There isn't much to say about this game besides "wow" in the aspect of goaltending. Craig Anderson and Alex Auld played outstanding in net for both teams tonight. The lone goal, not a goaltender's fault. Alex Auld had no chance on a shot that look to slightly change direction off of his defenseman, Mark Stuart. Plus, it was the type of shot that was released behind the skate of Stuart which makes it very difficult to see the angle at which the shot is going, along with the redirection.
I know this is not the main reason why the Bruins lost, however, Phil Kessel tried to maneuver through three Florida guys breaking into the offensive zone, and lost the puck which lead to the odd-man rush that resulted in the game-winning goal for Florida. Kessel is young but, he really needs to start taking it to the outside or dumping the puck in because this exact situation is constant three strides over the blueline. I remember saying to myself late in the third, "wow, Kessel just dumped the puck, maybe he turned the corner." Wrong. This kid has a ways to go yet.
Say what you want about Alex Auld but, he has been a marquee acquisition by Chiarelli. He has made some big starts filling in for Thomas when he needed rest and like tonight, he gave the team a chance to win. Tonight, he was poised on all 31 shots that he stopped. Anyone who wants to blame Auld is just plain ignorant. He made a huge save with 1:04 left in regulation to even salvage a point in this game.
Overall, I liked the intensity. Unfortunately, the Bruins ran into a hot goalie who set a record for saves in a shutout (53 I believe) against the Islanders in Florida's last game (1-0 W) and 40 stops against the Bruins tonight (1-0 OTW). Frankly, the Panthers are lucky to gain four points in the last two games. Congrats to Anderson though, 93 shots, 93 saves.
9 comments:
yes kessel frustrates me, With his speed the dump and chase game would be to his advantage. This comes with experience. But hey lets look on the bright side, they got one point closer to montreal and ottawa and philly lost as well. They are right in the thick of things and there is no need to panic now. What would be nice is to put a nail in toronto's surge of late. The next two points are going to be huge.
So, do you think Julien took notice of Kessel's gaff as well?
From the Herald..
“We’ve got a player trying to beat three guys,” Julien said. “He loses the puck, turns it over, they come back and our ‘D’ has the big gap in the neutral zone which gave them the space they needed.”
It has got to be frustrating for him as a coach because this is not the first time we have seen Kessel try to do it alone and get burned. He is young, yes, but also has almost 2 full NHL seasons under his belt. He needs to start wising up or he will get traded in the offseason.
if kessel didnt get traded at the deadline hes not getting traded over the summer...plain and simple. they should have developed him through providence first...PCs only gaffe as GM other than fernandez
I find it funny that we all rip Kessel for trying. He didn't have anyone with him when he made the rush. If he would have made a goal, we would be cheering him for taking the chance. But because he got the puck taken away, and the Panthers were lucky to get the goal.... he should be traded??!!
You only score when you take chances. Kessel gives 100% when he is on the ice. Was it a mistake... yes!! But it is one I can live with, when the guy is trying to get the B's the win!!
Its ok to make mistakes in hockey when you learn from them. I am not saying trade him i am saying at some point in time, especially when you are considered a top tier player, you have to learn from your mistakes. This was a knock against him in college and he isnt learning. And if I remember right Krecji wasn't too far behind him. Even if he wasn't firing it into the corner around the boards allows his winger time to catch up. The kid just has to learn.
He tried to skate between three guys in close instead of dumping the puck. Doing that is just plain stupid, especially in overtime. I'd tell him to try it if it were pick-up hockey. However, odd-man rushes can happen awfully fast in a 4-on-4 overtime as we saw. Doing what Kessel does is flat out unnecessary. Does he have tremendous skills? Of course. He seems a little cocky bc of that too. I'm just really frustrated watchin that kid play hockey. If I coached him, that kid would be doing endless suicides until he learns.
My point exactly McKeon. Do I want to trade him? Not at the moment, but after 2 full yrs of NHL experience this kid should be getting it by now, and by that I mean I would rather have less offensive production by sounder defense than the opposite. It's about making good decisions and right now his immaturity is still showing, which was the original knock on him and why he slipped to #5 in the draft. I am not ready to give up on him but you can bet he will get benched the next time he tries to do it all alone. If Mgt gets too frustrated with him trust me, they will trade him for the right package. He is lucky Bergeron isn't playing right now or he would be a 3rd line payer and no more because of his decisions.
I (for one) did not want to trade him at the deadline as there was really no deal worth losing him for but EVERYONE has a price.
What is all this talk that he played 2 FULL years? I think last year was not full of hockey as he had other things to contend with, oh I don't know like cancer! Speaking personally from the experience of coming back to playing hockey after having cancer, surgery and treatment at a young age (30 for me) the first while back you are a bit skiddish about weird pains and the like as I would imagine the coach and team was too. He definitely needs more time to absorb the direction that Julien will give him, so for me I understand why there seems to be a lag in his learning as this is year 1 with a new coach and really year one of hopefully a long and healthy hockey career.
Well i disagree. He might have a new coach but every hockey player is taught at an early age that its a team game and you don't win games alone. Yes he had cancer but these are things he should have been taught years ago, no matter who was the coach.
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