As the Bruins head into the All-Star break, with just over half of their season in the books, Taylor Hall and the Bruins still have much to improve on before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
After the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night, a game in which Hall had a goal and an assist, he pinpointed some key deficiencies in the Bruins’ game, as well as his own, that he expects to be worked out in the course of the final 39 games of the season.
“I think everyone could see that we didn't play our best tonight,” Hall said about the Bruins’ last performance before the All-Star break. “There were a lot of mistakes tonight that were self-inflicted…It wasn't pretty and it wasn't our best night but we'll take the two points and go on vacation here.”
As Hall expressed, some of the team's flaws were on display in their win over the Kraken, when a third-period letdown cost them a two-goal lead and almost cost them the game. The All-Star break may have come at the perfect time for Boston as a lackluster road trip to Colorado, Arizona and Dallas, on top of Tuesday’s game against Seattle, exposed the inconsistency issues the team needs to solve.
“The inconsistency tonight is a good example,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Tuesday. “We take our foot off the gas and play loose again. It's about recognizing where you are in the game.”
“That’s an area we have to fix with certain guys, time and score and when to manage it, when to keep the momentum and play winning hockey,” Cassidy stated.
As for Hall’s own game, his offensive production has increased since the turn of the year, when he got paired with David Pastrnak on a full-time basis, but he believes he still has more to give.
“I believe I have another level,” Hall said.
“Last game I'm on for two goals against. Tonight I'm on for two goals against,” he pointed out. “So those are the things that I want to get rid of in my game and really be a reliable two-way guy for the rest of the year, earn more playing time that way, and continue to be a guy offensively that can produce in the role that I'm in.”
“That's why I signed here. I believe I have another level to get to as a two-way player and hopefully after the break I can continue that,” Hall added.
He described some specifics he can improve on going forward, saying, “Defensively, not being on for goals against. Offensively, getting the puck to the middle of the ice and attacking the net more than I have. I still think that's an area that I can get better at is taking pucks to the net instead of being so pass-first.”
“After the break that's probably my focus, how can I be more of an attacker myself and improve my game in that way,” he said.
Both Hall and Pastrnak have acknowledged an improvement in their chemistry while they were matched together over the last month, but both also agreed there is an even higher level the two can get to.
When reflecting on the past month of play with Hall, Pastrnak said, “He’s a great player and we all know that. We’re finding some chemistry better and better, starting to know each other way better after a little while. And he's unbelievable at finding me, but he’s finding me so much that even I tell him, ‘Sometimes you should shoot it.’”
With the first half of the season in the rear-view mirror and a six-day period of rest around the All-Star Game, Cassidy summed up the group’s approach to refreshing for the second half of the season.
“I think it’s [coming at] a good time,” Cassidy said. “We’ve had an intense schedule once we restarted. We’ll have an intense one after we start after this break too.”
“I'm sure some guys will appreciate the timing of it and use it to their advantage,” Cassidy said.
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