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| Seguin has the Bruins back on track with his Game 2 performance that netted 2 G and 2 A. |
However, the most surprising youth movement is occuring in Boston. Tyler Seguin, the 2nd pick in last year's draft, watched the first two rounds of the playoffs from seats high above the rink. More impressive is that Seguin took that slice of humble pie and used it as a learning opportunity. It allowed him to view the game that had been taken away from him, and regain that hunger for playing hockey at a high level. For a player that is only 19, that could have been career suicide, but his mental strength is nearly as important as his physical tools.
It was that same mental strength that helped him through a challenging first year in the Bruins sweater. Seguin appeared in 76 games, but only tallied 11 goals and 11 assists and a minus 4. The expectations were undoubtedly high, but with his skill set those expectations weren't unwarranted because of the numbers he put up in the Ontario Hockey League.
Now, through the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Tyler Seguin has been the brute force behind the Bruins bite, especially as we saw in Game 2 last night. In Game 1, Seguin was no slouch as he had a hand in both of the Bruins goals (1 goal, 1 assist) even though the Bruins lost 5-2. Eddie Olczyk made a comment in Game 1 that Seguin looked to have the freshest legs for any player on both teams. Now obviously that would be the case because Seguin hadn't played in the first two rounds, but I think Eddie was saying more so that it'd be ridiculous for this kid not to be in the lineup from here on out. Figure that he only totaled 7 minutes in Game 1. I know Claude Julien has a lot of talent in his lineup, but I also think Eddie was pointing to the decision to play him more in Game 2.
As we found out, Patrice Bergeron was once again out of the lineup for Game 2 because of the concussion he sustained at the end of the Flyers series which meant Sequin would dress. Again, Seguin looked like a waterbug that flys across the water as he took a pass, split two defensemen, and went in calmly and beat Roloson on his backhand. That was the spark the Bruins needed as they proceeded to pour in five goals in the second period. While that is impressive, consider that Seguin had his quick hands, and mighty slapshot, in on three of the next four goals. He finished the night with 2 Goals and 2 Assists. Those numbers sounds like they would come from someone who played 20-22 minutes in the game. Now that I told you Seguin only banked 13 minutes, what do you think the result will be in Game 3?
There is no doubt it will be tremedously hard for Seguin to keep up this pace, but Julien would have to be buzzed up on Sam Adams not to find a spot in the lineup for him, even when Bergeron, who was the Bruins leading points getter thus far in the playoffs, returns. For now, let the freshness of the youth movement cleanse your palate, and allow your eyes to feast on more great hockey.
-Pat
