Why Are The Bruins Blowing So Many Third-Period Leads? w/ Evan Marinofsky | Poke the Bear - video Dailymotion

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Poke The Bear with Conor Ryan Ep. 187  Conor Ryan is joined by Evan Marinofsky on today's episode of Poke the Bear to discuss the issue that has been plaguing the Boston Bruins as of late - blowing leads in the third period. After 3 overtime losses in their last 4 games, the Bruins have an obvious area of focus, but how do they prevent this problem from persisting?    This episode of Poke the Bear is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First onlinereal money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.   Factor Meals! Visit https://factormeals.com/POKE50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.

Transcript

00:00 Patrice Bergeron, I think when you look at tangible scenarios as to where he's really missed,

00:05 obviously him in those critical moments winning a key face-off, that's obvious. As you said,

00:11 the lack of secondary scoring, just that added depth to deliver that knockout punch. You could

00:18 have had that these last couple of games. I think out of the... They've gone to four straight

00:22 overtime routes and three of them, they've had a lead late in the third where it's like, "All right,

00:26 one more goal from a guy further than the line could have given you just a little bit more

00:30 breathing room." And again, it wears on you in every single game, you're white knuckling it.

00:35 And welcome into Poke the Bear, episode 187. That's Connor Ryan. I'm Evan Baranofsky. Connor,

00:52 what is up? Evan, I'm doing well. How are you doing? Doing great. I'm feeling jolly. The

00:59 Christmas spirit is alive in me, my friend. It is here. I'm excited. I've been listening to

01:03 Christmas music as I work. It's been good. I feel it, which is maybe it's late. We talked about this.

01:12 It's tough because with hockey, hockey is at the biggest this time of year. So you're focused on

01:18 work, you're focused on hockey. Sometimes you can miss Christmas or it comes a little late.

01:22 But for us, it's... Or for me at least, it's come at the perfect time. So happy about it.

01:29 Tis the season, Evan. Tis the freaking season. And the Bruins will be spending it in Winnipeg.

01:35 So lucky them. But anyways, the big thing, obviously, Tuesday night,

01:41 Bruins take on the Wild. They lose 4-3 in overtime. Again, they were up 2-1 in the third.

01:49 They were defending the lead for quite a bit. They had a really good second period.

01:52 And then in the third period, they just kind of fell apart. Again, the Wild score,

01:57 they score 2 in the third. And then the Bruins, your Marcian score is kind of just a bananas

02:02 net front goal. This is yet another third period lead just sort of slipping away to a team like

02:11 Minnesota who I know they had the coaching change, but I don't think it's a bad roster.

02:17 I don't think it's a terrible roster, but still to continue to give up third period leads like this,

02:21 not going to win you games long term. Yeah, no, it's been a major issue this year. I mean,

02:27 I think the Bruins have lost six games when leading after two periods.

02:32 Not great. Yeah, not great. Last year during that same situation,

02:38 leading after two periods, they were 47-1-2 last year. Again, record-breaking season. But

02:43 when they did lose, it was usually they were kind of flat out of the gate.

02:46 And those games really were decided early on. And those rare occasions didn't have a lot of

02:52 really fresh. It's like when you have a really bad bullpen in baseball and a loss is a loss,

02:56 but when you have a nice lead in the eighth inning and you give it away, it just stinks a little bit

03:00 more. Bruins got to trade Craig Kimbrell. Bruins got to trade Craig Kimbrell.

03:04 The Bruins have a 2007 Eric Gagne in their bullpen right now.

