2011 NHL Playoffs: Bruins Need to Be Patient with Tampa Bay's 1-3-1 System

The Tampa Bay Lightning have employed the 1-3-1 system that baffled both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.

This system will kill you...if you are offensively minded and impatient.

This is what the Lightning were banking on and it is successful.

Now they face a team where defense is equally important to them.

The Boston Bruins have taken on speed and skill.  They overcame that in a full seven game series.

They've taken on big and physical.  They swept that series by bringing on their own brand of big and physical.

In short, comparing the Bruins to the Penguins or the Capitals is like comparing apples to oranges.

So the 1-3-1- system works like this:

You have one defenseman sitting back behind on their own zone, three players (normally a defense man) and two forwards walling up their own neutral zone and a forward parked ahead in the neutral zone.

This can provide a few advantages for the Lightning:

• Less time and space to retrieve the puck when it is dumped in.
• A fast dump in behind the net can be recovered much quicker with a team member sitting back to get it.
• Forces opposition to fore check creating open space.
• Transition is much quicker.
• Easier to keep assignments straight.

I can see some flaws in this system.  They are few, but flaws nonetheless.

What if the opposing team has a smart, strong defense?

What if that same defense far out-sizes you and can far out-hit you?

What happens if the series goes deep?

In my eyes, it's another trap system, but with a twist.  If the opposing team plays a patient, smart game, and can take it to the boards, keeping the opposition outside, then the system can, in effect, collapse and create issues.

Because the system seems to be built in a defensive focus, if the opposition plays a defensive style with a lead, the Lightning will have to open up and try to generate goals.

Will they have to abandon that system?

Hard to say.  With the offensive minded Washington Capitals, they could not stay in a good defensive posture nor have they traditionally been known to play defensive hockey.

I've heard all the hoopla regarding the upstart Sean Bergenheim—and it's well deserved.  His eight points (seven goals and one assist) has made him the talk of Tampa Bay and around the league.

The hoopla of the Bruins starting to click as the playoffs are moving along can be equally as positive, as they currently have all lines scoring, three of which are finally racking up points.  The Bruins are getting hot at the right time.

While the Bruins have won the season series handedly, this was before the trade deadline.  Both teams now have a different look.

Goaltending was upgraded in Tampa Bay with the addition of Dwayne Roloson and he has been very effective.

Bruins net minder Tim Thomas has been playing in his Vezina candidate form and has been equally as impressive. 

Both teams are equally matched on the stats board in some aspects and there are some stats that are lopsided for both teams.

While the Lightning have won their last seven games, the Bruins have won eight of their last nine games.

Tampa Bay's system has generated impressive numbers on the power play and penalty kill.  The Bruins?  Not so much.  Boston allowed one too many five on threes and it nearly cost them.  In the last two games, they have finally scored their first power play goals, but can they keep it up?

Again, the system, from what I can see, works well on teams that do not have that defensive mindset.

That is something that needs to reviewed after the series or even after the first couple of games.  Until I see how it fairs, I can't say if the Bruins will defeat it, or if Tampa Bay can make it work effectively on defensive hockey.

Say what you will, but when the Eastern Conference Finals are here, it's going to be interesting to see if the Bruins can defeat this system given the contrasting differences of Tampa Bay's previous opponents.  Just as equally interesting to see if Tampa Bay can use this system on the Bruins' defense.

Either way, it looks like the team with the most patience will be advancing.

Let the puck fall where it may as the Eastern Conference Finals will put both teams in position to have to win four games to claim the Prince of Whales trophy and four more to drink out of Lord Stanley's mug.

This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean"