Bruins Notebook: B’s benefit from goalie coach Bob Essensa’s scouting reports

The odds weren’t exactly in Ilya Samsonov’s favor once Craig Smith’s backhand feed hit Taylor Hall in the low slot on Wednesday night.

The B’s left wing had plenty of tricks up his sleeve when it came to cashing in on the Grade-A chance in front of him. 

The simplest move, of course, was the one-time snipe into twine. But Hall had other plans, spinning with the puck on his stick and drawing Samsonov to the right post. With the Caps goalie hunkered over in an attempt to prevent a low shot, Hall roofed the biscuit past Samsonov’s blocker and over his shoulder for a highlight-reel tally. 

It was the type of play that only a choice few in the league can pull off with some modicum of success. But Hall’s impressive goal was not just a singular play generated off of some superb individual skill.

Postgame, Hall was quick to give credit to Bruins goaltender coach Bob Essensa for alerting him to Samsonov’s tendencies between the pipes, opening the door for his goal later that night. 

“Our goalie coach Bob Essensa skated by me at morning skate today and made a comment on a shot I had last game that I probably could have pulled it around him, instead of just shooting five-hole quick,” Hall said. “So that was kind of on my mind as the day went on. I know there's times in games that you just want to get it on net quickly. You want to surprise the goalie, but there's also times that if you can make a play around them, then that's what you can do as well.”

While Essensa’s primary duties on Bruce Cassidy’s staff focus on working with Tuukka Rask, Jeremy Swayman, Jaroslav Halak and the Boston’s netminding corps —  he also regularly assists the B’s skaters by creating in-depth charts and scouting reports on opposing goalies, giving them a leg up during chances in tight, breakaways and other Grade-A chances. 

Of course, sometimes it can be hard to recall said reports during the split-second frenzy of game action — but Hall’s snipe is a testament to the value that Cassidy’s staff provides across the roster. 

"What we do for every pre-scout during the season is we have a goalie sheet that's up in the room. Bob does it. It has strengths, weaknesses, deking tendencies, where goals go in for the most part and rebound control," Cassidy said. "So there's about four or five areas and some players take it to heart. Other guys just want to shoot, right? Play their game. In the playoffs. He's gone through a video with each goaltender, has gone through three now — Vanecek, Anderson and Samsonov — where it's a little more of a breakdown. 

“And it's up to them to decide how much they need. Obviously, Taylor saw something or got something from Bob and it helped him a lot. So it's good when you put all the resources you can to work and players use them as a coaching staff, it always makes you feel better.”

Tinordi/Vaakanainen ready to draw in for Miller

As expected, Kevan Miller will not suit up for Boston in Game 5, with the veteran blueliner out of the hospital but still recovering after taking a dangerous hit from Dmitry Orlov on Friday and slamming hard onto the TD Garden ice.

"Kevan is back home,” Cassidy said. “Spent the night at the hospital. Went through a number of tests feeling a little bit better and that's what we got.”

With Miller already ruled out and Jeremy Lauzon still on the mend after getting injured in Game 1, Boston’s depth on the blue line is set to get tested — with either Jarred Tinordi or Urho Vaakanainen set to draw into the lineup and skate next to Connor Clifton on the third pairing. 

When factoring in both experience and matchups (against a heavy Capitals team) it sure seems like Tinordi will have the edge over Vaakanainen — with the veteran logging 66 minutes of 5v5 ice time with Clifton back during the regular season. 

“Obviously, Cliffy will go to the right side,” Cassidy said. “He has played with Tinordi, I believe earlier this year, when we were down a lot of guys. Vaak has been kind of in and out with different guys, right and left. So a little different for him. But that's how we would start it and see how it goes. I mean, we've said this all along, we're not going to wheel a guy in there that hasn't played much and stick them out there for 25 minutes. But you can't hide guys, either. 

“You can try to support them as best as possible, protect them in certain situations. But when you go on the road and you don't have last line change, there's certain matchups you're just going to have to live with and expect the player to get it done. And whether it's Jarred or Vaak, they've both played a certain amount of games. So they're both good players. And I'm sure Cliffy will help them.”