Chicago: There is no doubt who is leading the way for Chicago, defenseman Duncan Keith has had a monster playoffs. Aside from a game missed due to suspension for an "accidental" high stick on the King's Jeff Carter. Keith is tied for first among active defenseman with 11 points in 16 games and has a solid plus 6 rating. Since being reunited with Keith near the end of the Detroit series, Brent Seabrook has turned his play around after an ugly start to the post-season. Though he still has only 3 points and a minus 7 rating, the duo is looking more the like allstars they were in seasons past.
The second pairing, Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson has been solid.
Hjalmarsson, has quietly emerged as a quality top three defenseman. Though he hasn't scored yet in the post season, he's been great at shutting down opposing team's top lines, and can chip in on offense too, as his plus 10 and 5 assists indicate.
The 22 year old Nick Leddy, who despite having a very good regular season, has struggled in the playoffs and been dropped to the third pairing. Leddy has only two assists and a team worst minus 7 rating. Michal Rozsival has been having some difficulty himself on the third pairing, but looked excellent when subbing in for Keith while he was suspended. The seventh defenseman is tough Sheldon Brookbank, who has only had to make one appearance this post-season and recorded no points and a minus 2 in that game.
Overall it's a solid, veteran group that that has the team allowing less than two goals per game, and a solid 1.44 five on five goals ratio. Coach Joel Quenneville would likely want some more offense from the backend, particularly from Seabrook. Some consistency from the third pairing would be welcome, as the top four are all averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
Boston: Defense is the true strength of the Bruins, the aspect of the game that has led them to two Stanley Cup Final appearances in three seasons. Captain Zdeno Chara is probably the best defenseman in the league, and may be playing himself into the status of the all time greats. His staggering size is universally known, but having the mobility and intelligence to use that size effectively is what separates him from other big men in the league. His usual partner, Dennis Seidenberg, is a highly underrated defensive defenseman. Together they form perhaps the most intimidating and effective shutdown pairing in the league.
However the Bruins have the luxury of a deep defense, and the second and third pairings are pretty much interchangeable. Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference are both solid, tough defensemen that are capable of going against any team's line. Though you won't get any offense out of Ference, he balances out the play of Boychuk who likes to get involved in the play and leads the team with 5 goals from the blueline.
The third unit is rounded out by Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid. Krug is a 22 year old rookie with very small size for the defense position, but he's been a revelation this post-season, especially on the power play, where he has 3 pp goals. McQuid has been consitent so far, second on the team with a plus 8 rating, and has scored some timely goals, such as the series winner over Pittsburgh.
The Bruins have struggled through some injuries on defense in this post-season, forcing players such as rookie Dougie Hamilton and long-time veteran Wade Redden into the lineup. As of now, the top six is healthy, but they have depth available beyond that should they need it.
Boston leads the post-season in both goals against per game (1.88) and five on five goals ratio (a staggering 1.77).
Edge: Boston. While the top two pairings on each team are formidable, Boston's depth have played much better than Chicago's so far in the 2013 post-season, and that should give them the overall edge in the Stanley Cup Final.
No comments:
Post a Comment