Claude Julien: Bruins Would Be In 'Big Trouble' Without Zdeno Chara
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Zdeno Chara and the Bruins defense understandably had their share of struggles against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. The captain and defensive partner Brandon Carlo had trouble suppressing scoring chances from the likes of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, and the like. This is to be expected against a team as fast and skilled as the Lightning.
But at no point did things get too out of hand for the Bruins on the defensive end. That's a testament to the stability that Chara has given the team throughout his career in Boston - and it's been especially evident in 2016-17, a season that has dealt the Bruins injuries to key players and a continued alarming lack of depth on the blue line.
Chara's marked improvement over last season, when it looked as though the 39-year-old was in the early stages of a sharp decline and could no longer contribute as a top-pairing defenseman, has been a boon for the 6-4 Bruins.
Head coach Claude Julien credited the captain for putting in the work necessary to engender the team's improvement on the back end - and the troubling situation the team would find themselves in without him.
"It's pretty obvious in the situation we're in right now if we didn't have [Chara] we'd be in big trouble," said Julien after Thursday night's 4-3 shootout win. "He's kind of saved our back in there, big-time. Taking a young player [Carlo] under his wing and really giving him some confidence, playing solid himself, defensively he's done a great job.
"In the situation that we're in, we desperately needed him and he's answered the call. ... He's in great shape, he's skating better than he did last year, he did all the work he needed to do to be a better player this year. So that's a credit to a guy that's up there in age and he doesn't want to slow down with his game."
Chara also recorded two hits and three blocked shots. It wasn't always perfect, as Tampa Bay peppered the Bruins with shot attempts when Chara and Carlo were on the ice. But the size of that duo on defense has given Tuukka Rask cleaner looks at the puck and made the team defense look like less of a fire drill than it was in the previous two seasons. Plus, Stamkos ended up with 19 shot attempts but none of them were on goal - sounds like a good recipe to beating Tampa.
In the end, the Lightning had their own share of struggles containing the dynamic Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line, and it cost them in the end. The Bruins defense may still lack depth beyond Chara and Carlo, but for a unit that looked bleak on paper to start the season, the performance of the top pairing has been encouraging to say the very least.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.