On Saturday, in the Bruins' 3-2 shootout victory over Atlanta, the Thrashers snapped Zdeno Chara's six-game scoring streak, his longest of the season.
Atlanta did not, however, disrupt the captain's stretch of airtight defensive play.
During Boston's six-game winning streak, coach Claude Julien has tabbed Chara and partner Dennis Wideman to stare down the following snipers: Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Jason Spezza (Ottawa), Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay), Olli Jokinen (Florida), and Eric Staal (Carolina).
The result? The six big-time gunners combined to score zero even-strength goals against the Bruins, with only Kovalchuk (penalty shot), Lecavalier (one assist), and Staal (two assists) registering points in their matches against Boston.
"There's no doubt they've been the two key players when it comes to doing that job," Julien said of his top pair. "Obviously, as a team, we rely on all five guys to do a good job there - having a third man high, not giving up out-numbered situations, and doing a good job coming back. Those two guys have done a great job that way as far as defending against those kinds of players.
"[Chara's] a physical player. When you're a player on the other team and you see this guy coming at you time after time, you start second-guessing yourself about going in the corner. He gives us that presence, that look, and the two combined together have been a pretty good pair. They both rely on each other to bail each other out."
Wideman, goalies Tim Thomas and Alex Auld, and Boston's top two lines centered by Marc Savard and Glen Metropolit, who all have had a part in matching up against elite attackers, can claim a share of the success the Boston defense has enjoyed.
The anchor, however, has been Chara, the team's MVP and a leading candidate for the Norris Trophy, especially with Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom sidelined.
"He's a force every night," said Atlanta winger Mark Recchi, on the receiving end of a Chara thump Saturday. "Anybody as big as that and as committed to his team as he is means he's doing the right thing. He's one of the tough guys to play against. Obviously with his reach and size, he's always in the way, and if you have a guy like that, it makes a big difference."
Although he didn't score against the Thrashers, Chara has kicked his offensive game into high gear this season. He registered a career-high 43 points in each of the last two seasons. But Chara already has 45 this year, and is only one goal from tying his best mark of 16 (with Ottawa in 2003-04, then again in 2005-06).
Eight of his goals have come on the power play, where Chara, despite owning a slapper with speed that would draw attention on the Autobahn, has been even more dangerous down low. When the puck has rotated to the right side for Savard and Marco Sturm, Chara has sneaked backdoor for cross-ice passes and easy tap-ins.
"I think he's been good all year," said Julien. "Within the last month, people are seeing the point total creeping up as well and getting better. I think that's why people are seeing a better Z. But at the same time, I think he's been outstanding for us all year. He's a valuable commodity to have back there, especially when you play teams who have those superstar players who can take pucks from one end to the other."
For all the offense Chara has displayed this season, his primary job is limiting opposing goals. Despite a pledge to reduce his minutes, Julien has sent Chara out for 27:04 per game, just 53 seconds off his league-leading workload from last season (he trails only Tampa Bay's Dan Boyle and Florida's Jay Bouwmeester this year). But Chara hasn't shown signs of wearing down, with one factor Julien's box-plus-one system, where defensemen aren't asked to chase puck carriers in the Boston zone.
Against the Thrashers, Chara logged a game-high 30:30 of ice time, including a team-best 4:21 on the penalty kill. Chara laid out six hits, not including the after-the-whistle jolts he delivered to Bobby Holik - once in the second period, again late in regulation - when the Atlanta captain got a little too close to Thomas during goalmouth pileups.
"He's such a fierce competitor," said defenseman Shane Hnidy. "That's the key to it. A guy like him, with his size and ability, who shuts down the other teams' top guys, that gives us a lot more room on the ice. I know how frustrated he was from last year when they didn't make it and how hard he wants to make the playoffs, as does everybody. He takes being the captain of this team seriously."