03:09 Yeah, that's true. Sorry. Don't want to smirch a great relief pitcher. But no, it's been an issue

03:15 this year for the Bruins. I mean, the fact that they've lost six games in that fashion, the only

03:20 teams with the worst record after leading after two periods, the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Flames,

03:27 and Shocks. A couple of pretty shitty teams in there. You're a major outlier in terms of

03:34 where your talent level is, where you're viewed as a playoff team. So it's been an issue. And again,

03:41 you can look at the reasoning behind it, but whatever it is, and we'll kind of dive into it a

03:46 little bit, but you can't let this continue. These happen to every team, of course. That's kind of

03:52 what Jim Montgomery said after Tuesday's game. It's happened across the NHL this year. Teams

03:57 giving up third period leads. Well, one, you need to nip it in the bud now because again,

04:02 maybe go through this November and December and don't have it happen in April and May when

04:06 mistakes can end your season. But also it's like, yes, it's happening around the league.

04:12 Like we've talked about how prevalent skill and scoring is in today's NHL. That being said,

04:19 you are a team that should be above the league average, the mean in terms of what the league-wide

04:25 trends are, especially when you're an outlier in terms of how good you should be defensively when

04:30 you have two arguably best in the caliber of goaltenders. Like you're not really a conventional

04:35 roster, you know, weight against the rest of the NHL. So I wouldn't put you in that same category.

04:40 You shouldn't lean on that as a reason as to why are you giving up all these late leads? Because

04:44 again, you shouldn't be in the category of doing teams worse than you are the Blue Jackets,

04:48 Flames, Sharks, and Islanders. That's not great, Evan. No, it's not great at all. You know,

04:54 it's interesting. Montgomery mentioned after the game, urgency being a factor and I can see it,

04:59 you know, they weren't tight enough on the points in the third period and kind of let the wild do

05:04 whatever they wanted around the perimeter. And again, I agree with you. I think they're too good.

05:09 They should be better than they are defensively. That's the biggest thing is like on paper,

05:14 that's a good defense. Like that should be a good defense. You also have to take into account

05:19 you don't have Patrice Bergeron at the top anymore, right? You don't have even a David

05:23 Crecce. And I know that that makes an impact, but still, I mean, Minnesota's four goals were scored

05:29 in the net front. And, you know, again, the three goals in regulation and to me, like there's got

05:35 to be better lockdown D in front of the net. And I know like, I think it was, I forget which goal

05:40 it was, bounced off all mark and just the rebound went right in and Carlo was kind of right there

05:46 and kind of dove out to get it. It's hard to blame Carlo on that because it's a weird rebound.

05:50 It hit the post. It was Middleton shot. I think a priest off, put it in like that, hit the post.

05:55 I can't like fault them too hard for that. But still, I mean, again, I just think there's a lack

06:00 of urgency with them in the third period. I also think it hits at this. And this is a bigger issue

06:05 that we've talked about a little bit. They don't have a go-to score outside of David Pasternak.

06:11 You've got Pasternak, Marsha and chips in. He chipped in on, on Tuesday night, which is great.

06:16 But outside of that, you don't have a guy that you can really count on for a clutch goal outside

06:24 of those two that I just mentioned. And, you know, again, we'll get to the Bruskin a little bit,

06:28 you know, coils, a good offensive guy, but I wouldn't put him in that category yet.

06:32 Same with Zaka. Like, I also just think like you can get all these chances and all these shots,

06:36 which they had last night in credit to Mark Andre flurry for being as good as he was.

06:40 But once they had those two goals from Pasternak, it just, they couldn't finish.

06:46 They couldn't finish. And I think that also plays a part in it. We're like, of course the team down

06:51 two to one is going to up their urgency in the third period and try to come back, obviously.

