NHL Notebook: Masters of the Centerverse

It’s not often that fans get to watch two of the best two-way centermen in the NHL go head-to-head. So, it was a treat to watch when the Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron and the Kings’ Anze Kopitar faced off on Saturday, and fans should enjoy it because there aren’t many like them.

It’s also too bad that Pavel Datsyuk is no longer in the league and playing in the KHL because he was definitely a generational player. Bergeron and Kopitar have done a solid job of carrying the torch and it was on display Saturday night during an improbable 2-1 overtime win by the Kings at TD Garden.



Since it’s Sunday, many of our readers are focused on the Patriots, and for good reason, but I hope you’ve read, heard or watched the final 0.9 seconds of the Bruins game. If you’re reading these pages then you know the ending, which was incredible. Ironically, I was going to write about the prowess between Bergeron and Kopitar, so the way the game ended makes this timely.

Mastering a faceoff is an art. Sidney Crosby, who is the best player in the world, will credit Bergeron as being the premier center in the NHL. Crosby, like many others around the league, may even suggest that Bergeron “cheats” a bit on draws.

“He’s very strong and he goes very low. It’s very hard to beat him clean,” Kopitar said. “Yeah, he cheats a little bit, but so do I. We all know that’s going to happen and we all know from linesman to linesman it’s different and whether they’re going to throw guys out or not.”

After the first period, Bergeron held a 4-1 advantage on Kopitar. When the game was over, the Kings center closed the gap, but Bergeron finished with a 10-6 win in the circle in the head-to-head matchup.

“He’s really strong,” Bergeron said. “He tries to take your stick away and you try to counter that play by being quick and finding ways to get away from him tying you up. He’s a good player, he’s going to change his (approach) and he did that later (during Saturday’s game) and you have to readjust.”

Every season, Bergeron wins thousands of faceoffs, but has never reached similar numbers on the losing side. Case in point: In 2016-17, he won 1,086 and only lost 722. Opponents know it’s difficult to beat him.

“Try to win as many as I can,” Kopitar said with a laugh. “I don’t think I did a very good job (Saturday) night. The whole league knows that he’s one of the top guys, year in and year out, on faceoffs and (Saturday) night was no different. He’s always very close to 60 percent each season and that’s obviously huge. He’s just very solid.”

Unfortunately for the Bruins, Bergeron was watching from the bench when Kopitar won the faceoff that led to the Kings’ game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in OT.

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Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, a former standout at UMass and a Milford, Conn., native, played his 500^th career NHL game on Thursday and recorded a 40-save performance en route to a 4-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. It was also his 46^th career shutout. Quick became the first goalie in franchise history, and the seventh American-born netminder in NHL history to appear in 500 games.

Prior to the Kings game against the Bruins on Saturday at TD Garden, Los Angeles coach John Stevens was asked why Quick doesn’t get the proper recognition around the league.

“He gets it from us,” Stevens said. “We know him and we appreciate him. He’s a great goalie. He’s a great teammate. He’s one of the best goalie teammates I’ve ever seen.”

After playing three years of prep hockey at Avon Old Farms, Quick starred at UMass for two seasons before turning pro. The 31-year-old goalie has two Stanley Cup titles and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

In front of the hometown fans on Saturday, Quick was outstanding and finished with 29 saves en route to victory over the Bruins. He registered a handful of highlight-reel saves in the process.

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I will usually try to keep items related to the Bruins in Sunday Notes, but this week it would be a shame if we didn’t mention Shane Doan. After 21 seasons in the NHL, Doan announced his retirement in August, and on Thursday, the NHL announced Doan has joined its hockey operations department. He will work directly with Colin Campbell, the senior executive vice president of hockey operations, in every aspect of the game. Doan will also be involved with the competition committee.

“We are thrilled to welcome Shane, whose vast experience and in-depth knowledge of the game will be invaluable to the League office,” Campbell said in a release. “We look forward to calling upon his two decades of playing experience – particularly his incomparable understanding of the game as it is being played today.”

Doan played his entire career with the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes and served as captains for the last 13 seasons. His 1,540 regular-season games played are tied with John Bucyk for 14^th on the league’s all-time list. He finished with 402 goals and 570 assists for 972 points.

I’ve covered many athletes during my career, but Doan is a true pro and his continued involvement is crucial for the game.

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Pittsburgh Penguins Phil Kessel, a former Bruins first-round selection (No. 5 overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, scored his 300^th goal of his NHL career this week. Along with his 360 assists, the veteran forward has 660 points in 843 games. Since his arrival in Pittsburgh, Kessel has helped the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.

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It’s time to focus once again on goalies. We can’t leave them out to dry too long before they start to complain, so here’s this edition of Drill of the Week. If you have a half sheet for practice, this can be done in the neutral zone and it allows a goalie to get plenty of reps. The video is self-explanatory but you can always add a third shooter and make sure you switch sides. The coach (you can also use a player) can feed pucks from behind the net, so the goalie has to track it better and from different angles.

 



Untitled from Boston Sports Journal on Vimeo.