Boston Bruins: Lucic Should Have Been More Prudent in Miller Collision

The Boston Bruins are undoubtedly sensitive to incidents like the one featuring Milan Lucic and Ryan Miller that occurred with only 13:12 off the clock in Saturday’s bout with the Buffalo Sabres.

Two of several other dubious hits from the Claude Julien/franchise renaissance era, in particular, come to mind as the Lucic-Miller crash and its potential repercussions are assessed. In at least one author’s view, the hit has its stark similarities and differences from the Scott Hartnell-Andrew Alberts incident on Nov. 26, 2007, and Matt Cooke’s peerlessly odious hit on Marc Savard two seasons ago.

Odds are that if Miller, who continued to play until the second intermission, had shown immediate signs of substantial injury, Lucic would have warranted five minutes in the box rather than two. Miller reportedly left the game later due to a sore neck, and there’s always the chance that additional symptoms could surface sometime later.

Such was the case with Alberts during his last full season in Boston (and both Julien’s and Lucic’s first) after Hartnell blindsided him with a headshot into the glass.

Alberts would leave that game, but promptly returned to action three nights later and normalcy continued for another nine outings before he went on injured reserve in mid-December. Post-concussion symptoms subsequently barred him from action until April.

Whatever Miller faces down the road will most likely, and thankfully, be less severe than that. Nonetheless, Lucic’s hit itself draws a parallel to Hartnell’s approach and follow-through on Alberts.

On the night in question, Alberts was standing along the boards on his own blue line, preoccupied with vacuuming a puck that the Flyers had just cleared from their end. As he crouched down in the same manner that a second baseman prepares to field a chopper, Hartnell hustled in and made no effort to let up. He made contact long after Alberts had thrust the puck back the other way.

Likewise, Miller had ventured out of his crease to play the puck near the face-off circle after Lucic had inadvertently let it go on what otherwise could have been a stimulating breakaway. Miller promptly spooned the biscuit to the nearby dasher a split-second before Lucic made full-steam contact.

In other words, by the time Lucic was close enough to engage in any sort of play with Miller, there was no puck to be gained―at least not by directly pestering the goalie. And regaining control of the disc should have Lucic’s sole motivation.

In turn, Lucic should have had his head on a swivel and been prepared to chase down Miller’s clearing attempt. He should have made amends for letting the puck escape his blade in neutral ice and made Miller pay for leaving his crease by making sure that biscuit found its way into the gaping basket.

Instead, he made Miller pay by decking him. And instead of penning his name to Saturday’s scoresheet by way of another goal or assist, Lucic’s only entry for the night was his two-minute charging minor.

Granted, that likely will not be sufficient to propitiate the Sabres and their faithful, but that’s two more minutes than Cooke served for elbowing the head of an equally puck-less and defenseless Savard back on March 7, 2010. It is two more minutes than what a repeat offender got for effectively ending a prolific playmaker’s career.

Lucic has, at times, abused the privileges that come with his size and physicality and consequently has drawn a few suspensions and game misconducts. But his actions on Saturday are not likely to drain one of the game’s best goaltenders of his on-ice value and off-ice livelihood.

That being said, the Bruins are slated to visit Buffalo next Wednesday, 11 nights after the fact. By eerie coincidence, after Savard was concussed in Pittsburgh, the Penguins visited the TD Garden 11 nights later.

One can only speculate what the Sabres will bring to that rematch, regardless of Miller’s status. If the now-infamous “revenge game” from March 18, 2010, is any indication, someone will at least seek an old-fashioned scrap with Lucic on his first shift. If his own track record is any indication, he would oblige to that.

But then there is the chance that someone will thirst for eye-for-eye justice, whether that is an attempted cheap shot on Lucic or one of Boston’s stoppers.

For that reason, the Bruins will all want to approach that game with a healthy concoction of courage and caution. They will want to ensure protection for themselves and for their focus on the quest for two more invaluable points in the standings.

But none of this extracurricular material would even be on the table if Lucic had simply applied his brakes a little harder or demonstrated a little more foresight and changed direction in pursuit of the puck.

Next time, more common sense will be in order, just as it should have been for Hartnell and Cooke.