Bruins Get Chara Back Against Tampa, But Look No Better On Defense
BOSTON (CBS) -- Well, at least the Matt Irwin Experiment is over.
The Bruins got their captain back Monday afternoon against the reigning Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning, as Zdeno Chara took the ice for the first time this season after missing the team's first two games with an upper-body injury. His presence was supposed to stabilize the top of the Bruins backend, and for at least a period it looked like that may have happened.
Unfortunately, the end result was the same. Tuukka Rask allowed 6 goals, making it 14 goals allowed in 3 games (plus two empty-netters), and the Bruins defense did little to help him out as the Lightning breezed past the Black & Gold by a 6-3 final.
Much like the season opener vs. the Winnipeg Jets, the Bruins looked strong for about 15 minutes of the first period and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Chara looked to be limiting space and passing lanes as he usually does, and even Colin Miller flashed some defensive skill stopping a one-on-one rush.
But it wasn't long before the same problems reared their ugly heads for the Bruins. Four out of five Bruins players lock their eyes on Victor Hedman with the puck down low, completely losing Brian Boyle - who takes a clean pass for an untouched one-timer goal. And the penalty kill unit has the same positioning issues, as everyone (Chara included) loses Ondrej Palat down low for the tying goal. Chara tried to stop the pass but it was too late, while Rask was left alone with Palat partly because Kevan Miller was over-committing to Steven Stamkos in the corner.
Another big-time problem for the entire Bruins team has been giveaways, and it burned them once again on Monday. David Pastrnak's second period giveaway to Brian Boyle was particularly egregious, as the sophomore winger gave Boyle a breakaway and simply gave up trying to backcheck as Rask was hung out to dry for Tampa's third goal. Torey Krug and Joe Morrow struggled controlling the puck in the neutral zone, and on one play Krug almost let Boyle complete a hat trick.
The Bruins' defensive woes has even seeped into the play of Rask, who has been under siege and can't be held at fault for most of the team's goals allowed but hasn't covered up weaknesses in their own end either. The fifth goal of the day for Tampa was among the softest of Rask's career as a starter, as the puck barely slipped under his right pad, where Rask should have made an easy stop on an open look and a weak shot.
Rask also didn't do the team any favors when he lazily chipped the puck to the left circle, where Morrow once again mishandled the puck and got muscled off by two Lightning players, leading to a tic-tac-toe goal off Valteri Filppula's skate. Filppula was yet another Tampa scorer who the Bruins completely lost on defense; this time the fourth line was the culprit.
The Bruins defense is not very talented, nor are they communicating well at that end of the ice. They continue to mishandle the puck in all three zones, turn the puck over, and focus too much on the puck as it finds an open player's stick for a goal. Nobody is making big plays and they aren't playing as a cohesive unit, either.
A lack of both talent and communication is the perfect concoction for a catastrophe, which is what this defense is rapidly becoming. The Bruins have their captain back and still can't get things together. Chara's lackluster return confirmed the fears of pessimists and realists everywhere, that a 38-year-old defenseman who is declining and breaking down can't make that much of a difference to an already-weak defensive corps. And now that Chara is rumored to be on the trade block, the Bruins may already be getting their white flags ready.
It's still far too early in the season to write the Bruins off entirely, and we should at least wait and see how the B's play against their next three opponents, who should present less of a challenge than Montreal or Tampa. Colorado, Arizona, and Philadelphia all finished in the bottom-10 of the league last season and haven't gotten much better.
Unfortunately, the Bruins have Chara back in the lineup and they aren't much better either.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.