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Erik Karlsson played on one leg for the San Jose Sharks. They have suddenly lost two games in a row and are on the verge of losing the Western Conference final to the St. Louis Blues before Game 6 on Tuesday.
The Bruins decided that Zdeno Chara could not be at his best for the fourth game of the Eastern Conference final last week. Instead of risking his health and playing shorthanded, they missed their captain. The Bruins did not just finish hurricane scans, they closed them. Now, Boston is waiting for the winner of San Jose-St. Louis series in the final of the Stanley Cup.
This is officially a new era for the Bruins when they can scratch Chara, who is second in the team in ice time in total (22:32) and in shorthanded ice time (3:17) per game, while pursuing toward a playoff victory – were their most dominant performance of the post-season.
This is the world we live in, where the Bruins can survive without Chara. He practiced with the Bruins on Monday and will be back in the lineup, assuming that 12 days before the first game of Monday's final is enough to cure his mysterious illness. He has signed for next season, so he will be among the top six in Boston in 2019-20. But an injury to Chara, even in the playoffs, no longer sounds the death knell it would have been a season or so ago.
Zdeno Chara, who missed the fourth game of the Eastern Conference final, seems to be progressing very well. #NHLBruins practice Monday. # Stanley Cup #WBZ pic.twitter.com/nlW7EMB9y7
– Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) May 20, 2019
The Bruins' ability to survive a chara free match at this time of year begins with the pair defense consisting of Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, who was once perceived as the ying-yang coupling of a player aggressive offensive, Krug, and strong defender, Carlo. He has evolved to become a couple who can play at both ends, especially when Patrice Bergeron's direct line joined one of the top two-team teams in the league.
"Well, they were dynamite for us," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think Torey was a little underrated for his playoffs because of his ability to defend, to be quite honest. You know you'll always get the good sense of the power play, he'll make his assists, but he's very proud to play on the other side of the puck. You watch a video, he boxing every night big players, committed to do it. He does not leave the area early, he makes sure that the puck comes out of the area before him. All the little things that make you a good defender, the commitment to stay in battle, have been excellent. "
Krug's improvement and Carlo's fit in the playoffs allowed the Bruins to spread the ice time more evenly, even when Chara played. With Charlie McAvoy emerging as # 1 defenseman – a threat to make a big pass or puck the defensive end, and a strong player without the puck at that defensive blue line – and Matt Grzelcyk's ability to defend himself with its speed and avoiding too much defense by quickly getting rid of the puck, the Bruins look like a more conventional defense body. They do not rely too much on their 6-foot-9 defender to carry the burden, except on the penalty kick, where they were still able to cope with Carolina.
The Blues will be a beast totally different from the Hurricanes, who in the second half of Game 3 had clearly been demoralized by the Bruins (and in particular by goalkeeper Tuukka Rask) and had hardly resisted. Carolina's turned out to be shallower than we thought. If the clashes last, the Bruins will need Chara to rely on Ryan O'Reily's line with David Perron and Sammy Blais and / or Tyler Bozak's line with Pat Maroon and Robert Thomas. What is obvious is that the Blues are heavy and it will take a healthy defense for Boston with Chara in the mix to slow them down. It will also be necessary for Krug and Carlo to maintain their solid game against Brayden Schenn's line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz.
Do not count the Sharks for the moment. If they are healthy, they also have a lot of weight, Chara probably having to press Tomas Hertl's line centered on Evander Kane and Joe Pavelski. The last six also have size, weight and skill and can not be overlooked. At this point, however, it seems that only injuries could prevent San Jose from participating in the final.
Many factors will determine the appearance of the Bruins' defense in the years to come. We will continue to develop McAvoy, Carlo, Grzelcyk, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton, Jeremy Lauzon and Jakub Zboril, as well as the ability to keep them within the salary cap. There is the contract status of Krug, who can become an unrestricted free agent after 2020. There is the Seattle expansion project that could break a Boston defenseman in 2021. But these things are far from the Bruins' interest in the next round of championship.
In the present, they should be favored against the Sharks or the Blues, and their defense corps with Chara will be one of the main reasons. Knowing that they can survive, at least for a short push, without Chara, must however make them more confident as to what they could accomplish.
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