Toucher & Rich: Where Has The Bruins' First Line Been Against Red Wings?
BOSTON (CBS) - Going into the postseason if one were to tell you that after three games with the Red Wings the Bruins would have more goals from Justin Florek and Jordan Caron than Milan Lucic, Jarome Iginla and David Krejci, you'd probably wonder just what the heck is going on with the first line.
Joe Haggerty of Comcast SportsNet New England joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show Wednesday to analyze the Bruins-Red Wings Game 3 from last night, including the embellishment of Brad Marchand and the invisibility of the Bruins' first line so far in the series.
The conversation kicked off with Marchand, who was the recipient of a knee from Brendan Smith in the second period. The controversial winger drew criticism though as he may have embellished the severity of it, as he needed to be helped off the ice, but then didn't miss a shift.
Haggerty said he has no idea if Marchand was putting on a show, but understands that he isn't going to get the benefit of the doubt based on his reputation around the league. Ultimately Haggerty concluded, "It could be a little of both."
From there the talk shifted to the Bruins top line and the lack of their offensive production so far this postseason.
Haggerty first credited the Red Wings, saying "They're playing good defense against that line," and citing Luke Glendening as a Detroit player that's been particularly good.
However, from there Haggerty called out one Bruin in particular. He said, "I think Krejci has not been up to par in the first few games, and that's been a part of it. He's had a quiet start to the playoffs, you're used to seeing him create a lot of offense."
When asked why that was, Haggerty believed it was a result of the Red Wings knocking him around in Game 1, as he said Krejci has had a hard time finding his game since then.
From there the guys talked about the series moving forward, and Haggerty thinks that the Bruins will win it in six or seven. He feels that Boston is simply a superior team, but conceded that the Red Wings will probably win another game.
He pointed out that uncharacteristically poor coaching was to blame for Detroit's Game 3 loss, as the universally praised Mike Babcock was subpar. The Bruins first goal was scored on a power play after a too many men on the ice call, and on their second Shawn Thornton was able to walk into offensive zone untouched because of another terrible Red Wings change.
Haggerty praised Boston's defensive depth in noting that the Red Wings top-six scorers from this season have been held to 1 point (a Johan Franzen assist) in the first three games.
The Bruins beat writer then had some damning commentary on Franzen, saying that he is one of the few Red Wings that is strong enough to make a difference in front of the net, but he is unwilling to go to these dirty areas. Haggerty says this is the reason that he's been demoted from Pavel Datsyuk's line, and has been relegated to lower line duty.
Listen below for the full discussion:
Joe Haggerty Interview
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