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The Outlook For Pens & B’s Without Gonchar & Savard
by Paul on 10/21/09 at 01:46 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
And just like that, the picture changed for a pair of Eastern Conference contenders Wednesday with the news the Pittsburgh Penguins had lost their top minute man and the Boston Bruins their top offensive weapon.
But just how badly will the injuries to Pens defenseman Sergei Gonchar (broken wrist) and Bruins center Marc Savard (broken foot), both out four to six weeks, affect each club?
Let’s start with the Penguins. After all, they are the Stanley Cup champions.
Yes, we all know how badly they missed Gonchar last season when the All-Star blueliner missed the first 56 games of the season. They were basically a .500 team and on the playoff bubble. He later returned and the Penguins went on a tear all the way to the Promised Land.
I’m not discounting what the 35-year-old defenseman brings to this team. He’s their best defenseman, their top puck-mover, the key to their transition game, their best defensive shut-down guy, and, of course, their power-play quarterback. But I believe Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski are better equipped to handle some of that load than they were when Gonchar went down in September 2008.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Marc+Savard, Sergei+Gonchar,
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To sum it up…Savard is a problem with Boston. Gonchar not so much.
It’s not good to discount the effort of a player like Gonchar who does just about everything, but the penguins’ defense is now good enough to accommodate the loss without much issue. They’re at a 4 goal a game clip at least, they can probably win with less and their power play has been futile thus far (that’s gonchar’s schtick).
Savard…is the heart and soul of the Bruins and the most likeable guy on the team. They’ve lost so much…in such a little time. This doesn’t bode well for them as he is THE setup guy (top 10 in the league). The East is too good for them to compete without him and the defense playing like it has been. Unless Rask replaces thomas and becomes craig andersen in disguise it’s going to be a miserable month or two.
Posted by stoneman from vegas on 10/21/09 at 02:59 PM ET