Kalman: Suffocating Win Over Jets Latest Proof Bruins Are Playing Vintage Defense
BOSTON (CBS) - It feels like old times for coach Claude Julien's Bruins.
The Bruins have won four of their past five games and allowed five goals in that span. That's the type of defense that helped Boston reach the playoffs seven straight seasons before the past two seasons ended in failure.
Any doubts that the Bruins' team defense is at the top of its game were eliminated on Saturday in a 4-1 rout of the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden. Boston limited the Jets to 12 shots on net, the fewest they've allowed since the Toronto Maple Leafs had 12 shots on Nov. 24, 2001.
"We were skating, we were battling, our forecheck was great," Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask said after he barely had to sweat in the victory. "We didn't get them any time, any space anywhere on the ice. A very, very good effort. What can I say, only 12 shots, that's probably the least I ever faced."
Rask has been phenomenal both before and after his three-game injury absence last month. In 13 games he's 11-2-0 with a .946 save percentage and 1.46 goals-against average. There have been nights this season when he's had to carry the Bruins on his back. But lately it's been a team-wide effort frustrating attacking opponents and keeping scoring chances to a total that can be counted on one hand.
Winnipeg super-rookie Patrik Laine had one assist and two shots on net. Former Bruins forward Blake Wheeler, now a high-scoring captain for the Jets, was also limited to two shots on net. There was no room for anyone in a Winnipeg sweater to work. The Bruins' effort against the Jets followed up on a near shutout of the Minnesota Wild on the road on Thursday. The Wild's lone goal came in the final minute on a shot that deflected off defenseman Adam McQuaid's leg.
Several factors have turned the Bruins into a defensive juggernaut without having to just sit back in their own end and without mortgaging their future to acquire a top-four defenseman like Winnipeg's Jacob Trouba, who was another non-factor Saturday.
"We have a lot of new guys that are very smart players that play well defensively," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "We've made a few tweaks on the system. I think the coaching staff has done a good job of that. I can't really pinpoint the one thing but it's great to have for sure."
To Bergeron's longtime linemate Brad Marchand, the Bruins just needed time to adjust to each other and the tweaks to the system. Marchand pointed out that not only were there a lot of new faces in Bruins training camp, but he and a handful of other Bruins weren't even at camp because of the World Cup of Hockey 2016. Now that everyone has meshed together and gotten comfortable, they're playing vintage Bruins defense.
"So we needed a bit of time and now it just seems like everyone that's come in this year has something to prove," Marchand said. "New guys want to show that they want to be here and old guys are showing the same thing. So when you have that all together, and again guys are dedicated and want to play the right way, then it shows. And that's kind of what's happening right now."
It turns out, Julien and his staff knew what they were doing when they put together their plan over the summer. General manager Don Sweeney gave them some different players, like more reliable forwards Dominic Moore and Riley Nash and a more mobile young defenseman in Brandon Carlo. Colin Miller had his ups and downs when he was in the lineup, but Joe Morrow has become a stabilizer while suiting up the past three games. And oh, by the way, now that he's surrounded by a better, more athletic supporting cast, Zdeno Chara is back to his old pulverizing self. And now Julien's decision to return as coach and empower his players to be a bit more aggressive in the neutral and defensive zones, is paying off.
The Bruins are now in the top five in goals allowed per game. Their offense ranks in the bottom third of the NHL, but there are signs they could be improving on that. David Pastrnak's return to health and the end of slumps by Marchand, Bergeron and Matt Beleskey would make the Bruins more of a threat in the opposing zone. However, the backbone of every successful Julien team has been the defense and building offense from strong defensive-zone play.
The Bruins seem to have mastered the first half just in time, now that the season is really hitting its stride and the standings are starting to spread out.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