06:56 But as a team, you also have to kind of match that with converting on your chances. They might

07:00 out chance you a little bit because they got a little more to play for. They got to come back in

07:04 the game, but you still need to convert on your chances and they don't, they're not converting

07:08 right now. And, and there are, there were a lot last night. They out, they out high danger chance

07:13 the wild, like 13 to nine at five on five and Pasternak had like what, like 11 shots. But still,

07:18 I mean, you, there needs to be more conversion on those chances and I, it's not one guy. It's

07:23 really up and down the lineup. Yeah, no. And I don't think it's one overarching reason as to why

07:30 they keep on coming up short. And it's a number of different factors. You know, you can point to,

07:34 I think especially your seat. Yes, exactly. Great tie in. No, we'll say that for a couple

07:39 of minutes down the road, but no, I think you look at obviously Patrice Bergeron, I think when you

07:45 look at tangible scenarios as to where he's really missed, obviously him in those critical moments,

07:52 winning a key face off, that's obvious. As you said, the, the lack of secondary scoring, just

07:58 that added depth to, you know, deliver that knockout punch. You could have had that these

08:03 last couple of games, you know, I think out of the, they've gone to four straight overtimes routes

08:07 and three of them that had a lead late in the third where it's like, all right, one more goal

08:11 from a guy further than the lineup could have given you just a little bit more breathing room.

08:15 Like, and again, it wears on you when every single game you're kind of white knuckling it to get two

08:20 points. Like you need a couple of four to five, two games in the midst there where, you know,

08:25 you aren't running high octane, high pressure situations every single night. It's going to

08:32 wear you out. So obviously the two things like Bergeron and the lack of scoring it's looming

08:37 large. Now, that being said, those are also things that I think we kind of expected. I don't know if

08:41 we expected the breast to be on, you know, this kind of slump that he's been on, but we knew going

08:46 into the year, you didn't have Bergeron. You didn't have a lot of the same scoring depth down

08:50 your lineup where it's going to be a little bit tougher for you to really extend leads on a

08:54 regular basis. The biggest issue, I think in terms of what has been the most surprising thing, and

08:59 also something that should be corrected, not with, I don't think outside help, or it's not like you

09:03 desperately need it. It's just the execution from your defense and from your overall defensive

09:08 structure. I mean, we've seen it in games where they're stubborn with, in terms of just, you know,

09:12 not clearing the puck, trying to do too much, whether it's really struggling against Fortrack

09:18 and making bad decisions, whether it's not having forwards coming back and supporting the play to

09:23 get the puck out, you know, limiting how much time the other team is spending in your own end.

09:28 I think that's the biggest hurdle in terms of what's been really plaguing them. That

09:33 can be corrected. And it's almost the most frustrating part of it, because again,

09:36 you're handed what you're dealt in terms of your roster this year with this cap crunch and the guys

09:42 leaving and all that stuff. You got to make do with what you have. You still have a very, very

09:46 good D-core with guys up and down the lineup who should be able to get the job done on a pretty,

09:51 you know, regular basis, right? Again, shit happens. It's hockey. You got the errant, you

09:56 know, puck and rebound and what have you, but having the recurring trend where it's a lot of

10:00 the same self-inflicted miscues, you know, lack of urgency, lack of execution. That's, that's,

10:06 but also the opposite side of like, Hey, we have the pieces that essentially just get our shit

10:12 together as opposed to like, we need two more bodies back there to shore those things up.

10:16 It's all about the guys, I think on the ice, that is what's been the biggest issue so far.

10:20 And it goes back to what we talked about last week, the physicality, you're not seeing it.

10:24 You just are not seeing, especially in front of their own net. Like you've got to hit,

10:28 hit somebody. I mean, and, and, you know, you mentioned it there also, like just the lack of

10:32 being able to clear the puck. I mean, that's just mental stuff. I mean, you just put a little,

10:37 put a little zip on it, get it off the glass, do what you have to do. And they haven't had that.

10:42 And I think it's also frustrating because historically for the last 20 years,

10:47 Bruins have never had structural problems defensively. They've always been good.

10:52 This is, you know, this is, this hasn't happened a ton over the last bunch of years.

10:58 So again, having it come up now with the roster that's out there, like it's a good

11:02 group is not, is sort of surprising. But before we get to some other things that are plaguing

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12:05 So Jake Duprosk drew some criticism on Tuesday night. It's weird recording this on Wednesday.

