BOSTON — As Patrice Bergeron continued to undress the Detroit Red Wings on the power play Thursday, it was fair to wonder if they had any idea what they were doing on the penalty kill.
Bergeron is a dynamic player, to be sure. However, the Red Wings were giving him so much time and space in the slot on the power play — a place where he’s known to torture teams — that it was reaching the level of being silly.
To make the kick in the pants worse, Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill admitted that covering Bergeron in the slot was not a concept that had been neglected in their game prep.
“(Covering) Bergeron in the slot is a job that we missed an assignment on twice,” Blashill said after the game. “We went over it lots before — I know (we) went over it pretty heavy about making sure what the assignments were — and we missed the assignment twice.”
The Red Wings are a young team, but that is hardly a usable excuse in this situation. When Bergeron scored his second and third goals, veterans like Marc Staal, Jordan Oesterle and Sam Gagner were among those on the ice.
We’ll go out on a limb and say when the Red Wings come back to Boston on Nov. 30, Bergeron won’t be able to set up camp in the slot.
