then cutting off lanes back to the point or to the net. Tampa being the offensive threat they are though continued to force opportunities with chances down low on an often screened Thomas. While Thomas had to be good in the first, he couldn't have kept Tampa off the board without the play of Seidenberg and Chara who limited chances and blocked shots. The defense as a whole participated in this and prevented Tampa from capitalizing down low.
At the other end of the ice, Tampa was able to stifle Boston similarly though there were some opportunities for Boston to net one. The best chance came after the half way point in the period when Milan Lucic found himself on a breakaway with speed and came in looking to put a wrist shot low on Roloson. Roloson was able to get his pad out on this one though to keep things even. Outside of Lucic, the Bruins generated a number of chances from the point with guys crashing often, particulary veteran center Patrice Bergeron who showed a hunger for getting the job done tonight. Rookie Tyler Seguin also showed his desire in this one making himself often noticeable on the ice and pushing Tampa's defense back with his speed.
The speed of Seguin and the push of the Bruins began to show part of their strategy through the 1st- to force Tampa back and into situations where they would be forced to ice the puck or cover it up. By doing so, the Bruins have a pass to get through the 1-3-1 that Tampa would resort to late in the period and prevent them from gaining the opportunity to turn mistakes into goals. Counting on wins in the faceoff dot can be risky but tonight the Bruins have done well in the circle and have created a number of chances off of the draw including a wrist shot low far side from winger Brad Marchand that had Roloson getting low and to his side quickly.
When the Bruins have not seen the 1-3-1 they have looked to stretch Tampa's defense and force them to open up the middle of the nice. Doing so has given Boston's puck carriers the chance to attack and get the puck in hard without much resistance until the blue line. It also has given the Bruins better speed entering the zone and kept Tampa from turning the play back up ice quickly.
Going into the 2nd, the Bruins need to continue with their neutral zone strategies and force play into Tampa's end. Their effort in the first was able to generate 15 shots on goal- more than they have had in most periods and almost more than they had in game 5. The more chances they can create, the more likely they are at taking the lead in this one and the first lead in this one will be huge. They'll also look to keep up the physical play and punish Tampa's top players like Seidenberg did with his open ice hit on Martin St Louis early on. Forcing the tempo will only help this team in their attempts to move to the Cup Finals.
Tampa will look to neutralize Boston by attacking the neutral zone, possibly implementing a harder fore check and frustrate Boston at their end to take away the momentum. If they look to hang back and cut Boston off at their end, Boston will attack and gain entry before forcing in a goal.
The 2nd in any case will be instrumental. Expect a dog fight in this one with work happening on top of both creases in an effort to take the upper hand.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
