12/11 - Bruins at Vegas

BostonFanInCanesLand

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That was a nice sequence - Hall on the wall to Zacha - I don’t know how he feathered that pass through, and DeB with the finish.

Now get some insurance
 

durandal1707

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Feels like their upcoming two games against the Devils are the last parts of the question: "is this the best team in the league?" Both of which are in NJ on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. (NHL scheduling is great! /s) If the B's can hold their own in those games and maybe even win one or both, I'm feeling extremely confident that the answer is "yes."
 

Chainsaw318

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To my untrained eye, there really isn’t a ton of drop off with Zacha at center. They should really look to extend him now to at least have one top 2 center in the fold for next year.
I’m surprised to hear that, and would like to know what you see in Zacha.

I have watched a good amount of the team this year and while he seems like a good effort guy, it feels like he doesn’t convert open chances and his spot could be improved upon on that line with Krejci and Pasta, but I admit I’m just a casual B’s fan.

I thought he was playing wing because he couldn’t beat Nosek for the 4th center spot, but maybe that’s not the case?

Even so, it seems like the wing on that line is a spot to improve, along with maybe the Carlo/Grzelcyk combination, which seemed to cause themselves trouble tonight.

I know they are up against it with resources and space to add players. With so many injuries and teams looking to add, would be nice to move Reilly or Smith to give themselves room to maneuver, though the depth is nice.
 

BostonFanInCanesLand

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Zacha strikes me as a Rich Peverly type (but puts more points on the board and can still reach a higher ceiling). He can move up and down the lineup seamlessly, is sound defensively, a very good passer, is fast, and we don’t always see the right moves that he makes all over the ice. He’s a little snakebit right now with finishing and we sure notice that.

He’s playing wing because the top 3 C are set in stone and he’s too talented to bury on the 4th line. But clearly Montgomery has no qualms about playing him at center and he is one of those guys that Montgomery will slot in there when he wants at least 2 centers on the ice (late and close, etc).

I agree with @Salem's Lot that he’s a perfectly good center - but 2/9 on the dot last night won’t cut it long term.His typical FO percentage is in the mid 40’s so he’d need to improve on that to replace Krejci. But I agree with the broader point that I’d like to lock up Zacha and have him be a puzzle piece for next year. Not sure the cap space is there but I’m interested.

Edit: Montgomery talked about this after the game:
Not only did moving Pastrnak up reform one of the best 200-foot lines in the league, but it also allowed Hall, Zacha and DeBrusk to apply their straight-line speed in transition. Nov. 3 against the Rangers, when Krejci was out with an upper-body injury, the Hall-Zacha-DeBrusk trio struck for a similar rush goal. “Krech, that gives us a lot more dynamic (play) to our lineup,” Montgomery said. “But when Krejci’s not there, it’s a little easier to make that switch at times. I did it in New York. That was in the back of my mind. That line of Zacha, Hall and DeBrusk scored a great goal in New York.”

https://theathletic.com/3993437/2022/12/12/bruins-zacha-krejci-pastrnak/
 
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cshea

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Zacha's been really good. He's basically a jack of all trades. He's played LW with Bergy when Marchand was out, filled in as 2C when Krejci has been unavailable, and played both wings on the 3rd line. I wouldn't say Nosek beat him out of a center spot. 4C is a different role than a top 3C. They use Nosek defensively and against the other teams top lines. They don't really care about that line scoring. Zacha is up in a more offensive role.

At 5x5 Zacha is producing 2.36 points per 60 which is 4th highest among Bruin forwards behind Hall, Pastrnak and Frederic. His point total may look average but that's largely due to miminal PP time and he's also probably the only player on the team in a going through some bad shooting luck (hence @The Napkin pointing out that Zacha will never score again).
 

cshea

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The schedule doesn't really ease up until the end of the month, but last night conclues the "but now they have to play the good teams" stretch.

@ Tampa, @ Florida, Carolina, Tampa, Colorado, Vegas, @ Colorado, @ Arizona, @ Vegas

6-2-1, +11 goal differential.

Did catch a break with Colorado and Vegas pretty banged up for both meetings but a strong showing. Friday's game was dumb.
 

Chainsaw318

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Zacha's been really good. He's basically a jack of all trades. He's played LW with Bergy when Marchand was out, filled in as 2C when Krejci has been unavailable, and played both wings on the 3rd line. I wouldn't say Nosek beat him out of a center spot. 4C is a different role than a top 3C. They use Nosek defensively and against the other teams top lines. They don't really care about that line scoring. Zacha is up in a more offensive role.

At 5x5 Zacha is producing 2.36 points per 60 which is 4th highest among Bruin forwards behind Hall, Pastrnak and Frederic. His point total may look average but that's largely due to miminal PP time and he's also probably the only player on the team in a going through some bad shooting luck (hence @The Napkin pointing out that Zacha will never score again).
I appreciate the feedback. I think my view of him being unable to finish is influenced by a NHL compilation video I watched the other week of guys missing empty net shots and Zacha was one of the first clips, and had a similarly open net last week and didn’t convert.

Also in that compilation early on, Craig Smith.
 

The Napkin

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right here
yeah, it's rarely a good sign when a guy is the focus of my "will never score again" shtick. The good news is things tend to even out in the end. And it amuses me. Which is the really important part.