WILMINGTONHeres a good question: Why dont more defensemen just rear back and fire away at the net from center ice like Dennis Seidenberg did for the game-winner in Tuesday nights game?
Its the second time in two years that Seidenberg has collected a goal from 90 feet simply by attacking the net aggressively with a dump-in attempt. The first happened against the Tampa Bay Lightning when then-Bolts goaltender Mike Smith fell for Seidenberg's fake of a dump-in attempt into the corner.Smith obediently took the first couple of steps toward the corner, and Seidenberg instead fired the puck into the open net for a surprise goal.
This time, Seidenberg was crossing through the faceoff circle at center ice and launched a shot on Craig Anderson that somehow trickled through Anderson's pads on the way to the back of the net.
For some reason I just happened to score from the red line like I did last year, said Seidenberg, who has enjoyed back-to-back multiple-point games. Ill take those goals for sure. You dont expect to score from there. You try to get it on his pads and maybe a rebound spits out and you go from there.
The goalies are pretty good and they know how to play those bounces, but sometimes it sneaks by them. It took a weird bounce, took off, went down and then it was rising again. They can be tough to read and sometimes they just sneak by somehow.
The fact that such a fluke goal ended up being the game-winner forced some of the Bruins defensemen to wonder why they dont simply throw it at the net more often. Seidenbergs goal was aided by a giant skip the puck took off the ice after he fired it toward the net.
"Yeah, the idea, if youre playing a goalie that cheats or thats cheating on the rims, is to act like youre dumping in the corner and then put it on him, said Joe Corvo with a smile on his face. I dont think he was going for a rim there, it just took a skip there at the end. Its always a possibility. I think thats why D-men probably take so many shots from just inside the red line. Its always a possibility.
Perhaps the steamed red line slap shot could become a secret weapon in the Bs defensemen arsenal with Seidenberg as its chief practitioner.