Bruins Lose Focus at Home, Ottawa Makes Them Pay | Episode 122

0:00 Speaker 1: Can you start a podcast with me?

0:02 Speaker 2: Please?

0:03 Speaker 1: I need something to do. I Jack send it out

0:14 Speaker 1: of trouble, bocking to say, today.

0:20 Speaker 2: Here's a chance PoTA right down the goalie scars, Oh

0:22 Speaker 2: my one a move by the rookie too.

0:24 Speaker 1: On one faster not moving in shot? Is oil dances

0:30 Speaker 1: in podcast at home? Right away? Corner faster Chester? What

0:40 Speaker 1: is that? Forster?

0:51 Speaker 2: Welcome in everyone to another episode of Ruins Tape to Tape.

0:55 Speaker 2: I'm your host today, Caroline with a K, and I'm

0:59 Speaker 2: joined by my fantastic co host, Maria from Watertown.

1:02 Speaker 1: Hey Maria, Hey, Caroline, how's it going on this Monday morning,

1:07 Speaker 1: less than what forty eight hours or so away from Christmas?

1:14 Speaker 1: It's gonna be a busy two days for me. I

1:15 Speaker 1: don't know about you. Yeah, well, I think the Bruins

1:19 Speaker 1: already have visions of sugar plums dancing in their freaking

1:22 Speaker 1: heads based on the way that they have been playing

1:26 Speaker 1: since they arrived at home. But we'll get to all

1:29 Speaker 1: of that. We will, we will. I feel like a

1:32 Speaker 1: year ago, if I recall, you were on the pod

1:36 Speaker 1: and you were the Grinch.

1:38 Speaker 2: Of Christmas, and I feel like we're in the same

1:42 Speaker 2: spot as last year. Feeling a little grinchy about this team.

1:46 Speaker 2: We're a little pissed off because it's a lot of

1:50 Speaker 2: self inflicted wounds.

1:51 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know this team, and this is basically us

1:55 Speaker 1: setting the table and setting the tone for this particular episode.

1:58 Speaker 1: So everybody strap in because if you listen to the

2:00 Speaker 1: last snapshot, I was particularly spicy, and I think that

2:03 Speaker 1: has continued into this episode. This team has good bones.

2:08 Speaker 1: You've got good bones. It can it can be a

2:12 Speaker 1: good team. But then you.

2:16 Speaker 2: Have games like they've had since they've come home, and

2:22 Speaker 2: you want to strangle every single player on that.

2:25 Speaker 1: Team because they are they're their own worst enemy. There,

2:29 Speaker 1: their own worst they are enemy, and we have been

2:33 Speaker 1: giving them flowers for the most part. Yeah, but when

2:38 Speaker 1: they play in the manner in which they have been playing,

2:42 Speaker 1: and it's it started with the Vancouver game, yeah, even

2:45 Speaker 1: though there was a vallid there. I mean they dominated

2:49 Speaker 1: that game, yep, in every in every venue, but the score.

2:54 Speaker 1: Then you have Connor mcjesus come into town and you

2:58 Speaker 1: tell me, you tell me how nobody fucking pays attention

3:02 Speaker 1: to where Connor McDavid is on the ice. When you

3:06 Speaker 1: have a power play opportunity and he gets sprung for

3:10 Speaker 1: a shorthanded goal, and then the rotten cherry on top

3:15 Speaker 1: is that disgusting game against the Ottawa Senators that I

3:21 Speaker 1: did sit through and watch until the end as I'm

3:26 Speaker 1: streaming in New England Patriots game on my tablet and

3:30 Speaker 1: sitting there going are you kidding me? Right now? Do

3:35 Speaker 1: you know that you're playing a division opponent? Do you

3:39 Speaker 1: see that clearly this game has meaning to the Ottawa Senators.

3:46 Speaker 1: Where is your sense of urgency, Boston Bruins. You're supposed

3:51 Speaker 1: to be one of the best teams in the league

3:54 Speaker 1: on home ice, and you you let the Ottawa Senators

4:00 Speaker 1: walk all over you to the degree that Jonis Corpo

4:06 Speaker 1: Salo ended up being pulled. And I want to get

4:10 Speaker 1: your thoughts on the goalie rotation, because maybe Marco screwed

4:15 Speaker 1: up with the goalie rotation for this home stand. But

4:19 Speaker 1: be that as it may. Some of the worst hockey

4:22 Speaker 1: that I have seen this Bruins team play since the

4:27 Speaker 1: early part of the season until they got things figured out.

4:32 Speaker 1: And when they go off the rails, it's not pretty.

4:36 Speaker 1: It is fugly.

4:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I was thinking the exact same thing that

4:42 Speaker 2: I haven't seen Boston play this poorly since the last

4:45 Speaker 2: time they played the Ottawa Senators, and I don't know

4:49 Speaker 2: what it is. Ottawa has had the Bruins number for

4:53 Speaker 2: years at this point, even going back to the perfect season.

4:57 Speaker 2: It was like the one team that they struggled against. Yes,

5:01 Speaker 2: I don't know if it's just how Brady Kuchuk leads

5:06 Speaker 2: his team and gets them I don't know, motivated fast

5:10 Speaker 2: because I think it was Billy said during the first

5:15 Speaker 2: intermission yesterday.

5:17 Speaker 1: The auto or maybe it was Barry Ottawa Senators.

5:20 Speaker 2: It's not like they are particularly good at XYZ right

5:25 Speaker 2: their powerplay or their penalty killer, whatever, But their speed

5:31 Speaker 2: and their tenacity and just kind of the way that

5:34 Speaker 2: they approach the game is what is constantly sinking Boston.

5:39 Speaker 2: Were the officials terrible, Yeah, they've been terrible, but they're

5:43 Speaker 2: not the reason why they were not the difference in

5:46 Speaker 2: this game.

5:47 Speaker 1: It was Boston's self inflicted wounds.

5:50 Speaker 2: And in terms of the goalie rotation, I mean, I

5:53 Speaker 2: understand why the goalie rotation was the way that it was.

5:57 Speaker 2: So what we've seen has lately, at least this season,

6:01 Speaker 2: Jeremy Swayman seems to have a ceiling when it comes

6:05 Speaker 2: to performance, ability, consistency, reliability and the number of games played.

6:12 Speaker 1: His magic number seems to be three, which is fine.

6:16 Speaker 1: I don't have a problem with that.

6:17 Speaker 2: And we know with corpus Sollo he can't not play

6:24 Speaker 2: for a very long time because then he has rust

6:27 Speaker 2: he's got to shape. So knowing this, using him perhaps

6:32 Speaker 2: a little bit more is a good idea. And I

6:36 Speaker 2: think the reason why Jeremy was played against who is

6:40 Speaker 2: It on Saturday Vancouver was because this year Ottawa has

6:46 Speaker 2: completely obliterated Swayman and Corpi has done a better job

6:52 Speaker 2: on the whole.

6:53 Speaker 1: For the most part.

6:55 Speaker 2: Against Ottawa, He's given the players in front of him

6:59 Speaker 2: more chances to retake the game than Swayman has, so

7:04 Speaker 2: I understand why they chose.

7:07 Speaker 1: Who they chose for which game.

7:09 Speaker 2: However, both games ended up disappointing, at least on the

7:14 Speaker 2: goalie side, and I'm not saying that the goalies did

7:16 Speaker 2: a bad job. It was just disappointing because Vancouver was

7:20 Speaker 2: Swayman's fourth game and Corpusalo had no help and he

7:24 Speaker 2: hadn't played again, so it was we were already behind

7:29 Speaker 2: the eight ball going into this weekend because of the

7:32 Speaker 2: goalie situation. I don't know if there was really anything

7:38 Speaker 2: that the coaching staff could have done to prevent this

7:43 Speaker 2: particular situation.

7:44 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. I just to your

7:48 Speaker 1: point about Ottawa having the Bruins' number. Now, they've played

7:52 Speaker 1: four times now and Ottawa has outscored us by a

7:57 Speaker 1: margin of twenty to ten. Jesus, I just did the

8:00 Speaker 1: quick map here. Now, folks, you can check me out

8:04 Speaker 1: because I did it very quickly. But we have a

8:08 Speaker 1: seven to two loss that started the season, then a

8:11 Speaker 1: three to two win by the Bruins, then a five

8:13 Speaker 1: to three loss, and now a six to two loss.

8:16 Speaker 1: So there is something about this Autowa style of play.

8:21 Speaker 1: I called them relentless, and there are some teams in

8:25 Speaker 1: this league that are absolutely relentless on both ends of

8:31 Speaker 1: the ice, both their back checking and their four checking.

8:34 Speaker 1: And then if you play the way that you did

8:38 Speaker 1: in the game last night, with your heads stuck up

8:41 Speaker 1: your asses and looking around waiting for someone else to

8:45 Speaker 1: make a move or make a play like there were

8:49 Speaker 1: no clean very few, if any clean entries by the

8:54 Speaker 1: Bruins last night, and then when they got a clean entry,

8:59 Speaker 1: they did nothing with it. I want to hear your

9:03 Speaker 1: take on what ray Bourg said last night. If I

9:07 Speaker 1: was in the booth, I would have kissed him for

9:10 Speaker 1: saying what he said. So he was asked a question

9:14 Speaker 1: about you, Charlie McAboy and his play and Bruin's alumni

9:20 Speaker 1: is always very deferential to the current players. Hey, no

9:24 Speaker 1: one wants to criticize You're a form of Bruin. But

9:28 Speaker 1: here's what I'll give him credit for. And how often

9:31 Speaker 1: have we been saying this? He wished and I'm paraphrasing,

9:34 Speaker 1: but this is in essence what he said that he

9:37 Speaker 1: wished that Charlie would shoot more because he has a

9:41 Speaker 1: good shot, because he has the ability. And myself me again,

9:49 Speaker 1: I have said on this pod more than once that

9:53 Speaker 1: I think this player is overrated by this organization. And

9:58 Speaker 1: I've heard over the course of this retool and even

10:03 Speaker 1: prior to this, we're asking Charlie to do too much.

10:06 Speaker 1: We're asking Charlie to do too much. We're asking Charlie

10:08 Speaker 1: to do too much. Well, now he has got a

10:11 Speaker 1: partner who is playing ten times better than we expected

10:16 Speaker 1: him to be playing in nikita 'sadora. So what's Charlie

10:19 Speaker 1: mcaboy's excuse now for not jumping in a bit more offensively.

10:25 Speaker 1: He's not even a power play quarterback anymore, so how

10:30 Speaker 1: much we asking him to do? Shortly after, Rayborg said

10:35 Speaker 1: that it might have been the second period, right, Charlie

10:39 Speaker 1: rips a shot and it goes in. It clearly hits something.

10:44 Speaker 1: I don't care. You took the shot when your team

10:48 Speaker 1: is on the struggle buns bus offensively. So I just

10:52 Speaker 1: thought that that was good insight. And the way that

10:57 Speaker 1: ray Bork said it, it wasn't in a condescending manner.

11:02 Speaker 1: It wasn't in a critical manner. It was more like,

11:06 Speaker 1: I just wish he would use the talents that we

11:10 Speaker 1: all know he has a little bit more. And this

11:12 Speaker 1: is coming from ray boor Hello, I know, I know,

11:17 Speaker 1: I know. Now here's when I'm gonna be really pissed

11:20 Speaker 1: off at macaboy. Okay, if he goes into the Olympics

11:25 Speaker 1: and he plays beast mode like he did tell it

11:29 Speaker 1: in the Four Nations and then comes back to Boston

11:33 Speaker 1: and I don't see that same beast mode. Dude, I'm

11:37 Speaker 1: gonna rip you from one side to the other. He's

11:41 Speaker 1: gonna be dead to you. Yeah, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

11:47 Speaker 1: And again I'm not laying this all at anybody's feet.

11:50 Speaker 1: Last night was an abysmo performance. Yes, by the team

11:56 Speaker 1: as a whole, pretty much abysmo. Even when Mark Castell

12:01 Speaker 1: tried to get some energy inflected into the game with

12:07 Speaker 1: that fight that he had, and those guys they went

12:11 Speaker 1: for a long time. The refs let them go and

12:13 Speaker 1: we'll get We'll get to that fishing group too, because

12:17 Speaker 1: the NHL can kiss my ass when it comes to

12:21 Speaker 1: these reps, because three out of the four were the

12:24 Speaker 1: same reps from the game before that sucked.

12:27 Speaker 2: Yeah, so let's take a real quick spin around the rink.

12:32 Speaker 2: It is almost Christmas time, and what happens every Christmas time.

12:37 Speaker 2: We've got World Juniors coming up. The preliminary rounds have

12:42 Speaker 2: actually already started. The actual tournament kicks off on December

12:48 Speaker 2: twenty sixth every year. If you recall last year, the

12:53 Speaker 2: Boston Bruins were the only team in the NHL without

12:58 Speaker 2: a single player represented in the entire World Juniors rosters,

13:03 Speaker 2: Team USA, Canada any of them. This year, they do

13:07 Speaker 2: have a pretty decent showing. For example, a Team USA

13:12 Speaker 2: has at least two Boston Bruins in attendance. We've got

13:17 Speaker 2: James Hagen's and Will Zeller's and on Team Canada we've

13:22 Speaker 2: got a few as well.

13:24 Speaker 1: So great to see that.

13:25 Speaker 2: Happy to see that finally, because that was just embarrassing

13:29 Speaker 2: that last year they didn't have anyone.

13:32 Speaker 1: And World Juniors is in the United States, so two

13:37 Speaker 1: years in a row in our hemisphere, so we actually

13:41 Speaker 1: can watch in live in real time, not in the

13:44 Speaker 1: middle of the night, which would be very nice to

13:46 Speaker 1: see some of these players playing. So while it'll be

13:49 Speaker 1: nice to take a look at these two significant prospects

13:53 Speaker 1: for the Bruins too. While the NHL has a little

13:57 Speaker 1: bit of a holiday, well here, yes, yep.

14:01 Speaker 2: Yeah, what else is happening around the rink these days?

