



Squash-and-slide will not require refreshing this season.



According to the Bruins’ internal analytics, they were the best team in the league last year at denying entries. Their defensemen deserve much of the credit because of how efficiently they adopted coach Bruce Cassidy’s squash-and-slide formation, where the blue liners are taught to rub out rushes and support their partners.



“We’re not touching that at all,” Cassidy said. “I did not see a lot of things that teams did to us that hurt us.”



Above: In this scenario, Tampa Bay’s J.T. Miller (10) is breaking out with Steven Stamkos (91) and Nikita Kucherov (86). Zdeno Chara (33) and Charlie McAvoy (73) are staying tight within the dots, while Brad Marchand (63), Patrice Bergeron (37), and David Pastrnak (88) are retreating toward the defensive zone.



When Claude Julien coached the Bruins, the defensemen were under orders to stay...