Boston Bruins Vs. Buffalo Sabres: B's Fall in Defensive Nightmare

If I had to pick a word for the offensive capability of the Boston Bruins, I would say a vast improvement.  Now ask me about the defensive part of their game.

Coach Claude Julien is known for his defense.  To build the team from the blue line out.  The Boston Bruins did not show their defensive talent last night against the Buffalo Sabres as they allowed six goals in regulation and a Buffalo goal in the last 30 seconds ended up tying the game.

The Shootout:  Boston's Achilles' Heel

Boston's play in the shootout has not been up to par...and that's putting it mildly.  In the six overtime games that Boston has played, they have won just one game.  To top it off, goalie Tim Thomas allowed all three shootout attempts in with captain Zdeno Chara going in for the shootout.  Not Krejci, not Bergeron, not Horton, Lucic even...but Chara.  Not sure what the rationale was here, but there it was.

Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Some will say, "Well, Buffalo allowed six goals too."  That's fine and dandy.  But to allow six yourself is not good considering the amount of odd-man rushes that Buffalo had against Boston, this game's loss is on the defense.  To give up two leads by two goals only to regain it and loss the lead in the final minute is horrible.  The upside of this is that it is the worst defensively played game I have seen the Bruins play and I hope that this is a flash in the pan.

To yank Tuukka Rask was not a solid move in my opinion.  He was up one goal going into the second period and he tends to settle down and get back into it after a bad period.

Bottom Line

The Bruins better get their D game back.  To date, they are tops in the league when it comes to goals allowed.  The game that they played last night put a serious dent in that lead (still up by eight goals according to the standings on NHL.com).