14:04 Speaker 2: We've got Sidney Crosby continuing to cement his place in

14:09 Speaker 2: NHL history. He passed Mario Lemieux in points for Penguins

14:14 Speaker 2: point and I'm sure that Mario Lemieux will be the

14:17 Speaker 2: first to congratulate him. And just on a side note,

14:21 Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh Penguins, who at one point were owned by

14:26 Speaker 2: Fenway Sports Group John Henry, were sold recently for a

14:32 Speaker 2: significant sum of money.

14:34 Speaker 1: Mister Henry made guests back what he put in and

14:37 Speaker 1: then some yes, and so there's been some some speculation

14:42 Speaker 1: about maybe Mario Lemieux can get back into into the fold.

14:48 Speaker 1: Here with regard to the Penguins, good on Sydney Crosby.

14:53 Speaker 1: He has, I mean, he's He's clearly going to go

14:56 Speaker 1: down as one of the greatest NHL ers of all time.

15:00 Speaker 2: The other big piece of news around the league is

15:04 Speaker 2: the fact actually that the Buffalo Sabers have finally finally

15:09 Speaker 2: gotten rid of their GM Kevin Adams organization.

15:13 Speaker 1: They replaced him permanently with the armokeek Linen. And look,

15:19 Speaker 1: I'm not a Sabers fan. I'm indifferent at best. My god,

15:25 Speaker 1: I just I feel bad for any team.

15:29 Speaker 2: That is in a situation like that, much like with

15:33 Speaker 2: the Arizona team and their owner effectively killing that franchise.

15:39 Speaker 1: Kevin Adams was doing that too.

15:42 Speaker 2: The decisions, the number of players that have passed through

15:47 Speaker 2: Buffalo to go on and win Stanley Cups is embarrassing,

15:52 Speaker 2: I would say. And the Sabers have had quite the

15:58 Speaker 2: bump from the change. They have been on a wind street.

16:03 Speaker 2: I'm just looking they have. They're on a heater man.

16:07 Speaker 1: They have won one, two, three, four, five, Six games

16:12 Speaker 1: in a row, yes, six games in a row. Yes.

16:15 Speaker 2: You know, there's always a bump with any kind of change,

16:19 Speaker 2: whether it's the coaching change bump, a trade bump, like

16:22 Speaker 2: we've seen a little bit with Edmonton, although their new

16:26 Speaker 2: goalie is out now for some time. But there's always

16:32 Speaker 2: a tiny bump because change is refreshing to an organization.

16:37 Speaker 2: But the size, the sheer size of that change, that

16:40 Speaker 2: bump tells you everything you need to know about what

16:44 Speaker 2: players thought of Kevin Adams. And he was around for

16:47 Speaker 2: a long time, being terrible for a very long time.

16:51 Speaker 2: Kick Linen actually had been with a while ago. He

16:54 Speaker 2: was the GM of the Blue Jackets, and so he

16:58 Speaker 2: knows what he's doing when it comes to a team

17:00 Speaker 2: that is struggling and trying to make an effect change.

17:04 Speaker 1: So good on them, I felt, I've they just it

17:07 Speaker 1: feels I felt bad for them so well, and and

17:10 Speaker 1: their fans have been just it's been brutal for their

17:13 Speaker 1: fans so and again I'm not a Sabers fan either.

17:17 Speaker 1: You hate to see it though for an extended period

17:19 Speaker 1: of time for a franchise like right right, they've they've

17:23 Speaker 1: been a suffering fan base for so long that I

17:26 Speaker 1: mean that doesn't necessarily mean that they've turned it around

17:30 Speaker 1: fully and completely, but the way that things are playing

17:33 Speaker 1: out in the Eastern Conference where there seems to be

17:37 Speaker 1: really no team other than maybe the Carolina Hurricanes and

17:42 Speaker 1: the Washington Capitals, all the Red Wings too, But it's

17:46 Speaker 1: up and down, you know, the standings are so tight

17:49 Speaker 1: and and and the I don't even want to call

17:51 Speaker 1: it parody. Maybe I I'll call it mediocrity. The level

17:56 Speaker 1: of mediocrity is is to such a level which makes

18:00 Speaker 1: it even more freaky annoying when the Bruins lose a

18:05 Speaker 1: game to a division opponent who's crawling right up your

18:10 Speaker 1: keyster like they the Bruins played themselves last night out

18:14 Speaker 1: of a wild card spot. Yeah, and they're not trending

18:18 Speaker 1: in the right direction. And now we have the Canadians

18:22 Speaker 1: coming in on Tuesday night, right, Yes, the buckle down,

18:26 Speaker 1: Buckle up, folks, and buckle up well.

18:28 Speaker 2: And prior to the debacle, Bruins had finally entered the

18:33 Speaker 2: conversation when it comes to the Super sixteen and the

18:35 Speaker 2: power rankings for on the NHL's website by the NHL writers, that's.