12:15 This is odd for me. We didn't normally do this like Thursdays or Fridays or Mondays.

12:19 Recording this on a Wednesday. So obviously the big play was coming in at overtime,

12:26 just hero balling that thing right off the high glass. Wild go the other way for three on one

12:34 and score. That sort of is a microcosm of Jake Duprosk's season this year of just like shit

12:41 ain't working out. Now I will say like at little things and you know, I don't think Duprosk has

12:47 been as bad as the production levels have been. Like I still think Duprosk has been okay at being

12:54 serviceable and doing little things right. I've said this a bunch this year. Still though, dude,

12:59 you got to produce and you can't do that in overtime. Like that is such a mental mistake.

13:05 I mean, the Fabian Lysell clip that's been going around is sort of a similar type thing where it's

13:10 like, no, the situation go to the outs, you know, do something to set something up. It's especially

13:17 in three on three overtime, like Montgomery mentioned it after the game, you know, two guys

13:20 below the goal line on that play. Of course, they're going to go the other way and make it a

13:24 three on one. So yeah, Duprosk is continuing his rough stretch. Yeah. And it's kind of like,

13:31 I think the same thing we've talked about before. Yes. You can talk about how good he's playing

13:36 in his overall two way game. Montgomery says he's right up there, I think third in terms of

13:41 even strength, ice time among forwards. But let's face it, like, especially with this team, you need

13:46 him to produce. You need a guy beyond the Pasternauks and the Martians that can be a consistent

13:51 score, especially on the wing. And it has been the case this year. And again, you can look at

13:56 a bad shooting look, things like that. But at this point where, you know, almost 30 games into the

14:01 season, you look at this team and how desperate they are for just some scoring further down the

14:07 lineup that again, gives you a little bit more breathing room. Like you've got the personnel

14:11 in place on defense, we think and most importantly, the elite goaltending that a two goal lead can

14:18 make a world of a difference when you're in the third period or you're holding on to a one goal

14:22 lead where you really shouldn't be giving up all these late game, late game leads. And you need a

14:28 guy like Dubrovsk, who again, last year, if he didn't break his leg in the Werner Classic was

14:32 probably on pace for a 30 goal season, like he's shown he can do it in the past, you know, he's

14:37 gone through these stretches, but this year, especially where, you know, he's 27 years old,

14:41 how important he is with his team, you need to get that production role. Like it's kind of like

14:46 when the Red Sox got Trevor Story to replace Xander Bogarts, right. And like they mentioned,

14:52 you know, like, ah, his his range is so much better than Bogarts. And that, you know,

14:56 does the little things that really shores up the infield. That's great. That's, that's good. It does

15:01 help the team, of course, if he's hitting 220 doesn't, you know, like the value is not fucking

15:06 there, right? Like, that's what it has to be like, if he's getting paid to hit dingers over the

15:11 monster and provides offense in the middle of lineup, like you need to brush even though he

15:17 should, you know, all the credit to him for really rounding out his game and evolving as a capable

15:21 player in this lineup, got a score, man. Like it's the value is not going to be anywhere close.

15:28 It is, you know, 30% of what it should be. If he's on pace for 11, 12 goals, as is right now,

15:34 you need a 20, 25 goal season from the guy. Well, that's the thing is again, like, you know,

15:38 he's trying to get paid this off season and, you know, it's great. You're doing the little things.

15:43 Okay. But that's like a two or $3 million contract. That's the case. Like guys who do

15:48 the little things, right? Like that are, are valuable commodities, but they're not looked

15:52 at to be top six scorers who typically, you know, generate or make a lot of money on their next

15:58 contract. You, you know, a lot of bottom six guys do the little things, right. And are smart and

16:04 this and that, and that's terrific, you know, but again, he's there to score.

16:08 You're really hitting it with the Red Sox comparables today. I like it.

16:14 I know. I mean, I'm still waiting for Yamamoto to eventually sign with the Yankees or Mets.

