LQR Game 56: Slump breaker…probably :Stars @ Bruins

LQR Game 56: Slump breaker…probably :Stars @ Bruins

Hey congrats on Breaking the slump why are you congratulating me you hate me yeah well my therapist says I’d be more likable if well if I was more likable so I’m working on that huh well thanks it’s a huge relief yeah I bet it’s always nice to probably break a slump we didn’t

Probably end it we won slumps over well sure but you lose n out of 10 it’s still a 10 game slump you know what I’m saying yeah but I haven’t lost n out of 10 have I right not yet don’t worry about it slump is probably over what’s the number to your therapist

Oh I don’t have a therapist lowquality f a high quality Bruins team that is a dub against the Dallas Stars a team that I believe most of you would consider to be one of the very best in the NHL they’re consistently at the top of many people’s weekly rankings

That’s a good team and we won now look a shootout win where you needed a goal with less than two minutes left to tie it up might not be a slump breaker it might not be but if you want to talk about something you can springboard off

Of this is good this is a good one this is a team in the Dallas Stars that we had beaten once this season 3-2 in November and while the Bruins have been spiraling the stars have steadily continued their fantastic campaign going 71 and two in their last 10

And they rank top 10 in power play 10th they rank ninth in penalty kill both of those feel like they could get better with the Personnel they have they are number one in the league in goals scored per game and 13th in goals allowed per game but if ainger can shake off what

Has been a pretty mediocre season by him sitting at a 904 save percentage before this game I think this team just becomes absolutely terrifying their top six is deadly their depth is excellent I just where do you point on that team and go this is what they’re screwed on if you

Go over to the Stars Reddit I bet you can find someone who will tell you I bet a bunch of them are like the team’s too soft so you know that’s there’s always that pocket of fans with every franchise but I have a hard time seeing

A lot of flaws with the Stars not exactly a team that you look forward to playing in a slump that this is the game you walk into and you’re struggling right you can’t put it together you’re not getting the results you want you’re not getting the processes you want it’s

Not working and you know the best case scenario even if you are the elite team that you want to be you’re playing another elite team like there’s obviously always that night where maybe they won’t have it tonight and we just get to roll over them but that doesn’t

Feel like it really that doesn’t that doesn’t make anything better you want their best and I think we got a real good shot from the stars I think they brought it and you go into that game and you go best case scenario is this gritty

Fight to the death game and we need this win we needed the wing win against the Kings not for standings points or anything like that just to start the upward trajectory you need that and you get to face one of the best teams in the NHL it’s not it’s just not an ideal

Situation for a team just trying to shake off the bad vibes but it is also kind of the perfect opportunity God that’s actually really good life advice by the way just that whole scenario where you go into a situation where the best case scenario is you just squeak by

And you’re just doing everything you can performing at the highest of your level just to get there by 1% but you did it just just barely but you did it I mean that still counts man I can’t tell you how many times in life you’re going to

Be in a room or a situation where you go I don’t belong here I’m not good enough to be here I’m not whatever bull crap you tell yourself that’s completely wrong and stupid and then you just got to go do it or you could walk away walking away

Never helped anybody I don’t think not in those scenarios just got to do it and you do it and you start to realize hey maybe it do belong or many you [ __ ] bomb let’s not act like that’s never happened you absolutely bomb and you go all right I know where I

Stand now let’s get back to it and you work harder and you get better and then you belong in that room great life advice over here this is good stuff this is good stuff the Bruins belong is kind of kind of the point I’m making not we

Didn’t go in there as the Mighty Ducks going against a professional hockey team no but they belong they belong with that top tier of teams and they can beat them did we get outplayed for large Pockets this one yes we’re not completely out of this slump we’re still figuring a lot of

Stuff out but it’s a great result and I have a confession to make I didn’t get to watch the whole game in fact there were pretty decent Pockets throughout that I haven’t been able to see yet uh I’ve obviously seen all the highlights I saw a good portion of the game but I’m