18:42 Speaker 1: Probably going to be a flash in the pan after

18:44 Speaker 1: what happened this weekend. But well, it's it's kind of

18:48 Speaker 1: hysterical because these same writers, most of them didn't even

18:52 Speaker 1: have the Bruins on their radar when they did their

18:56 Speaker 1: preseason predictions about playoffs and contenders and whatnot. So it's

19:01 Speaker 1: a little ironic. But yes, they've played their way into

19:06 Speaker 1: the conversation when it comes to the Super Sixteen. Yes,

19:10 Speaker 1: and every team has pickups. But what is very troubling

19:15 Speaker 1: is this has been kind of a downhill slope that

19:20 Speaker 1: started with the Vancouver game and maybe the level of

19:25 Speaker 1: frustration because the Bruins were dominant in that game, like

19:30 Speaker 1: they they put over forty freaking shots on goal.

19:34 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's talk about let's talk about the

19:38 Speaker 2: games this past week. So we had the Utah Mammoth

19:43 Speaker 2: come into town. The last time the Bruins played them, obviously,

19:47 Speaker 2: it was out in Utah. This this is their second

19:49 Speaker 2: and final matchup against the team this season, and it.

19:53 Speaker 1: Was a completely different game. It was exactly the kind

19:55 Speaker 1: of game you wanted to see against a team like Utah.

19:58 Speaker 1: It's the game that they should have played the first

20:00 Speaker 1: time they were out there. Solid game, A plus, no notes,

20:05 Speaker 1: no notes.

20:06 Speaker 2: Then they host the Oilers and it's all of a

20:12 Speaker 2: sudden where the wheels started to come off for the

20:17 Speaker 2: remainder of the weekend.

20:19 Speaker 1: A little, a little bit. Yes, Now I don't think

20:22 Speaker 1: they played a bad game, no, but you can see

20:26 Speaker 1: it all looking at these three games kind of together,

20:31 Speaker 1: you can see the downward progression of of course, was

20:36 Speaker 1: going to ultimately happen in the Ottawa game. And you

20:42 Speaker 1: have a team in the Oilers that has Connor McDavid,

20:46 Speaker 1: Ryan Hopkins, right, I mean right, go the list goes

20:50 Speaker 1: on and on and on. You can ill afford to

20:54 Speaker 1: make any mistakes. Yep. And to me, I hate handed

21:00 Speaker 1: goals with a freaking passion. To me, there's virtually no excuse.

21:07 Speaker 1: But even worse, even worse, is how do you not

21:14 Speaker 1: know where Connor McDavid is on the ice at all

21:19 Speaker 1: freaking times? And he just makes everybody look like this

21:24 Speaker 1: standing still when he gets ahead of steam going there

21:28 Speaker 1: is nothing that you can do to stop him. And

21:32 Speaker 1: he's been on a heater himself since that game, because

21:36 Speaker 1: I think he's put up at least five goals since then.

21:40 Speaker 2: One of the things that I have been really frustrated

21:42 Speaker 2: with with this team this season has been the lack

21:48 Speaker 2: of cobridge of key players on opposing teams. We see

21:56 Speaker 2: this happen to Boston constantly. How many time have we

22:00 Speaker 2: seen David Pasternak actually be without somebody up his butt

22:06 Speaker 2: up along go in on a long right right. There's

22:09 Speaker 2: always somebody there. In fact, I believe it was during

22:12 Speaker 2: the Vancouver game where there was this move that Pasta

22:17 Speaker 2: did kind of behind the net. He had literally he

22:21 Speaker 2: was holding his stick with one hand because he had

22:23 Speaker 2: his other arm kind of out and back because he

22:26 Speaker 2: had a guy right there. And I remember commenting, like,

22:29 Speaker 2: my goodness, Pasta is so strong with the puck on

22:32 Speaker 2: his stick. He's so strong on the puck because he

22:35 Speaker 2: was handling this guy and maneuvering around and behind the

22:39 Speaker 2: net with one hand. I mean, why do we not

22:42 Speaker 2: see that with any sort of consistency from the Bruins.

22:47 Speaker 2: Because they have the system in their structure, and they

22:50 Speaker 2: fully believe that if they play consistently sixteen minutes within

22:56 Speaker 2: that system and structure, they don't need to do that,

23:00 Speaker 2: which is all well and good, but when you have breakdowns,

23:04 Speaker 2: it's it's almost as if they have to play a

23:07 Speaker 2: perfect game for the most part, especially against a team

23:13 Speaker 2: like the Oilers that has the superstars on that team

23:17 Speaker 2: that they do. Maybe a little tweaking might be, might

23:22 Speaker 2: be in order. I don't know, I don't know.

23:25 Speaker 1: I don't want to see it was. It was a

23:28 Speaker 1: relatively competitive game, but that was a costly error. Yeah,

23:33 Speaker 1: that was a costly error.

23:35 Speaker 2: Yes, And with Vancouver coming in again, we've mentioned the

23:40 Speaker 2: lack of finish really really killed this team.

