2/12 - Bruins at Senators

barclay

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Jan 27, 2006
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The downside of having the big guns out is obvious. The silver lining is when guys like Coyle and Freddy step up and show what they can do. Question is whether they can consistently do that. if so, we have something. Here's hoping
 

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
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Apr 11, 2006
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I'm way behind on a stream of this game. The opening push was exactly what I want to see from the B's to open a game. Goal or not, they looked like they were the more energized and ready team on the ice tonight, and that hasn't always been true.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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Ottawa put up 2.83 expected goals, so that's a pretty massive shutout for Swayman. Team needed that.
 

RG33

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Nov 28, 2005
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As weird as it is to say about winning against Ottawa, that is a big win, and a tremendous effort by Swayman.
 

Myt1

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I’m watching on delay, but Cassidy really needs to throw a fucking nutty in a postgame press conference, because his players are getting fucking killed with dangerous hits to the head, while his best player gets suspended for far less dangerous shit.
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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I’m watching on delay, but Cassidy really needs to throw a fucking nutty in a postgame press conference, because his players are getting fucking killed with dangerous hits to the head, while his best player gets suspended for far less dangerous shit.
That’s gotta come from higher up. Neely should be throwing the nutty.
 

Myt1

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That’s gotta come from higher up. Neely should be throwing the nutty.
Both of them, then. Cassidy is perfectly willing to call out his own players publicly, whether for effort, results, or dangerous play. It’s bullshit if he doesn’t do more than the once in a lifetime call out he made in the Islanders series.

Have your players’ backs publicly.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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The Islanders lost weekend and the Bruins win yesterday added a lot of cushion. I don’t think CBJ or Wings really have a shot and now Isles are down 17 with four in hand.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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Jul 12, 2005
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Yeah, the 8 playoff teams in the East have been penciled in, we’re just starting to press harder as we write. The Bruins are on their way to being locked into a wild card spot, so it’s decision time for the whole organization: stay pat and be cannon fodder for a division winner, or go for broke.
 

LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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Yep, and I don't know what "go for broke" really means in this instance, other than overpaying for a band aid, so I'm torn. On the one hand, I feel like you need to go all in on Brad and Bergy one last time, and on the other it doesn't really feel like there's any way to get to a "dominant" team without completely mortgaging the future, which none of really wants, I don't think.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
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Dec 12, 2004
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The OOTPer in me has half a mind to say:

- Gauge Bergeron (if his condition does not rule him out for the year) and Marchand's interest in destinations, if any, to which they'd want to be traded; can do the same with Hall and Coyle but, in the case of the latter, would just hang on until some value is re-established
- Talk to McAvoy and Pastrnak about selling this year to rebuild and begin the next window by ~2024-25
- Shop DeBrusk, Smith, Lazar for this year's deadline
- D / G stay mostly unchanged - no expiring deals, let Swayman / Ullmark split time

I don't think the blue line beyond McAvoy / Grz generates much interest at this point - I'd look at shopping Grz but there's plenty of time left on his deal to get better return than what he'd get today.

This will never happen, but I think it's possibly the only way to complete a rebuild the "right" way while not wasting the entirety of McAvoy and Pastrnak's primes, given the state of the farm and the lack of apparent high-impact players beyond Lysell and possibly Lohrei.
 

durandal1707

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Apr 18, 2007
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There's a good chance they leapfrog the Caps for WC1 in the East, and they might be able to catch Toronto, but it's really just jockeying for position at this point. The Isles still have like 4 games in hand, but they're still way behind so unless the B's start losing to a lot of cellar-dwellers they don't have much to worry about.

So if you're treating making the Playoffs as a lottery ticket (heck, the Habs made it to the Cup Final last year, LOL), I really think the move is to stand pat. Giroux and Chychrun might make the team more competitive, but I'm not buying that those two will put them "over the top." The problem with this team outside of the top line has always been consistency, and... it's the same problem again. They'll play fantastically for a few weeks and look unstoppable, and then they'll play like complete garbage for a few weeks afterward. It's just indicative of the type of player they have in the bottom 6 of this team, Coyle and DeBrusk in particular.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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The other issue is we would normally count on having the superior goalie in any non-TB matchup. That's not the case this season so another reason to not go overboard for an attempted run.