Not going to do a full game breakdown because we’ve already talked for like 5 minutes about other stuff and it just isn’t going to be very fair for me to start going through the game and just bouncing past stuff that you probably would have brought up because you were

Able to sit down and watch it my job just hates presidents for some reason hospitals have to stay open or whatever I don’t get it I don’t get it I do get it our lines for this one uh not a lot of changes we have waved

Steen I I want things to work for Steen so badly I’m not mad at that decision we are hanging on A Shard up here and then we signed Justin brazo who is a 26-year-old beefy boy forward and he played his first NHL game and scored in

It that like that’s the first thing can we just go how cool is that first NHL game at 26 years old and scores in it I think they want that big bruising frame I don’t think they’ve really liked their for check uh consistently from the bottom six so they’re hoping that he can

Add a little pop and he gets to the front of the net he creates a little disturbance here or there I mean first game that’s a win on the defense no real changes either uh they just forb shatty W spoon not uh not going to be in this

One Lao also scratched but they’ve they’ve started to lose faith in him unfortunately although I think there is a degree of they are shopping him and that is my guess of does anyone want him included in a deal at the deadline so that might be playing a little bit of a

Role there so what are we doing instead of a full game breakdown we’re just going to talk about Game notes but bigger than that really and the first thing is give that fourth line another chance from what I could see from what I watched from what I saw from the

Analytics all that good stuff they got Blended a thousand times we changed our lines around a lot as we continue to get outshot and out chanced by a bazillion but when it was Brazil and boquist and rishard they were making noise there was some real Pace to their game there was

Some real hitting some real four checks and they created some real chances I don’t see why you would move away from it obviously we’re going to see that line bounced around quite a bit but let’s give that line a little run give them a little bit of leash see what they

Can do and also not for nothing he was going back to that line directly after major instances in this game that second goal by the Stars and the fourth line is the next line out and then they scored and you sit there it’s it’s kind of the chess match of it

All right because you look at Monty and you’re like all right Monty how do you respond to that second goal by the way that second goal is the end of the game if this team doesn’t have something doesn’t have something right you didn’t really do anything wrong other than lose

A face off that puck had eyes went right through everybody you were in the middle of a deep slump you can’t catch a break right now ainger had just made a big save boom goal against and you’re down a goal to a team that just seems better than you right

Now and then they pushed right back and Monty instead of going with his top line or with any of the scoring lines really puts the dogs out there and goes go get him go [ __ ] him up like that’s that’s what we’re doing I’m not throwing the

Tal on this one and we’re going to start this with physical presence go get him I don’t think he expected them to score on that shift do you honestly just a different style of coaching and I thought obviously it worked out brilliantly but he didn’t respond to that goal saying we need to

Score one right away we need to get that right away no he went time to get into a rhythm go get him lay a big hit get in a fight do whatever for check on time pressure maybe that was really his goal he was noticing they were getting pucks deep

And getting possession all right great get in there get the puck let’s start switching out one by one we’ll get our scorers on the ice who can’t seem to get over the neutral zone to actually create a chance for themselves fourth line played well and Monty recognized that

And it actually paid dividends that is going to kind of bleed into our next Point here stop wasting efforts and games when your bottom six scores multiple goals what are we doing this is the second game in a row with the bottom six has carried the load

Scoring and we won this one I’m not upset by any means Relentless optimism I’m pumped the top six has to be better they have to be you can’t sit there and be like the fourth line scored two goals we’re going into the final five minutes

Down by a goal come on you can’t be outperformed by a fourth line like that they’re getting half the amount of ice time you are and they’re creating more chances I mean I hate the whole bootstraps thing bootstraps pull them up get to work I I really think Monty is

Trying to send that message of look at what these guys are doing look at how they’re scoring goals we can’t keep Dipsy doodling around expecting the perfect play to come together this is a National Hockey League get in the [ __ ] mud I think it’s a good I think it’s a good