23:45 Speaker 1: The fact that Boston finally became the last.

23:49 Speaker 2: Team in the league to earn a loser point in December,

23:54 Speaker 2: and it's and it wasn't because they clawed their way

23:58 Speaker 2: back and they earned.

23:59 Speaker 1: That loser point. This was a loser point.

24:03 Speaker 2: That was a slap in the face because there is

24:06 Speaker 2: absolutely no reason that that should have happened.

24:10 Speaker 1: It was beyond frustrating. It should have been a six

24:14 Speaker 1: to two game. Forty two shots on goal to their

24:17 Speaker 1: twenty two forty two shots on goal. You kicked their asses,

24:21 Speaker 1: Vancouver's in the face off dots by a percentage of

24:26 Speaker 1: sixty one to thirty nine percent. Hey, you were one

24:30 Speaker 1: for three on the power play. They were one for

24:32 Speaker 1: four on the powerplay. They had a few more a

24:36 Speaker 1: handful of more hits than you did. But fact that

24:39 Speaker 1: the Bruins weren't able to capitalize and credit you know,

24:44 Speaker 1: and I don't want to be dismissive of Vancouver's goalie

24:49 Speaker 1: because he did right, He did have to make some

24:52 Speaker 1: pretty damn print saves he did have to make, so

24:56 Speaker 1: credit to him for eking out the win. But my god,

25:02 Speaker 1: just and that's when you see that maybe it's frustration,

25:06 Speaker 1: like we get looks and nothing's going in. Who the

25:09 Speaker 1: hell knows what the mindset right is.

25:12 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that just then compounded into this Ottawa game

25:17 Speaker 2: that was just absolute trash.

25:19 Speaker 1: It was absolute trash from the get. I mean, the

25:23 Speaker 1: number of times that Boston has allowed a goal within

25:26 Speaker 1: the opening minute of a game is embarrassing. And then

25:31 Speaker 1: allowing power play goals almost when you've almost had it

25:35 Speaker 1: killed off, like you know that, I mean, it's in

25:39 Speaker 1: a bond. It's they have gone. They have gone from

25:43 Speaker 1: being at the top of the league when it comes

25:46 Speaker 1: to their PK to now being one of the teams

25:49 Speaker 1: that is like egregious in giving up our play goals,

25:52 Speaker 1: especially late late in the penalty.

25:55 Speaker 2: They are sinking faster than titanic when it comes to

26:01 Speaker 2: this penalty kill ability and their frequency of allowing.

26:08 Speaker 1: A goal either at the very start of a game,

26:12 Speaker 1: start of a period, end of a period, end of

26:14 Speaker 1: a power play or PK.

26:17 Speaker 2: It's again that lack of focus, like they take their

26:21 Speaker 2: eye off the prize for any stretch of time.

26:25 Speaker 1: And like you said, this team is very fragile.

26:31 Speaker 2: We compared last week and the week before this team

26:34 Speaker 2: to a Jenga tower. And not only is it that

26:38 Speaker 2: way because we need those key players to be there

26:43 Speaker 2: to do those specific jobs, but they also have to

26:48 Speaker 2: consistently keep doing these things over and over and over again.

26:52 Speaker 2: They cannot stop because if they stop, if they stop

26:56 Speaker 2: paying attention, if they stop playing to their identity for

26:59 Speaker 2: a minute, they're taking advantage of you had.

27:03 Speaker 1: The Bruins had five power play opportunities. One was a

27:08 Speaker 1: five on three I believe, yes, in the first period

27:11 Speaker 1: at David Pasta. That was their alone powerflay goal. One

27:17 Speaker 1: for five. Ottawa was to for four, yikes to for four,

27:22 Speaker 1: And yeah, the turnovers in that game, Jesus Christ like that.

27:27 Speaker 2: But that's where Ottawa's That's where Ottawa's speed, that's where

27:32 Speaker 2: their speed comes in. Because they can just zip right in.

27:38 Speaker 2: Because what does Boston do too much? They pass way

27:42 Speaker 2: too much.

27:44 Speaker 1: They pass so much that no wonder in most of

27:51 Speaker 1: these games, Boston is not blowing anybody out of the water.

27:55 Speaker 1: And when they do shoot, I don't know why it's

27:58 Speaker 1: not going in. I do I don't know why.

28:00 Speaker 2: I do not understand why, like Vancouver they finally were shooting,

28:05 Speaker 2: why wouldn't it go in?

28:07 Speaker 1: I don't understand. Well, they may be asking themselves this

28:11 Speaker 1: the same question, and maybe the frustration builds up, or

28:14 Speaker 1: maybe the oh whoe is me?

28:16 Speaker 2: Right?

