BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy at the top of the umbrella. David Pastrnak cocked and prepared inside the off-wing circle. James van Riemsdyk and his huge body stopped in front of the opponent's goal. Pavel Zascha and captain Brad Marchand are free to take shots and make one-time passes.
In theory, the Bruins' power play unit should be a finely tuned machine that regularly takes advantage of the man advantage.
However, that is not the case these days. And that's a concern with the playoffs scheduled to begin in two weeks.
Heading into Tuesday's penultimate regular-season home game against the Hurricanes, Boston's power play misfired. In their last five games they have only scored 5-4 on 15 chances, with Charlie Coyle (sometimes in PP1) scoring in last Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over Florida. .
Looking back a little further, the situation that should have been favorable to the Bruins was not at all.
In the last eight games, he faced opponents inside the penalty box in just two of 24 games. The previous game, on March 19, was a 2-2 win against Ottawa at TD Garden, 6-2. This multiple-goal power-play attempt was only the second time in the last 38 games that he had done it (the other was 12 days ago against the Maple Leafs).
Incredibly, Pastrnak, the man with 47 goals, scored one goal on the power play in his last game. 30 games If you connect 11 times in the first 48 times, you will get Zaka (3 times) and Coil (3 times). Morgan Geekie (2), Van Riemsdyk (2), and Justin Brazeau (2) all have more man-ups in this period.
For perspective, Pastrnak has scored as many power-play goals as rookie defenseman Mason Rollei over the last 30 games, but Rollei has only played in 10 of those games.
Marchand, the team's second leading scorer, is tied with Coyle for second on the club in PPG (seven points), a mark he's reached since Jan. 13 against St. Louis…and that was 36 games ago.
Over the past 38 games, Boston has gone 19-of-113 on the power play, with a connection rate of 16.8 percent. Prorated over a full season, they would sit between Calgary (27th, 16.9 percent) and Buffalo (28th, 16.7 percent) in the league rankings. Both teams had early spring tee times long ago.
The Black and Gold's season totals aren't quite as dire, but a lot of that is because they were able to get man-ups more often in the first half of the season. Their connection rate of 22.8 percent (53 PPG out of 235 chances) tied them with the Kings for 11th overall in the league. The division between house and road is also not very important. 23.8 percent at TD Garden (11th overall) and 21.6 percent on enemy ice (12th).
Perhaps most concerning is that against teams that are either in the playoffs or on the precipice (within two points heading into Tuesday's game), the Bruins are just 80-10 on the power play on Jan. 11. .
A 12.5 success rate in the postseason, when the defensive structure will be significantly strengthened, will not accomplish that.
Conversely, Boston's likely first-round playoff opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, leads the NHL in power-play percentage of 29.5. With 69 PPG in 77 games, they've been especially deadly at Amalie Arena, which will host Games 3, 4, and likely Game 6 of the opening series, with opponents coming up in the third inning. Tear off the twine once. A box of sin. (The Bruins have a penalty kick success rate of 82.4 percent, which ranks eighth in the league).
Any team with true Stanley Cup aspirations needs to make the most of every opportunity available in the playoffs. If the Bruins are serious about doing so, returning to lighting the lamp on the power play will go a long way toward doing so.
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Phil Stacy, executive sports editor for the Salem News, covers the Boston Bruins and pro hockey for CNHI Sports Boston. Contact him at psstacey@salemnews.com and follow him on Twitter/X @PhilStacey_SN.
