Game 2 Recap

If the first two games have been a dream, don’t wake me up. This gif of Brad Marchand and Matt Cooke speaks to how this series is being played thus far. The Penguins have been more concerned about being the aggressors that they are trying to beat the Bruins at their own game. I don’t know what the pre-series game plan was but it appears to be trying to be someone they’re not.  The Penguins have been known as a high-flying finesse team and now instead of trying to play their style of hockey, they came out and tried to play in the style of the Bruins and take a physical strategy of hard-hitting and aggressiveness. I don’t understand the strategy and it will come back to bite the Pittsburgh Penguins if no adjustments are made. Both goals scored by Brad Marchand came at the most critical times of the game. The first, 28 seconds into the game that took away any momentum the Penguins and the crowd may have had going into the game. His second goal, with a little over eight seconds remaining in the first period, killed any confidence Brandon Sutter’s goal & the goaltending change gave the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bruins defense was stellar again. They clogging passing lanes and produced tremendous penalty killing efforts, which slowed down the best power play in the NHL.  Tuukka Rask fed off of the support and made every stop he needed to. The Bruins must continue to play their style of hockey and dictate the pace to Pittsburgh.  Amazingly, the Bruins are in the heads of both Penguin goaltenders, Marc Andre Fleury and Thomas Vokoun.  I would expect Coach Dan Bylsma to continue starting Vokoun as the series moves forward.  I don’t think you can turn to Fleury who showed no confidence in this game. His appearance started with him giving up a goal on the first shot he faced. I don’t know where Pittsburgh should go from here.

Game 3 Preview

One  prediction I will make is that this series is in no way similar to the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals series where the Bruins were up two games to none on Pittsburgh and went on to drop four straight.  Those two Bruins wins in 1991 were close, not blowouts. The Bruins best player at the time, Cam Neely, was injured by Ulf Samuelsson which turned the series.  I wouldn’t expect this Penguins team to take runs at anyone (outside of Matt Cooke of course, and if I was David Krejci I would keep my head on a swivel).  Outside of any injuries, the Bruins have all of the confidence right now and Pittsburgh is completely down. I would expect the Bruins to feed off of the frenzy atmosphere that will be the TD Garden Wednesday night.  Yours truly will be there live tweeting! I am making it my mission to tell Jerome Iginla his decision to join Pittsburgh over Boston may not have been the smartest.  The Bruins can’t afford to let their guard down and must continue to dictate their style of hockey. Expect a rowdy crowd and a rowdy Bruins team for Game 3. Let’s go B’s!