The Bruins Failed As A Team In Front Of Malcolm Subban [VIDEOS]
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Malcolm Subban made his second career NHL start on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, and it was not pretty. The 22-year-old allowed three goals in the second period, including two in a span of 12 seconds, and got pulled in favor of Zane McIntyre after allowing his third goal.
It's clear that Subban is still not ready to compete at the NHL level, and you may feel that he will never be ready. But the kid is still just 22 years old and it's rare that a netminder becomes a legitimate, consistent, reliable NHL goalie by that age. It's not his fault Peter Chiarelli reached for him in the 2012 NHL Draft. He needs to be afforded more time.
Who should not be afforded more time to get better is the rest of the Bruins team.
Subban initially appeared to be holding his own in net for the Bruins, as he stopped the first 10 shots fired his way. But he unraveled after allowing a goal to Charlie Coyle and letting up three goals on the final six shots he faced.
Still, Coyle's goal should be attributed more to the Bruins' heinous net-front defense. Danton Heinen just kind of floated away from Coyle as the puck careened off both Torey Krug and David Krejci, then Coyle beat at least three Bruins to the loose puck and fired it past Subban.
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The second goal was just a horrid turnover by the Bruins defense from behind the net - and maybe a bit of a lucky bounce for the Wild. But again, the Bruins just failed to cover the front of the net as there was somehow no one within 10 feet of Chris Stewart.
The third goal, however, was something that even an AHL goalie should stop. Just five seconds into a power play, the Wild made a standard D-to-D pass to Ryan Suter, who fired a one-timer past Subban to put the Wild up 3-0 and chase the goalie from the game. Subban had a wide-open look at Suter's shot and simply got beat on his glove side.
Still, you aren't going to win much scoring zero goals. Krejci knew how poorly the Bruins played in front of their goalies on Tuesday night. He rightly ripped the team for doing Subban and McIntyre no favors with their collective effort.
"Our second period's been really bad," said Krejci on the Bruins' second-period performance throughout the season. "The first period was OK. The second period, we come out and we don't respect the system, and that's what happens.
"That first period, [Subban] played really well. He made some big stops. In the second period, we kind of left him in there by himself a couple times. ... He played a good game, it's just up to us to take care of [the front of the net]. And like I said, we didn't respect the system, and they got a couple of quick goals and we just couldn't regroup after that."
Whether the 22-year-old Subban will ever pan out in the NHL is an entirely different story and one that will need more time to develop. But as of right now, the Bruins won't win many games without having a good goaltender to bail out their sloppiness on defense, and the offense can't just no-show like they did on Tuesday.
Hopefully, the Bruins can put a better effort on the ice when they get Tuukka Rask and David Backes back. But it's clear that they will be in trouble if they continue to put up collective clunkers like they did against Minnesota.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
