Series One, Game Three
Boston Bruins (0-3) vs New Jersey Devils (3-0)
Tuesday April 15/03
by Rink Rat
The National Hockey League, in common with other professional leagues, has its share of franchise nicknames based on various savage beasts. So we have panthers, hawks, bears, sharks, and even fierce ducks. But only the NHL has a boa constrictor. The New Jersey Devils are better at strangling the life out of a game than any other team in the league, possibly in professional sport.
Pity the poor Boston Bruins. They might as well already be in hibernation for all the bother they have caused the Devils through the first three games of this series. The Bruins have scored three goals in nine periods of play-off hockey. They've had just 10 scattered power play opportunities, and their goaltending has been off colour.
On the other side of the puck, the Devils aren't exactly the '85 Oilers as they have potted nine goals. What they do is skate like mad, hit hard, and trap the bejabbers out of the opposition, in this case the Bruins.
Part of the problem for Boston has been goaltending. Their two, Shields and Hackett, have compiled an .888 save percentage. The Devils' save machine, Marty Brodeur, is humming along at .963. Another problem is that New Jersey has generally had the match-ups which most suit them. New Jersey has had speedy centre Madden on Boston's top scorer Thornton and powerhouse defenceman Stevens on everybody else. Madden has harried Thornton at every turn, Stevens hits anything that moves, and the team as a whole traps the energy and enthusiasm out of the Bruins.
The games have little in the way of incident or excitement as the Devils efficiently squeezed the life out of the Bruins and grabbed three wins in three tries. Perhaps the biggest mismatch of the series is in coaching. Boston's general manager Mike O'Connell, he with a fine nine-game NHL coaching career is trying to outmaneuver Pat Burns, with his 937 regular season and 120 play-off games of experience.
Burns had little trouble keeping the match-ups he wanted even in Boston where O'Connell had the last change. At one point in game three O'Connell had his fourth line pluggers out against Langenbrunner and Nieuwendyk.
Boston is likely out of this series, but not necessarily out of game four. A series sweep is a difficult thing to accomplish. Four game winning streaks are frequent, but not as numerous as clams in chowder. For one thing, in the play-offs the team which has lost three in a row is stung to greater efforts by their proximity to humiliation. A hockey truism holds that the hardest game to win in a series is the fourth one.
On Tuesday night Boston will produce a damn-the-torpedoes effort and storm the Devils' net. New Jersey will be a little self-satisfied and back off on the throttle just enough to let the Bruins win one game. After all, even boa constrictors have the odd off night.
Play on the BRUINS Money Line !!!
Boston Bruins (0-3) vs New Jersey Devils (3-0)
Tuesday April 15/03
by Rink Rat
The National Hockey League, in common with other professional leagues, has its share of franchise nicknames based on various savage beasts. So we have panthers, hawks, bears, sharks, and even fierce ducks. But only the NHL has a boa constrictor. The New Jersey Devils are better at strangling the life out of a game than any other team in the league, possibly in professional sport.
Pity the poor Boston Bruins. They might as well already be in hibernation for all the bother they have caused the Devils through the first three games of this series. The Bruins have scored three goals in nine periods of play-off hockey. They've had just 10 scattered power play opportunities, and their goaltending has been off colour.
On the other side of the puck, the Devils aren't exactly the '85 Oilers as they have potted nine goals. What they do is skate like mad, hit hard, and trap the bejabbers out of the opposition, in this case the Bruins.
Part of the problem for Boston has been goaltending. Their two, Shields and Hackett, have compiled an .888 save percentage. The Devils' save machine, Marty Brodeur, is humming along at .963. Another problem is that New Jersey has generally had the match-ups which most suit them. New Jersey has had speedy centre Madden on Boston's top scorer Thornton and powerhouse defenceman Stevens on everybody else. Madden has harried Thornton at every turn, Stevens hits anything that moves, and the team as a whole traps the energy and enthusiasm out of the Bruins.
The games have little in the way of incident or excitement as the Devils efficiently squeezed the life out of the Bruins and grabbed three wins in three tries. Perhaps the biggest mismatch of the series is in coaching. Boston's general manager Mike O'Connell, he with a fine nine-game NHL coaching career is trying to outmaneuver Pat Burns, with his 937 regular season and 120 play-off games of experience.
Burns had little trouble keeping the match-ups he wanted even in Boston where O'Connell had the last change. At one point in game three O'Connell had his fourth line pluggers out against Langenbrunner and Nieuwendyk.
Boston is likely out of this series, but not necessarily out of game four. A series sweep is a difficult thing to accomplish. Four game winning streaks are frequent, but not as numerous as clams in chowder. For one thing, in the play-offs the team which has lost three in a row is stung to greater efforts by their proximity to humiliation. A hockey truism holds that the hardest game to win in a series is the fourth one.
On Tuesday night Boston will produce a damn-the-torpedoes effort and storm the Devils' net. New Jersey will be a little self-satisfied and back off on the throttle just enough to let the Bruins win one game. After all, even boa constrictors have the odd off night.
Play on the BRUINS Money Line !!!
