Carolina Hurricanes Lose Disastrous Game Four to The Bruins

Protecting the Lead

The Carolina Hurricane must learn from this game and decisively protect leads.

If Tripp Tracy has said this once, he’s said it a thousand times. To paraphrase, he always says something along the lines of you can’t give Boston any room to play their game because they will take advantage of the situation. If anyone ever doubted that sentiment, tonight’s game will put that doubt to rest.

As I mentioned before, Reimer played an incredible game. I find it hard to criticize him for the first goal in which he failed the attempt to clear the puck outside of his crease. I admire the hustle and the effort. It was a split-second decision that didn’t pay off, but I can’t fault him for it.

What I fault the rest of the team for is taking this goal and seemingly dropping their entire effort. The team looked deflated, passes were sloppy, there was no more hustle to the puck, and clearing the zone seemed to be more difficult than usual. If the Canes want to remain alive in this series, they must find a way to protect the lead.

I understand reigning in the offensive effort after a goal, but a team can’t stop looking for goals and also stop playing offense. The only thing that is good for is a total breakdown, and that’s exactly what happened after the first goal.

The key to protecting a lead is slowing down the game and focusing on the fundamentals: crisp passing, a strong forecheck, and a focused defensive effort. As Tripp Tracy says, the Bruins will take advantage and that’s exactly what they did tonight. After the first goal, they didn’t hesitate to poke holes in the Canes game every area they could and capitalize on the result.

Next, let’s look at an offensive picture that is still in need of life.