March 23, 2015
steve laidlaw
2015-03-23
Hamilton’s injury is trouble for the Bruins, the Rangers offense awakens, Ekman-Larsson scores 20 and more…
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The Bruins were without Dougie Hamilton yesterday due to injury. We still don't know the severity as he'll undergo tests today but generally that's not a good thing. Certainly not for anyone vested in the Bruins.
The Bruins got smacked around by the Lightning yesterday as Tuukka Rask was chased halfway through allowing four goals on 12 shots. I wouldn't necessarily overreact here because the Lightning can do that to anyone but I'd have some concerns about the viability of Rask as an option after that game. And really, if you've got Rask it's unlikely that you are still alive given the week he had. I got crushed in my head-to-head league because Rask single-handedly sewered my goalie stats. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
One guy who might benefit here is Torey Krug. He skated on both power play units yesterday leading the team with 3:10 in power play time. No one else skated over two minutes. The double-shifting may not continue but if it does Krug is a winner. Everyone else suffers from losing Hamilton's 21 minutes a night though.
This also probably kills the Bruins' playoff hopes. Sure they are still technically in the #8 spot but only by one point and the red hot Senators now have two games in hand with which to leap from the Bruins. In other words the Senators hold the cards.
It's almost irrelevant who makes the playoffs in that #8 spot. Whoever gets in becomes a sacrificial lamb to one of the Rangers or Canadiens. And yes, it's the playoffs so anything can happen but Ottawa or Boston beating one of those two teams would be a genuine upset. The NHL is dripping with parity but not in any of those series.
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I'd be remiss if I didn't include the Lightning in that first overall conversation as well. They are right there and absolutely rolling in good health. Ondrej Palat has been back for two games and has four points. When these guys are healthy they can roll four lines as well as any team in the league. They boast the second best goal differential in the league at plus-50, which is the single best indicator of playoff success that I've found.
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Justin Abdelkader has enjoyed a charmed season and yesterday was no different as he bounced one off the opponent's head to assist on the tying goal and then used a broken stick to score the game-winner in overtime: