Taylor Hall is one of the best interviews not just on the Bruins, but in all of hockey. It’s not because he’s funny or witty, but because he gives answers that are thoughtful and insightful. He’s a student of the game, and he’s willing to share some of that knowledge with honest reflections on his own game, his teammates, his opponents, and so on.
So, after the Bruins’ 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes in Monday’s Game 1, it wasn’t surprising to hear Hall perfectly diagnose his team’s biggest problem when he was asked what they could have done to finish more of their ample offensive opportunities (36 shots on goal, 66 shot attempts).
“I’m sure you guys have probably heard this a million times, but people at the net-front with good timing, so they’re not able to be tied up. Free sticks around their net-front, and see if we can generate some second-chance opportunities,” said Hall, who scored the Bruins' lone goal Monday night. “There were pucks laying there. Their goalie made some really good first saves, but I think playoff hockey is about hanging around the net and finding a way to score. Honestly, like they did their first goal, a tip. Second goal, a lot of traffic, our goalie can’t really see it.
“For us, we always seem to outshoot teams, but what can kind of get away from us is getting people to the net and really making use of all those shots and creating second chances. So that’s gonna be a focus for us.”
Bingo. When the Bruins had their offensive-zone time and shots, they didn’t do enough to make life difficult for Carolina goalie Antti Raanta. When the Hurricanes got their opportunities, they sent bodies to the net and got the tips and screens Boston wasn’t. That’s how they went from getting outplayed for the first 35 or so minutes of the game to scoring twice in a 2:10 span late in the second period to take a 2-0 lead.
The most concerning part for the Bruins is the last part of Hall’s quote, because he is once again right that this is not a new issue for Boston. Getting a lot of shots but struggling to turn them into high-danger chances and goals has been a concern for the Bruins all season, and last year as well.
While the Bruins ranked second in shots on goal per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, they ranked 15th in high-danger chances, 14th in goals, and 31st in shooting percentage. Their numbers last season were similar.
It’s a problem we highlighted late in the regular season when the Bruins landed 52 shots on goal against the Penguins but got shut out. They are more susceptible to losses like this than a lot of teams because they lack high-end finishing talent outside of David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand (and Marchand has been cold for a while now), and they settle for too many lower-quality chances.
And that problem is most noticeable against teams that are defensively sound and force them to work for their chances… like the Hurricanes, who gave up the fewest goals in the NHL this season. This is not the Florida Panthers, another top team that the Bruins scored four on last week, but that plays a much more wide-open style than Carolina and doesn’t have the same defensive structure.
If all that seems dire, Hall, at least, does not share in the pessimism. He sees a fixable problem.
“It’s a long series, and I think it’s pretty easy to pinpoint what we need to do better in Game 2,” Hall said. “We’re a pretty good team at making adjustments.”
They are, and getting to the net-front more should, in theory, be fixable. It’s more or less a matter of working hard and being willing to take a few crosschecks. But when it’s a longer-term issue like it has been for the Bruins, it’s fair to wonder if there’s a switch that can be flipped, or if this is just who they are.
We’re going to get a clearer answer over the next couple games.
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