Just the Facts:
Game Time: 3:00 PM, TD Garden. TV Broadcast: NBC, CBC, TSN, RDS. Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SB Nation Site: Winging it in Motown.
Series Record: Bruins 0-1 vs Red Wings 1-0
Wings Lines:
Johan Franzen | Pavel Datsyuk | Justin Abdelkader |
Tomas Jurco | Darren Helm | Daniel Alfredsson |
Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
Drew Miller | David Legwand | Luke Glendening |
Niklas Kronwall | Brendan Smith |
Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
Brian Lashoff | Jakub Kindl |
Jimmy Howard (starting) |
Jonas Gustavsson |
Bruins Lines (PURE GUESSING BECAUSE WHO THE HELL KNOWS ANYMORE):
Milan Lucic | David Krejci | Jarome Iginla |
Brad Marchand | Patrice Bergeron | Reilly Smith |
Justin Florek | Carl Soderberg | Loui Eriksson |
Jordan Caron | Gregory Campbell | Shawn Thornton |
Zdeno Chara | Dougie Hamilton |
Johnny Boychuk | Matt Bartkowski |
Torey Krug | Kevan Miller |
Tuukka Rask (starting) |
Hi I'm Chad Johnson |
Game Notes:
- Both teams went scoreless on the power play in game 1. Boston was 0-for-1 and Detroit was 0-for-2.
- Aside from Patrice Bergeron's stellar 52.4% faceoff win percentage (11-for-21), the rest of the team was garbage, and Detroit had the upperhand in faceoffs: 54.6% to Boston's 45.4%.
- Basicaly the statistical breakdown that you should read to prepare for this game can be found here. It tells us that we don't need to panic; we were solid defensively, but a sloppy mess offensively. Still, our poor offense didn't look that bad, so it may not take much to get us going. At least I HOPE SO. But they really gotta control possession or I'm gonna have a stroke.
- To the previous point - the first line needs to get going. Quit getting frustrated by DeKeyser and spearing him in the balls and start playing your game, Lucic and rest of first line. GAWD.
- Keep in mind the second and third lines weren't bad. Loui Eriksson has the best CF% relative on the team, followed by Bergeron. And Bergeron's line - along with the defense pair of Chara and Hamilton - was up against the top Detroit line all night. They almost did a perfect job.
- The Extra Skater preview for this game isn't up yet, so I will update this as soon as it is. In the meantime, read this nice Hockey Prospectus series preview (that was written before game one so fuck it).
- Providence is facing the #Lumbus AHL affiliate in the first round of the playoffs - and #Lumbus just got their first ever playoff win in franchise history last night IN DOUBLE OVERTIME against the Penguins! It was great
- Oh here are some actual updates from people (well, one reporter) who watched practice yesterday:
Bruins spent good part of practice on neutral zone. Will be critical area to improve.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@GlobeFluto) April 19, 2014Julien notes Wings are good at slowing opponents down on forecheck. Have to fight through bodies.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@GlobeFluto) April 19, 2014
NEVER FORGET:
And this is still trending:
I need a tan‼️ http://t.co/XG5oQDxO4U
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) April 19, 2014
Update: Extra Skater Stats Preview
Here is the link to check it out yourself, of course.
Game 1 Player Usage Charts
It's so unusual to see so many Bruins players in the red here. As the stats already stated, only Eriksson and Bergeron had reasonable FF% rel numbers (which is what indicates the color of the bubbles - bubble size = ice time). The first line is just...ugh. Surprising at their zone starts, though.
Can't see it here, but it's Franzen and Datsyuk right below Abdelkader. Quincey and DeKeyser are right on top of one another - and in the blue, with offensive zone starts the majority - because they were up against the Krejci line. Doesn't it all make sense now? That Helm line - yikes - talk about sheltered zone starts for them.
Remember to keep updated with Extra Skater throughout the game - or better yet, I'll do it for you!