Defense Tightens Up Against Capitals
Corvo steps in to help short-staffed defense
Friday, 03.30.2012 / 11:00 AM
/ Features
By Anthony Gulizia
- BostonBruins.com
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BOSTON, MA – With 10:06 left in the third period of last night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals, the game was slowly starting to slip out of the Bruins’ grasp.
After a goal from Dennis Wideman nearly two minutes earlier, Marcus Johansson scored to put the Capitals up 2-0, as the Bruins struggled to get some offense going.
But the Black & Gold’s defense – which was already missing Dennis Seidenberg (infection), and then lost Adam McQuaid from a hit by Jason Chimera – hung tough and kept the Capitals offense at bay while they completed a two-goal comeback to force overtime, and then the shootout.
“That’s happened a couple of times where we’ve kind of had to run our back end short, and guys respond well,” Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien said. “I think we did a pretty good job. Again, when you look at the number of shots we gave up [23], we’re still defensively playing decent hockey, and I think that kind of helped us stay in the game for a while.
"But you know, again our D deserve a lot of credit -- Zee [Zdeno Chara] getting a lot of ice time again and handling that well also.”
After the Capitals scored their second goal of the game, the Bruins defense allowed just five shots on net for the rest of regulation, and three in the overtime period.
With the Bruins’ blueline shorthanded last night, defenseman Joe Corvo filled in for Seidenberg and picked up his first ice time since last playing March 15 versus the Florida Panthers.
“It felt good, I mean, nobody likes to not be able to contribute to the team and just practice every day and not get to play in games,” Corvo said. “So, it felt good to be part of the team again in a game situation and that’s about it.
“I felt like my head was in the game the whole time because you don’t want to give anybody a reason to take you out of the lineup when you get a chance.”
Julien said he was satisfied with the effort he received form Corvo, and with Seidenberg listed as day-to-day, it’s likely that No. 14 will see the ice again soon.
“It’s his first game back in a while, and, you know, I didn’t see any glaring mistakes that would point the finger in his direction,” Julien said. “And, you know, to me, he was still a decent puck-moving defenseman.”
After a goal from Dennis Wideman nearly two minutes earlier, Marcus Johansson scored to put the Capitals up 2-0, as the Bruins struggled to get some offense going.
But the Black & Gold’s defense – which was already missing Dennis Seidenberg (infection), and then lost Adam McQuaid from a hit by Jason Chimera – hung tough and kept the Capitals offense at bay while they completed a two-goal comeback to force overtime, and then the shootout.
“That’s happened a couple of times where we’ve kind of had to run our back end short, and guys respond well,” Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien said. “I think we did a pretty good job. Again, when you look at the number of shots we gave up [23], we’re still defensively playing decent hockey, and I think that kind of helped us stay in the game for a while.
"But you know, again our D deserve a lot of credit -- Zee [Zdeno Chara] getting a lot of ice time again and handling that well also.”
After the Capitals scored their second goal of the game, the Bruins defense allowed just five shots on net for the rest of regulation, and three in the overtime period.
With the Bruins’ blueline shorthanded last night, defenseman Joe Corvo filled in for Seidenberg and picked up his first ice time since last playing March 15 versus the Florida Panthers.
“It felt good, I mean, nobody likes to not be able to contribute to the team and just practice every day and not get to play in games,” Corvo said. “So, it felt good to be part of the team again in a game situation and that’s about it.
“I felt like my head was in the game the whole time because you don’t want to give anybody a reason to take you out of the lineup when you get a chance.”
Julien said he was satisfied with the effort he received form Corvo, and with Seidenberg listed as day-to-day, it’s likely that No. 14 will see the ice again soon.
“It’s his first game back in a while, and, you know, I didn’t see any glaring mistakes that would point the finger in his direction,” Julien said. “And, you know, to me, he was still a decent puck-moving defenseman.”
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