16:18 And I hope that's wrong. I've had some really bad predictions lately, Evan. I was on our other

16:23 poke to bear episode last week with time. It's right before that Islanders game leading up.

16:28 We were like, well, you know, we're, we're going to miss the Islanders game, but it's

16:31 Bruins Islanders. So it's going to be boring as fuck. And then the being like the best game of

16:34 the season was wild. So again, maybe like we'll record this. We'll say that, you know, Steve

16:40 Cohen's going to throw 350 million at Yamamoto. Maybe the Red Sox sign up. Maybe, maybe that'll

16:44 work out that we can all see that happening. Right? Exactly. You're putting it into the

16:49 universe. You're manifesting it, so to speak that that's going to happen.

16:53 But again, I just DeBrusque's thing it's, it's puzzling. It's, you know, obviously he's not

17:00 playing with Bergeron anymore. So I think there are legitimate questions and I can tell you this

17:04 when he sits down with whether it be Sweeney or, you know, other NHL GMs this off season to

17:11 hash out his next contract, when it comes to free agency, if he's not already, you know, if he's not

17:15 signed by then, they're all going to say, can you play, you know, with a, you know, lower tier center

17:22 and still produce. Cause the proof is he has not been able to yet. And I think that's concerning.

17:28 That is concerning. And, and again, we, there's been nothing really on his contract. That's been

17:33 new. His value to me has only lowered this year. And my guess is he's still going to want similar

17:39 money to what he got last year. I wonder if he takes a shorter term deal to sort of prove himself,

17:45 whether it's here or somewhere else. I know you and I will touch on this more as we get towards

17:50 the deadline. But do you like, you and I have been pretty steady at like rather not deal DeBrusque

17:58 right now, especially, you know, the trade value is lower than it would have been. And,

18:02 you know, you do need top six wingers. He is a guy who historically has been,

18:07 has that changed for you at all? No, I mean, I don't think it's really changed in terms of,

18:13 I still think in terms of where his value can be, like, I don't see moving a guy that at the

18:19 very least can be cable again, like he needs like probably sounds contradicting myself,

18:24 but I'm saying that, but like, he's still a guy that you can pence on the lineup.

18:27 You know what to expect defensively that I'm not taking him out just to throw in a guy like

18:31 Murky love, who maybe has a higher upside offensively, but I don't want to go through the

18:35 ups and downs of a rookie who needs to work on his defensive game when like the brush,

18:39 it's like, you're not going to yank him out of the lineup, right? Like he's not to that level

18:43 where he's, you know, you know, hitting the snooze button in the D zone where Montgomery's like,

18:49 what the fuck we have to take you like, you know, it's not anything like that. You just need the

18:52 scoring to be there. And I think, listen, if he's part of a deal to get an impact player up front

18:58 run defense or something like that. Yeah. I think maybe you'd be that as an option, but also like

19:02 what teams are necessarily going to want a player like that. That's like a rebuilding team, right?

19:07 Like, let's look at like Calgary, who's, you know, maybe moving guy like Hannah Finner or

19:13 Lyce Lindholm. And people mentioned to breast because being part of that packet, it's like,

19:17 does Calgary really want a guy who's 27, who's going to be a pending free agent who like,

19:21 considering that everyone who goes to Calgary is like, yeah, our locker rooms are dog shit.

19:25 Like, it sucks. I don't think the press would like want to stay there. I would imagine, right?

19:30 Like I know it's slightly closer to home in Edmonton, but still, when you have the free

19:35 reign to pick where you want to go, like, I don't know how valuable an asset is for a team

19:39 that fits with the Bruins are trying to get back, you know, like a team like Calgary. So

19:44 listen, if it's for the proper return, then I think you have to do your due diligence. But still,

19:49 I think in terms of what his baseline floor is as a player, plus the hope, at least we say hope at

19:56 this point that he can rebound and at least finish the year with 1520 goals. I still think is value

20:03 there that I wouldn't move him just for the sake of moving him or, you know, dumping that deal just

20:08 to get a fringe piece back. I agree. And I also worry and I don't know if I've said this to you.

20:14 I know I've said this on whether it be Bruins, me to poke the bear, but like, you know, a lot of

20:19 people have said, Oh, needs to be like a Zaka deal. You know, you need to trade to brusque and

20:24 it's going to be for player player swap. And Sweeney's got to have a heist and he's got to,

20:28 you know, he's got to get that the next guy with a high ceiling who hasn't been producing

20:32 to me, that's the brusque. Like I think a de brusque, I think de brusque would be the Zaka

20:38 in that trade. You would trade de brusque for a proven commodity with a lower ceiling.

20:44 And that scares me because de brusque, whatever you think of Jake de brusque, there's a lot of

20:48 things you can think about. He's obviously missed expectations this year mightily. He still has a

20:54 somewhat high ceiling and I'd rather not give that up for like another definite middle six forward.

21:01 Like I I'd rather not give that up for like a Morgan geeky prototype, you know, like that's not

21:07 what I want. I also just, I like, I think when he, and you mentioned it there, like being a package,

21:16 being a part of a trade, being the main guy going to a younger team or rebuilding team

21:23 a couple of years ago, de brusque would have made sense, right? Young up and coming potential 30

21:28 goal prospect. Like that's a guy that teams might want to build the trade thing around.

21:31 I don't know if that's the case anymore. You know, he's 27. He's pretty much build himself

21:37 as an inconsistent producer, a guy who can do 30 goals, but also can be very inconsistent.

21:42 I don't know if Calgary is going to say, Oh, that's going to be the centerpiece of a Lindholm

21:48 trade or a Hanifin trade. So that's another thing that worries me about a Jake de brusque.

21:54 But what I will say, Connor, is that as much as you might worry about something like that,

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23:15 So it hits at a big question. This trade deadline for the Bruins when it comes up,

23:24 I think is going to be one of the more fascinating in recent years,

23:27 because in recent years, it's been go all in. Even last year when we were saying during the season,

23:32 be smart about your assets, you knew it was probably Bergeron's last year. So it was, hey,

23:38 you do what you have to do to win here, especially as it got closer. This year's weird because

23:44 at the top, they are good. I know they have their problems, but they are overall pretty damn good.

23:53 They look to be potential cup contenders. I don't know if I view them yet there quite yet,

23:59 but they still record-wise are. But you also have younger guys on the roster, first year

24:06 post Bergeron and Crecce. There's needs on this team. So we'll do a little, would you rather?

24:14 It's always fun. It's like a fun, would you rather, like summer camp type game. But this

24:20 question will be a little more tame than the ones that you would do it like frigging summer camp or

24:25 with your buddies. Would you rather the Bruins acquire a middle six forward or a defenseman?

24:33 What is your answer? I would probably still lean towards a middle six forward. That's like just,

24:39 I think there's only so much on this roster that you can draw from in terms of tangible offense.

24:46 And I think that can go a long way towards just extending these leads and making things easier for

24:50 what should already be a pretty good defense. Like again, I maybe just the opposite of me,

24:56 but I think when you look at the personnel you have out there, when healthy, you have a six

25:00 man unit that should be able to snuff out a lot of these late rallies from opponents and stuff like

25:05 that. Like we've seen it over the years. Like this is the Bruins team that's foundation is built on

25:10 defense. Like I really don't think you need to like go out there and necessarily, you're not

25:16 in desperate need for like a Lindholm like it was a few years ago. You need to like another top four

25:20 guy other to solidify things. Like I think your defense can and should rebound from what you've

25:28 seen so far this year, which has been a lot of not, you know, protecting the net front,

25:32 those kinds of things. In terms of offense, like unless all of a sudden a guy like

25:36 Mark, you all gets called up and goes off or what have you, like you kind of,

25:39 you got to make do with what you have. And so whether it's just another guy, like I'm not

25:44 saying like a, a, a Leas Lindholm or someone like that, because I just don't think you would be

25:48 assets to pull that off. But like, like a Marcus Johansson, right? Like a few years ago, like

25:52 someone like that, that all of a sudden can give you another 10, 15 goals on a third line, or just

25:57 in the middle of six somewhere can go a long way when the margin forever you've had has been so

26:02 slim and you've got the ingredients of a elite goaltending unit and what should be a very strong

26:08 defense to kind of keep you afloat in games. I think just having that one more extra score

26:12 down the lineup can make a world of a difference. I will trade anybody to go get Brock Faber. I'll

26:17 tell you that. I will say about funny thing about Brock Faber. I'll put this on the record here.

26:22 I loved him at Minnesota. So I discovered him first. I knew he was going to be great. Yes.

26:28 Pat on the back for me. I knew it. I had all along. I agree with you. You need scoring

26:36 defensively. We, as we discussed the beginning of the show, it's structurally right. You've,

26:41 you know, there's just some breakdowns, but Lindholm, Carlo McAvoy throw Griswold in there

26:48 forbert when he's healthy. Shattenkirk can offensively provide, you know, every now and

26:53 then provides a little, little punch. Um, so to me, it's more upfront because middle six Johansson,

27:00 I get where you're coming from. And I see that. I don't, I agree with you. I don't know if they

27:05 have the assets to pull it off, but I would rather a long-term like a Lindholm where you can lock up

27:12 long-term and you know, he's going to be a potential top line center. Like I would rather

27:16 that than spending, you know, a higher round pick or a top prospect on, you know, like a Johansson

27:23 or someone like that. But I get what you mean. Like you need someone that can be relied on for

27:28 that kind of scoring. Uh, Morgan geeky historically in his career has not been one of those players.

27:33 He's, you know, played up to it this year. You know, can you go into the playoffs with

27:36 Danton Heinen as a middle six guy? You know, like that's what, that's where I think you're right.

27:42 In that maybe you do go after a middle tier guy, like a Johansson, um, for, for that spot,

27:49 cause you can rely on him a little bit more. So to me scoring, cause in house, like your forwards

27:55 have played pretty well aside from like DeBrusque. Um, but like, you know, Heinen geeky what's their

28:00 ceiling. So that's, I, I agree with you. I think that that's more of the, um, more of the thing,

28:06 you know, who might have the most skill offensively. Yaka Blanco, Yaka Blanco might have

28:11 it. Uh, how about that? He was like, uh, I saw, I read your story this morning and all I could

28:16 think of was he's like, you know, an EASHL in NHL when you create your own guy and he's like a six

28:21 foot eight enforcer who just hits everybody, fights everybody and just like dangles everyone.

28:26 That was Yaka Blanco in the first period, um, on, uh, on Tuesday night and it was,

28:31 and it was good to see. I think it's a very encouraging thing that Locos find in his game

28:35 and the face shield is off and he's ready to go. Yeah. I think he mentioned it after a Tuesday's

28:42 game that he finally felt like he could play his game again. Cause again, he's avoided complete

28:47 disaster with that, with that awful, uh, scape late injury against Chicago. And in October,

28:52 he's played I think 14 games since then. So he's been back on the ice, but it was only this week

28:57 where he got, he was cleared to actually fight again. Like he's, he's made gradual. What is

29:01 that conversation? Like with the doctor, like, yeah, I could go, you can go fight now. And he's

29:06 like, yes, you know, like, yeah, he starts rattling off tweets. I have to imagine that

29:11 you heard the team doctor clear to me, watch the, the ride of the road here from return of the King.

29:15 He's got hyped up. And it's a Lord of the Rings reference. If you don't, if you don't watch all

29:19 of the rings, uh, I know local appreciated, but no, I think when you do the, when, when you're

29:25 a guy like Loco, who I think his whole game is based on energy and, you know, feeding into that

29:30 and, you know, thriving off of it when you're finally given the green light to play the way

29:35 you want to play of, you know, like, all right, like give up a goal. She's like, it's like, I'm

29:40 going to drop the gloves. Do something to get my team going. You know, he gets riled up. He scored

29:44 a goal while he's in the box and does a fucking lacrosse goal attempt right after that. Like,

29:48 that's the guy who, who builds that in his game. And I think you saw like when he made these, um,

29:52 strides the last couple of years, it's usually like he gets in a game, always seem to make

29:57 things happen. And then he gets a goal and all of a sudden he's on the computer for four or five

30:00 games or he's hitting everything that moves, uh, and doing whatever he can to make an impact out

30:05 there. And I think you've seen that, like people forget that beyond the fact that he had stitches,

30:10 he had a fracture like near his eye socket as well. So it was going to take a while for him

30:15 to get back up to speed and get fully cleared. Um, when you have a traumatic injury like that,

30:20 too, there's also that part of the game that you have to kind of shake out, which is tough for any

30:24 person to do, let alone a pro athlete. Um, but yeah, I think that game on, on Tuesday against

30:29 the wild was the first time in a while where it seemed like he was, you know, like was fully

30:33 comfortable playing his own, his game that he's kind of relied on him with the last couple of

30:38 years. And what I think he probably hopes to bring to the scene, which is energy. Like, I don't know

30:42 if he's going to be scoring lacrosse goals on the regular, but, um, when he's out there, uh, he's a

30:47 guy you can call on when you need to, you know, ship the tone of the game too. Like you need a guy

30:52 that can set the tone, make an impact when there's a lull in the game or what have you. And he showed

30:58 that he's more than happy to do that. Like he did on Tuesday. Yeah, I agree. I think what do you

31:03 have four hits? Like that's a guy who can jump in and do those kinds of things and kind of impose

31:09 himself physically. I like the idea that when the wild scored their first goal, like I was like,

31:13 yes. All right. It's my time. You know, this is perfect. Um, so it worked out for him. Uh, good

31:19 to see. And, uh, yeah, that's poke the bear this week. Uh, Connor, before you go, what can the

31:25 people look forward to over@boston.com and the Boston globe? And if they don't have a subscription

31:29 already, why should people have a Boston globe subscription for Christmas? Yes. Uh, great,

31:34 great calling a great tie in Evan. Uh, no, we're going to have you covered every step of the way

31:39 this season, whether it's recaps, features, columns, uh, breakdowns, all that good stuff

31:44 for me and all the other, uh, you know, ridiculously talented people at, at the globe

31:50 and boston.com who cover everything from a Bruins Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, Rebs, PWHL, all that

31:57 stuff. We have covered every step of the way with everything that's going on in Boston sports. So,

32:02 please snag a subscription, um, for the holiday season for your special loved one. Maybe give

32:08 them a nice digital subscription would be great. Um, but yeah, you can find all of my stuff over

32:13 there and also on Twitter at Connor Ryan on the score 93. You know what? Uh, now that I think about

32:20 it, I should have given my girlfriend a Boston globe subscription for Christmas. I should have

32:24 done it. And I, I fumbled the bag. I fumbled the bag and I should have done it, but, uh, next year,

32:31 maybe next year. Uh, anyways, that's Connor Ryan. I'm Evan Marinovsky. I think this is the last time

32:37 where, Oh no, I'm doing Bruins beat tomorrow, but for poke the bear, I'll say, uh, Merry Christmas

32:43 and Happy Holidays. So yeah, that's Connor Ryan. I'm Evan Marinovsky. You poke the bear listeners

32:49 have a great rest of your week.

Why Are The Bruins Blowing So Many Third-Period Leads? w/ Evan Marinofsky | Poke the Bear

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