28:17 Speaker 1: And that's up you know, that's up to the leaders

28:19 Speaker 1: in the locker room to ensure that that kind of

28:22 Speaker 1: you know, demoralizing mentality doesn't carry over for any length

28:30 Speaker 1: of time or into the next game. Because you've got

28:33 Speaker 1: the Montreal Canadians coming into town. Yes, and right now,

28:38 Speaker 1: you know they sit atop the Atlantic in the second spot.

28:44 Speaker 1: Forty three points for them, forty one for you. It's

28:46 Speaker 1: a big, big point swing for that game against the Canadians. Yes,

28:51 Speaker 1: tomorrow night, and I'll tell you something, if the Bruins

28:54 Speaker 1: come out and play in the same manner that they

28:57 Speaker 1: played that first period, that auto game. Good night, Irene,

29:02 Speaker 1: Good freaking night Irene. Yeah, it's well.

29:07 Speaker 2: The one the one positive I will say here is

29:12 Speaker 2: and we've talked about this because this is not the

29:13 Speaker 2: first time that this has happened. When the Bruins start

29:18 Speaker 2: to sink and they're just about to touch rock bottom,

29:22 Speaker 2: they realize it and they turn things around.

29:25 Speaker 1: They've done that about two or three times this season.

29:28 Speaker 1: I would like to think that the Autawa.

29:32 Speaker 2: Game was that moment, and they will come back and

29:38 Speaker 2: they will have a good showing against Montreal.

29:41 Speaker 1: I think it. That would be my expectation. If they don't,

29:45 Speaker 1: that's a big issue that that is. That's that's been

29:48 Speaker 1: the pattern. I expected. I expected that mentality to surface

29:54 Speaker 1: in the game against Autawa last night, simply because during

29:58 Speaker 1: your division barely it doesn't matter. You guys are chasing

30:02 Speaker 1: each other. It's because the Vancouver game. The Vancouver game

30:06 Speaker 1: wasn't a pathetic loss. What are we doing here? It's

30:10 Speaker 1: the pathetic loss that pushes them up the next wakes

30:16 Speaker 1: them up for the next game. And the loss to

30:18 Speaker 1: Ottawa that was a pathetic loss. That was an embarrassment.

30:22 Speaker 1: So when they get embarrassed and they turn around, I

30:24 Speaker 1: don't know. Gltons for finishmen. I don't know. I mean,

30:29 Speaker 1: you're right, we have seen it. We have seen it happen. Yeah,

30:33 Speaker 1: and again, you know, every team has its oh shit moments, Yes,

30:37 Speaker 1: but this has been a team that has been pretty

30:40 Speaker 1: sally all season long on ou mice and the fact

30:43 Speaker 1: that they have now lost three games in a row.

30:46 Speaker 1: But I mean that's their biggest slide in a little bit. Yes,

30:48 Speaker 1: So another reason why.

30:49 Speaker 2: I am expecting good things out of this Montreal game.

30:54 Speaker 2: But then they got into the mini break, so we'll

30:58 Speaker 2: see kind of what comes out of that because we

31:02 Speaker 2: don't see another game until the twenty seventh, so they're

31:07 Speaker 2: actually gonna have quite a little bit of time off

31:10 Speaker 2: and then they head out to Buffalo again another divisional game,

31:14 Speaker 2: especially with the new look Sabers out on the ice.

31:21 Speaker 2: So let's talk about your stick taps. Who's getting stick

31:25 Speaker 2: taps this week?

31:26 Speaker 1: Well, just because you know, it is the it is

31:30 Speaker 1: the holiday season, and I don't want to be a

31:32 Speaker 1: total mahumbug with regard to this team, but there are

31:36 Speaker 1: players that during the last four games have been producing.

31:42 Speaker 1: Maybe the results aren't what we want them to be,

31:46 Speaker 1: but you know, We've got Morgan geek, Pavel Zaka, Charlie mackaboy,

31:50 Speaker 1: all with at least four points in each of those games.

31:55 Speaker 1: David Pasternak, Elias Lindholm, and Mara Hustadinov yet all with

32:00 Speaker 1: points respectively each. You know what I like to see

32:03 Speaker 1: guys like Charlie McAvoy. I'm been a few more goals.

32:07 Speaker 1: I know our back end has been pretty quiet, and

32:10 Speaker 1: when you have the likes of David Pasternov, he's only

32:13 Speaker 1: had one goal in that stretch too. He's been a

32:16 Speaker 1: little a little quiet, a little too quiet. Elias Lindholm

32:21 Speaker 1: has not had a goal, He's had assists. But these

32:25 Speaker 1: are guys. It can't just be Morgan Geeky. It can't.

32:30 Speaker 1: You're not going to get very far if we're only

32:35 Speaker 1: relying on Morgan Geeky. So, but I do want to

32:39 Speaker 1: give these guys some credit for at least pulling some

32:44 Speaker 1: offensive weight during this stretch. Yah, I agree.

