B's Get Knocked Down

The picture above of Reilly Smith getting absolutely destroyed by P.K. Subban pretty much sums up game 3.  I truly thought the B's would come out a lot better than they did yesterday, and a lot of the same problems we saw the Bruins have in games 1 and 2 were evident in game 3 as well.  While last night's loss wasn't the end of the world by any means for the Black and Gold, it does make game 4 that much more important.

I have Ranted many times about the Bruins ability to come back, and while it is definitely a strength, they have to make sure it doesn't become a habit.  The B's have been down in all 3 games to the Habs by at least two goals and last night they were even down by three, which was a deficit they weren't able to overcome. The glaringly disturbing stat so far in the series is in the 3+ games (including overtime in game 1) the B's have only had a lead for 11 minutes.  If the Bruins want to have any chance at changing the momentum of the series, the B's have to have better starts to the games than the ones they have had so far.

 The two main things that really hurt the Bruins last night was their inability to score, which has become an unfortunate trend, and some obvious defensive miscues.Yesterday in my Rant I mentioned how the B's have had more than their fair sure of opportunities to score on Carey Price, and last night was no different.  If there is one thing the Bruins really lack it is having a player who is a pure goal scorer.  When the B's have had their opportunities to score down by the net they have either shot wide, high, whiffed or shot it right into Price's chest like Torey Krug did twice in the 2nd period last night.  In short the Bruins have basically found a way to shoot the puck in every possible way that doesn't result in a goal.

The other thing that has become quite evident is the Canadiens ability to block shots.  Last night the Habs had 29 blocked shots compared to just 20 by the B's.  In fact one of those blocked shots led to a break away goal by Dale Weise, which put Montreal up 3-0.  The Bruins have to somehow figure out a way to find holes in the Canadiens defense.  Add in the fact Montreal has been very physical, as was seen by many of their hits last night, and the Bruins in many ways are getting beat at their own game by the Habs.

The other aspect of the game last night that was really frustrating is all the Montreal goals came by a Canadien player getting behind the Bruins defense.  The first goal by the Habs occurred when Tomas Plekanec was able to sneak behind the entire Bruins defense and receive beautiful backdoor pass by Thomas Vanek  to bury the puck in the back of the net.  The second goal  by Montreal came when P.K. Subban was able to get free immediately after leaving the penalty box.  The Bruins have to have better awareness and communication about knowing when a player is coming out of the box.  Finally the third goal by the Canadiens came when Dale Weise was able to skate by the Bruins defense for another breakaway goal.  When watching post-game shows and listening to sports radio this morning many people were quick to mention Tuukka Rask's poor play last night, but with the exception of maybe the first goal when Rask cheated to the left leaving the entire right side of the goal open, I don't blame any of those goals on Rask.  Yes, a world class goalie should be able to stop a breakaway, especially against a player like Weise who only has 6 goals on the year, but I blame the defense, or lack of defense in this case, more on than I blame Rask.

If there is one thing we know for sure going forward in the series it is the Bruins will now have to win a game at the Bell Centre.  One thing the B's and Bruins fans can't blame last night is the officiating, as each team only had 1 penalty. The Bruins have to find their 5 on 5 game that they were so successful at in games 1 and 2 of the series, as well as pretty much the entire season.  I am not saying game 4 is an absolute must win, but it will be awfully tough to win 3 games in a row against this Montreal team.