Point the top six should be a little embarrassed right now of course the top six is the one scored the the game timeing goal and then makoy was the one who scored the winner in the shootout all that good stuff but top six isn’t keeping us in this these games right now

It’s the bottom six and the goal tended and Swan was great I’m not going to have a big point about him there was probably one that he wants back but not even like in an egregious way just at his level uh he was really solid obviously in the shootout as

Well why is the top six getting C as often as they are go look at the advanced analytics all that kind of stuff the top six looks terrible in those numbers just really really bad well it’s going to be a little bit of a couple of things first of all Monty

System is quantity no sorry quality over quantity I almost said the opposite they want how did I just say it quality over quantity they want quality he wants us to move that puck around and he wants us to create a real chance simple the way Advanced analytics are

Taken right now there is a degree of well if you just keep shooting the damn Puck your expected goals goes up because there’s more chances they try to counter that with weighted like waiting the different chances and whatnot but I think there’s still a degree of catching

Up to do there and so you’ll see teams like the canes or the stars or you know that just swallow other teams up in their expected goal differentials just way better because they shoot a billion times they’re quantity teams that doesn’t that’s not the wrong way to do

It and honestly it looks like it’s going to work this year as well that being said you’re going to have some of that come into play with why the expected goals don’t look good for us is it worrisome in some areas absolutely which we’re going to get to right now when

They aren’t scoring our top six forwards aren’t very good defensively right you have your liabilities in the top six who are pasta zaka is not very good we know pasta’s a liability though zaka is not very good we know that when jvr is in the top six he’s abysmal he’s

One of the worst forward Defenders on in in the team it’s bad uh I would argue that Heinen’s not very good defensively he’s okay but he’s not not very good um you have really three guys that you look at and you go they’re strong defensively this is we’re looking at our top six

Right now you’ve got de Brusque who’s excellent defensively this year all the numbers say so the play looks like it he’s very good defensively marand who we also know very good defensively here’s the problem on each of their lines debrusk and pook are tased with creating speed through the neutral zone on a

Breakout now Poo’s always going to fly the Zone first but de is supposed to be there as your second layer they’re tasked with knowing to launch up ice and when to do it that leads to defensive miscues that leads to more chances for other teams at times that’s Monte’s

System that’s part of it there’s responsibility but there’s also knowing that there’s no hockey system that’s Flawless it is going to leave an opening somewhere this you’ll see it from the points teams are able to set up a little easier and teams are able to maintain pressure especially if our defense core

Is not clearing the puck properly that’s part of it Coy the only guy I didn’t mention is excellent defensively and is tasked with doing just that so when you really only have one top six guy that’s like hey your job is there and obviously centers right but

This system more than most Center is the guy he’s the guy and the wing are ready to flee very very standard a lot of you guys are going to roll your eyes at that I think Monty system takes it to another level especially when you watch those

Forwards on the top corners spinning and picking up momentum and looking to launch you’ll see it if you draw your eye away from the puck every now and again the Split Second they think there’s a turnover you’ll see guys who are starting to pick up momentum and if

They don’t win that battle it might only take a second to get back into position a second’s a long time right now especially in the NHL last point with this because we are truly a guy short we are going to struggle to maintain possession as a top six unit

And maintain scoring chances and play defensively well play through the neutral zone well when you always have one guy who doesn’t quite belong whether it’s Heinen or jvr or Freddy or whoever and Freddy I think can belong up there it’s just affecting the bottom six to much when he’s not part of it

So by design of Monty’s system and the current team the top six is just lacking it just genuinely is I’m not losing my mind about it but there’s a real truth to that and that’s why even though we’ve talked all year about who we need at the

Deadline and a lot of people were like we need a top six guy we’re a top 10 scoring team it wasn’t just for the scoring it’s for possession it’s for defensive play it’s for having a cohesive unit you still need those things and that’s why top six guy would pay such

