Kalman: Claude Julien Laments Team's 'Terrible' Second Period Versus Montreal
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) – Bruins coach Claude Julien didn't mince words when asked to describe his team's second period Saturday.
"Terrible," Julien said.
He could have added a second part and called it unacceptable. The Bruins scored twice in the third period but they had already lost the game in the second period. Montreal won its ninth straight regular season game in Boston 4-2 at TD Garden.
The Canadiens went on a power play at 2:31 of the second period and it seemingly never ended. The final shots on goal in the period read 9-8 but that might've been the most misleading stat since Matt Bartkowski was a plus-22.
The entire period was played in the Bruins' end. Passes were intercepted along the half wall. Passes were intercepted just outside the blue line. Faceoffs were continually lost and players were out on the ice too long and, worst of all, the Bruins didn't take advantage of favorable matchups. Patrice Bergeron's line couldn't outplay the Canadiens' fourth line. David Krejci's line was outplayed by every line it faced. The line of Riley Nash centering Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes is considered the third line, but they might actually be the fifth line, if there is such a thing.
The defensemen were equally horrible. Brandon Carlo had his toughest night as a pro. Colin Miller looked lost and Joe Morrow took some penalties and struggled to get into the right positions. There was plenty of blame to go around for the debacle.
"I thought the first period, I thought we played well. The only thing for me in the first period is the amount of shots that missed the net and the amount of shots that were blocked. We needed to get more shots through. We were recorded for six shots on net yet I think we had over 20-something (22) attempts. That had to get better," Julien said. "But the second period came back to haunt us. We were flat coming out, we didn't make good outlet passes and we spent way too much time in our own end. And because of that gave them some momentum. And then by the end of it we cheated ourselves a little bit and pucks ended up in the back of our net."
It doesn't take a historian to know what happens to the Bruins when they play a period like they did the second Saturday and the Canadiens are on the other side of the ice. And history repeated again, with the Canadiens taking advantage. Brendan Gallagher found a soft spot in the Bruins' coverage for the first goal and Phillip Danault cashed in on a 2-on-1 after a bad pinch by Bruins defenseman John-Michael Liles and the Canadiens took a 2-0 lead to the second intermission.
Any attempt to find excuses for the Bruins' second-period no-show should be canceled before it starts. Sure there's youth and inexperience out there. Yes, the Bruins are still trying to get in the flow of some new system tweaks. But their performance against Montreal in the biggest game of the season to date, after going 3-1-0 against mediocre competition, was a disaster. And it could've been a referendum on what this team will be going forward.
"I don't know; you've got to figure it out," defenseman Torey Krug said about the second-period disaster. "Changes were ugly, break the puck out and we're not putting the puck in deep. And then guys are getting stuck out there for long shifts. And then when you get tired, your mind shuts off and all of a sudden they're skating around and they're making plays with the puck. So it's just about making sure we're bearing down and we're playing well inside of their blue line and making sure we're getting clears. And that we take care of the puck and we get our changes. It's just sloppy plays like that it ends up in the back of our net."
Sloppy plays at the worst time – and an early-season showdown with Montreal while trying to establish a team identity and convince the fan base that you're for real is the worst time – can't be tolerated. The mentality has to change quickly. Personnel might have to be shuffled. Julien said he hadn't thought about lineup changes yet, but they could be coming. When your fourth line is your best line, anything is on the table. Julien certainly seemed to have little patience for that Nash line.
"Well you need something out of them besides minuses. I think they're minus-5 or -6 right now," Julien said. "And when you don't produce, that's what ends up happening. We expect more, there's no doubt. More or less we had three lines that are creating some sort of momentum. We need them to step up there and help us out. That would make a huge difference to our team."
Julien was being kind to two of his lines there. There weren't that many players who deserved kudos. Now the Bruins have two days before they get back into a game, as they'll host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. The Wild aren't quite part of the upper crust of the league, but the Bruins have to beat them, play well and show that some of the things they screwed up against Montreal, and got away with in three of the first four games of the season, aren't going to become a regular part of their performances.
They have a chance to turn Saturday night's second period into a turning point for the better.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.