Brown pressing?

You might remember Dec. 9, when Dustin Brown scored the overtime game-winner in San Jose to break a 14-game streak without a goal. Would that be the game to get Brown going? Well, not really. Since then, Brown has three goals in 14 games, despite regularly getting four, five or six shots a night.

In the interview posted this morning, Dean Lombardi gave his thoughts about Brown, indicating that Brown’s problem involved pressing, and trying too hard, and when asked about what he saw in Brown’s game, Terry Murray certainly seemed to agree…

MURRAY: “Well, I think I’m seeing some frustration on his part, where he feels that he needs to take the game over by himself, instead of sticking with it. That’s part of the conversation that we had several days ago. You just stay on the same page, keep doing the same thing. It’s the repetition of the team structure, team system, and you let things happen from there, with intensity and tenacity.

“It seems to me, when I look back over the times where good players are not getting the results that they’re accustomed to, that the response is usually, `Well, I need to do more. I need to try to beat a guy 1-on-1 or do something extra-special out there.’ That’s your mindset going into the game, and that’s where it makes it very hard on yourself. There’s so much pressure coming back at you now, and it just builds and the frustration will continually grow until something good happens.

“You get a lucky break. You shoot the puck, or you’re in front of the net and it goes off your pants or off your leg and it’s in. Maybe that can calm players down, and confidence starts to become a factor for that player again. I think he’s just fighting it.”

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