Huge dividends for this team I don’t know if it’s really on the horizon because of how difficult that might be to actually get this year so is the top six being outperformed by their opposition frequently that big of a concern eh not really we have the Superstar talent in

Poock and Maran to make a difference there and when the role players are rolling like we’ve seen they can it’s great when they’re not it kind of falls apart that’s just part of it so what’s this team who is this team well this team has that increasingly obvious

Problem and that problem is the pieces don’t fit they don’t they genuinely don’t this is not a team syncing issue this isn’t a big deal it’s a part of the weakness of the this team every team especially in the East has a weakness this one’s ours Sweeney built this team very cleverly

But jvr is probably the perfect example of this where is he best used right you would probably argue power play net front presence and a third line set him up in front of the net have a hard for Checker next to him get the puck to the net the problem is jvr

Needs some sort of strong possession guys with him if Cole could still be a third line Center a jvr coil Freddy line with the way coil maintains possession with the way Freddy comes in on the four check and with the way jvr battles net front and on the

Walls that’s a line man that is a depth line we aren’t afforded that that that opportunity we just AR AR jvr doesn’t have the Personnel next to him to get the best version of him now he’s had moments this year he’s played in the top six and when he’s high woo he’s

Outperformed his Expectations by a mile to me he’s been great this isn’t an insult but he’s a perfect encapsulation of where this team is struggling you have him down to this third line and if geeki is having an off night which we’ve seen a bunch lately that just all falls

Apart once Freddy’s back there though they work together it works out cuz the D can kind of make up for that and geeky even on his worst night is always positioned so well that he draws defense away which definitely helps it’s just when every time he touches the Pucket

Goes to the opposition is when you know you don’t love it but so you have like a jvr con under of like where do you fit and then Heinen well we can play Heinen anywhere yeah but should you really debras has gone completely cold but he’s

Got to be in the top six cuz who else are you going to put up there right you just have too many guys where you could go I could play them on any of the bottom nine lines yeah but how does it work with the other guy Well he kind of

Needs a setup guy okay well you don’t have the setup guy for him because he has to be used elsewhere right the puzzle isn’t fitting right now that’s fine the trade deadline’s coming up you get a little help in you might be able to make some moves here but even if you

Can’t and we’re completely stuck and the trade deadline is not going to work out for us there are times where this team it’s just going to click and it’s going to great but there are going to continue to be times where things aren’t working together because the chemistry just the

Way these guys play isn’t a perfect mix in all year I think you’re going to recognize this when you take a step back and go how have I wanted to change the the lines as we go month to month through the year and every time we have

A change what [ __ ] something else up somewhere else it’s just not a perfect puzzle and that’s what the season four is figuring that out it’s makes it a lot more interesting though because for a week that puzzle fit but then it kind of twist just a little bit and you go oh

Wait that doesn’t that’s not going to stay like that though it’s difficult honestly I just wanted to talk about those things I know this is a non-usual video and me just ranting for a while but thanks for talking with me guys and I’d love to see what your thoughts are

Below jump in tell me what I’ve got wrong what I’ve got right tell me what lines you want to see tell me what you think this team needs to do with the trade deadline as we continue to work on those pieces uh this team man love these

Bruins they’re a good team and they’re going to keep getting better go bees go bees once again guys thank you so much for watching but it is time to give a shout out to our high quality inspectors we’ve got our Top Line tier inspectors we got Brock nope Han slowmo coach D the

Bugman the atomic lizard Bradley Johnson Aaron Adams just Aaron Darren Woodbury Brett Arie pinsent and Nick Zulo thank you guys so much for your support it is greatly appreciated and of course massive props to these absolute stallions the allstar tier inspectors we have bruan smash Jason Aussie Brewing

Connelly Jonathan Harvey Joel aaion Jake Pratt tupon D Tashi da Kingery the only noes a tasty snack dut 42 and Jeremy you guys are absolute studs I can’t thank you enough and go bees

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