Wilde Horses
-Radulov again is a truly outstanding hockey player. He isn't just a beast with the puck but his vision is also world-class. He is also so smart knowing what he has each time in terms of time and space and then he creates accordingly. He is the most important forward on the team I believe. If they lost him, it would be a bigger blow to the team than any other forward. Impressive to see a guy dominate a game so much from the wing position.
- Pacioretty is really back to his old ways here, adding a lot of fuel to the fire that he was ailing a lot when his foot was broken and healing. You just feel that danger when he has it that that shot can be in the back of the net at a moment's notice.
- Danault showing this much at the centre position is making Bergevin look extremely smart when he said that he didn't need Eller because Danault could take up that role. If the next thing he says is he doesn't need Desharnais anymore because of Danault it won't surprise me. Danault plays a smart 200-foot game. That he showed up for a physical bruising affair says a lot, too, about how good he will be in the big games.
- Emelin with another two magistral hits. He nailed Pastrnak with a crusher into the boards in the first and then laid out Marchand in the third with an open-ice pounding. Both legal. Both gorgeous.
- Shaw has so much hunger in him. That hunger doesn't show up on the scoresheet enough to think that he is worth $4 million but his intangibles sure get him there. Just like with the Hawks, watch him excel when it counts. You could see the flash of it in this one. Perhaps concussed on the Krug hit, he comes out for the second and seems to be everywhere including the place that McQuaid felt pain after a huge hit.
- Weber is so smart. He logs a ton of minutes. I don't have much new to say here; only wish to acknowledge what he brings every game. A million small things get done right every night.
- This was a night with a violent edge to it when fear gets up and you wonder who has the gumption to stick with it and who will wait for an Avs game. Paul Byron for his size and Artturi Lehkonen for his size you may say that they'll likely bail on it. They didn't. Both in the dirty zones. Both looking to be a part of the action. Both turning away from nothing. Both hungry. Byron finally with the equalizer.
Wilde Goats
- This was the kind of game at such a high level that you can see who struggles pretty clearly. I know that Andrighetto is a darling of the analytics crowd but he was just not in the same park as the level of this Bruins game.
- Redmond was sailing along having an outstanding game with Beaulieu and then an ill-advised line rush left his mates vulnerable in the back and the Bruins opened the scoring late second period.
- The powerplay. It's been good. It's won some games, but it struggled in this one. If the Bruins are going to be undisciplined, there's one sure-fire way to make Marchand think twice about intentionally high sticking Emelin in the face after getting laid out, and that's score on a portion of the times the Bruins are sent to the box.
Wilde Cards
- The NHL is going backwards from the time their theory only a couple years ago that principle contact to the head actually meant something. Now it's he leaned forward or his head was down or he brushed his shoulder before he hits the head. They just don't wish to actually address the head shot issue. Krug hits Shaw directly in the head and in the head first but there wasn't even a penalty called. The ref told Kirk Muller at the bench that Shaw was leaning forward. All true but that doesn't mean anything to a concussed player. Players are vulnerable all the time on the ice and the league needs to find a way to make this illegal. It wasn't illegal here in the way the league views these now but it needs to be. In the long run, these players need to be protected because they're never going to protect themselves. They just want to get back on to the ice to help their mates. There was no penalty. There will be no suspension. They need to view these situations differently so that this isn't what everyone describes as the right call.
- The Habs were known around the league as a soft touch last year. Hit them and make them go away as a non-ice pack opponent. This was a test for the competitiveness that Bergevin wanted in this year's team. The Habs showed they got it, that they're different. Shaw laid it all out and competed. Weber competed. Radulov competed. Very few passengers and very little back-down.
- What I saw in this one, despite the loss, was a don't-back-down team that I became more confident in that they'll produce in the playoffs, and that they have players that will elevate when it becomes even more intense. The Habs have a lot of pieces. They're very close. They lost this but as Therrien says it's a process and the process was excellent.