32:48 Speaker 2: I think I kind of started saying it jokingly but

32:51 Speaker 2: then seriously during the Vancouver game during important moments where

32:57 Speaker 2: the Bruins really needed to score or what have you.

33:00 Speaker 2: Whether it was towards the end of the game, during

33:03 Speaker 2: the overtime, and then even when we got to the shootout, like,

33:06 Speaker 2: where's peval Zaka? Get him out there on the ice,

33:09 Speaker 2: because clearly this man is having some very good luck

33:12 Speaker 2: right now, he is actually hitting the net.

33:15 Speaker 1: Get that man out there. So definitely stick taps to

33:17 Speaker 1: him for right now, for sure. And I want to

33:19 Speaker 1: give stick taps to Tanner, do you know? And Mark

33:22 Speaker 1: Castilik too, because I think they they have been they

33:26 Speaker 1: have been pulling their weight. And actually the goal that

33:31 Speaker 1: Tanner Janeau scored against Vancouver to put the Bruins ahead,

33:37 Speaker 1: they were like they were giddy. Those two guys were

33:41 Speaker 1: giddy because the passing between Fraser Minton and Castleick, I

33:46 Speaker 1: don't know, Castlick did a behind the back pass to

33:49 Speaker 1: Janeau and they were still giggling about it when they

33:52 Speaker 1: went back to the bench. So, I mean, you know,

33:57 Speaker 1: that's the type of secondary scoring I think you would

34:00 Speaker 1: like to see a little bit more of that. That

34:04 Speaker 1: line is that they are a tough bunch of sobs

34:07 Speaker 1: to play against. Yeah.

34:10 Speaker 2: I think the Brick aptly named them the identity line.

34:13 Speaker 2: They are what we want to see out of this

34:16 Speaker 2: entire team. Yes, he's right, Yeah, he's absolutely right.

34:21 Speaker 1: On the flip side the penalty box.

34:23 Speaker 2: I think there's at least one person who was in

34:27 Speaker 2: who got stick taps and Gosney box.

34:29 Speaker 1: Good Lord give it them the good Lord take it away.

34:31 Speaker 1: But campus Lindholme has been awful, very quiet, and and

34:38 Speaker 1: he's he's basically he's a minus three in these this

34:43 Speaker 1: four game stretch that we're we've been talking about now,

34:47 Speaker 1: and I know plus minus is not the be all

34:49 Speaker 1: and end all, and some of that is due to

34:52 Speaker 1: the fact that you're giving up power play goals and

34:55 Speaker 1: so and he's a key yeah, penalty killer. Yeh our buddy.

34:59 Speaker 1: David Astronach like, great, you've had full points, but you're

35:02 Speaker 1: a minus three. So it's not good. It's not cook,

35:06 Speaker 1: it's not good. And Andrew Peakman, he has been. He

35:10 Speaker 1: has been on the struggle bus. I'm not quite sure

35:13 Speaker 1: if he's hit a wall or if he's fighting something,

35:18 Speaker 1: but he's definitely been fighting the huck and at times

35:22 Speaker 1: he looks a little bit lost in coverage.

35:26 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's had his good moments and bad moments in

35:30 Speaker 2: just this past week because he had a key goal,

35:34 Speaker 2: a timely goals scored and then turns around and causes.

35:41 Speaker 1: Goals so well, or just even just you're standing there.

35:46 Speaker 1: And again, it's nothing I hate more than a hockey

35:51 Speaker 1: player who just stands around, but it pisses me off

35:54 Speaker 1: even doubly when it's a defenseman. Yeah. Yeah, you should

35:58 Speaker 1: never stop moving ever, ever, ever, ever. So that's the

36:04 Speaker 1: week that was.

36:05 Speaker 2: Like I said, we have one more game before the

36:09 Speaker 2: Christmas break, and then right after it, on the twenty seventh,

36:14 Speaker 2: the Bruins are out in Buffalo, and then we will

36:17 Speaker 2: be back to discuss what we always discuss, which is

36:22 Speaker 2: what the heck are the Boston Bruins up to.

36:24 Speaker 1: Any final thoughts, Maria, just a reminder that there will

36:28 Speaker 1: be the league shuts down in its entirety, which means

36:33 Speaker 1: that there's no trading or moving of players around during

36:38 Speaker 1: this period of time that the league is closed. They

36:42 Speaker 1: can get back to the business of hockey on twelve,

36:46 Speaker 1: twenty seven. Indeed. Yes, so short of that, I want

36:50 Speaker 1: to wish all of our viewers and listeners very very

36:53 Speaker 1: happy holidays indeed, as of course, and.

36:57 Speaker 2: As always like and subscribe for more content and be

37:00 Speaker 2: sure to leave a rating and review to help other

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37:08 Speaker 2: tape to tape mk and on substack at tape to

37:11 Speaker 2: tape mk dot substack dot com, and of course, go bees.

37:16 Speaker 1: Forbes