How the Bruins Will Handle Their Power Play Problems
Since the All-Star break, the Boston Bruins have gone 1-2-1 and have a 5.9% success rate (1-for-17) on the power play. This is their future strategy for using the personnel advantage.
BRIGHTON, Massachusetts – Despite going 0-for-13 on the power play in their previous three games, the Boston Bruins aren’t giving up just yet.
Since the All-Star break, the Bruins have gone 1-2-1 and have only scored one power-play goal in 17 opportunities. What was once among the top three units this season has dropped to eighth place as of Wednesday, with a 25.0 percent clip.
Before practice, assistant coach Chris Kelly broke down a film with the squad, according to Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.
“[Kelly] showed clips of us rolling and, more recently, the difference in sticking together during breakouts, completing our entry routes, and moving the puck faster to high-grade scoring areas,” Montgomery remarked.
In Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins were 0-for-6 on the power play, including three chances in the third period while the score was knotted.
The top power play group has mostly consisted of Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and James van Riemsdyk, with the exception of rotating Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle according on the circumstances. Montgomery stated he feels comfortable keeping it that way.
Although the Bruins’ recent lack of output is concerning, they have adhered to their plan and are moving in the right direction. The Bruins created eight shots on goal in six power play opportunities against Tampa Bay, following two shots on goal in 5:10 of ultimately meaningless power play time in Boston’s 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on February 8 and matching the Washington Capitals’ penalty kill in shots 2-2 during their third-period power play opportunities in Saturday’s 3-0 loss.
With only three seconds remaining in overtime, they executed one of those power plays. In the third period, they outshot the Lightning 5-1 and out-chanced them 7-1. Not to add, a 6-on-5 delayed penalty set up van Riemsdyk’s tying goal late in the second period.
Van Riemsdyk stated, “We’ve demonstrated that we have a solid plan that works both structurally and conceptually.” “In the end, I believe you just want to make sure you’re having a good process, getting a lot of chances, and usually kind of the law of averages and numbers will go back your way.” “Sometimes puck luck goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”
With Thursday’s matchup against the Seattle Kraken and their 21st-ranked penalty kill (78.5 percent) on the schedule, the Bruins are four games into their seven-game homestand. While there may not be many opportunities to turn the tide with the man advantage, Coyle thinks the team’s patience and concentration on simplifying the game will be essential to ending the drought. Seattle has also committed the eighth-fewest penalties thus far this season.
“You start to get away from some things and you start to second-guess yourself when you’re not scoring as much as you would like on there,” Coyle said. However, I believe you should stick to a more straightforward look and avoid being too cutesy with it.
“We want to make it difficult for teams to visit TD Garden and play there.” Being at home for a while, especially when you’re kind of established in, is wonderful.