The Bruins are not a great five-on-five team; they haven’t been for quite some time now. They’ve gotten by offensively with their lethal power play, usually near the top of the National Hockey League in power play efficiency.
Giving Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak more space on the ice with the opposing team shorthanded is something the Bruins often benefit off of. Add Charlie McAvoy and Taylor Hall to the mix on the Bruins top power play unit and goals should be easy to come by.
For whatever reason that has not been the case so far.
The Bruins have converted on just two of their 16 power play opportunities, a success rate of 12.5%, 26th in the NHL.
“It kind of starts there,… said Marchand. “We've always been a power play where we thrive when we win battles, get pucks back, get to the net and win another battle and then the PK gets tired, and we capitalize.…
It’s been a frustrating start for the Bruins power play, especially getting pucks to the net on the man advantage. With just 17 power play shots on goal, the Bruins rank last in the NHL.
"We're just not in sync right now. I just think that we might be forcing it a little bit where we get pucks back and maybe we're trying to rush to make the play instead of settling down, kind of getting to our spots, and getting set up,… Marchand added.
“And then we get frustrated and it kind of snowballs from there. I think we just have to kind of calm down out there and win battles."
In Thursday’s 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins had plenty of chances to break out of their power play slump, going 0-5 in total.
Included in the Bruins 0-5 power play performance was a failed 5-on-3. At times on their 5-on-3, the Bruins struggled to cleanly get the puck into the offensive zone, let alone, set up their power play and get the puck moving.
“Puck recovery, where are the shots coming from, execution are all things we look at. Entries, face-offs, and I think we've been okay. We just haven't got the end result,… said head coach Bruce Cassidy. “And tonight, we needed the end result. It didn't matter, analytics, entries, whatever. They press hard. They're a good penalty-killing team. But we had to finish on the 5-on-3.…
No blemish on the power play was more frustrating than Hall’s empty net miss as he sat all alone in front of the Hurricanes’ goal.
Just a really tough miss for Taylor Hall: pic.twitter.com/QdjfLPYFGs
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) October 29, 2021
"I don't know if their guy kind of whacked my stick a little bit at the end or if I just literally shot it out of the net," said Hall. "We're a little bit tight with our sticks, gripping the sticks a little bit tight. I think if everyone, myself included, is feeling uber-confident, that's just an easy play and easy backdoor tap-in.…
The Bruins have too much talent on the power play for this slump to last long, but nonetheless, it’s a frustrating rut at a time where the Bruins needed to bring their A-game against the Panthers and Hurricanes who both have yet to lose a game.
"They're both very good teams. Got to give them credit,… said Marchand. “We knew they were gonna be good coming in.…
After dropping Wednesday’s contest in Florida, the Bruins will get another crack at the Panthers Saturday night, hosting the Panthers at TD Garden.