McDonald: Analyzing the Bruins' approach to entering the zone on a power play

There’s been a lot of focus on the Bruins’ power play of late.

Boston’s man-advantage went 0-for-3 during Thursday's 2-1 shootout victory against the Winnipeg Jets. Overall, the Bruins have scored eight power-play goals (8-for-33) in the last nine  games. While coach Bruce Cassidy is pleased with the success on the man-advantage, he would like to see a more consistent effort in this category.

When you analyze Boston's two power-play units, the talent level is impressive. Believe it or not, it’s tough to keep every player on the power play happy. The majority of the time, teams have their best playmakers and skilled players on the ice for the man-advantage, which means everyone wants the puck on their stick. When it doesn’t work on a consistent basis, frustrations tend to carry over into 5-on-5 play and disagreements can occur on the bench.

So, Cassidy held a meeting with both of the team’s power-play units last Sunday in order to get everyone on the same page. Part of the discussion was to incorporate a more successful delayed-entry on the power play.

Personally, I can’t stand this philosophy. I don’t understand why a team with puck possession in the neutral zone will drop the puck back to a player and lose seconds, while the other offensive players are caught flat-footed.

It doesn’t work.

If it does, everything has to work perfectly in order to be successful. Since the NHL is a copy-cat league, many teams used to have the delayed-zone entry as part of the power play. Fewer teams are doing it now because of the lack of success.

The days when teams believed in the hard-rim philosophy are changing. If the delayed entry doesn’t work, teams would rather play chip-and-chase, especially for the teams with speed. The Bruins have plenty of speed in both cases. The trick here is to recover the puck more often than not.

A season ago, the Bruins used more outside-speed entries with the likes of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner. If they gained a clean zone entry, Patrice Bergeron would move into the bumper role in the high slot. It worked well for the Bruins until the oppositions’ penalty-killing units took it away from Boston.

So, Cassidy wants to build the delayed entry back into the power-play systems. He’ll admit the team uses more of a hybrid because of the way opposing teams are attempting to stifle every attack by stacking the blue line with three or four players. That enables the PK to defend against both outside-speed and delayed entries.

This is where more teams are employing the chip-and-chase method rather than rimming the puck.

“I prefer the outside-speed entry, but at the end of the day, I’ve seen teams be very effective with the delay,” explained Cassidy.

The Bruins use Torey Krug, Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, and Spooner on the first unit. The second unit consists of Charlie McAvoy, and/or Matt Grzelcyk, along with David Krejci, David Backes, Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk.

Here’s the delayed-entry breakdown on the Bruins’ first power-play unit:

The defenseman that carries the puck has to be a threat to skate and enter the zone himself. That’s Krug’s specialty. The key point is to make those opposing players that are guarding the blue line back up into the zone to create more of a gap for the team on the power play. If the penalty kill takes the bait on the delayed entry, it should create time and space for the PP. If it doesn’t work, the worst-case scenario is to chip and chase.

“It seems pretty straightforward when you think about it, but there are a lot of things that go into play,” Krug told BostonSportsJournal.com. "I don’t necessarily think it has to be perfect. It definitely needs to be well done. Typically the teams that have really skilled forwards that are good at bringing the puck in, you want to get it into their hands with more time and space. Flat-footed defenders are easy targets.”

The Bruins have skilled puck-handling forwards like Krejci, Spooner and Pastrnak, who all have the ability to pull up and slow the play down. Defenders also have to respect the speed of Spooner and Pastrnak, because they can take it wide and create more havoc on the penalty killers. That’s one reason why this method didn’t work earlier in the season because Spooner missed 14 games with groin injury.

The delayed entry doesn’t work when the forwards are stationary on the attacking blue line. Everyone needs to be a viable option for the puck carrier. For example, if Krug is the puck carrier through the neutral zone, there should be two players near the blue line that need to grab some speed with Krug prior to entry.

“They’ve got to be an option, because if I do carry it in by myself, they’re coming and they can help me out if there’s a loose puck,” explained Krug. “If they’re just standing there, it takes them completely out of the play.”

The optional trailing forwards, who are Spooner and Pastrnak on the first unit, they have to follow Krug quickly into the zone.

Here’s the delayed-entry breakdown on the Bruins’ second power-play unit:

If this group is second over the boards on the power play, and there’s less time remaining on the man-advantage, Cassidy wants two defensemen on the ice. Earlier this season, the coach went with four forwards on both groups, but it didn’t work out as well as the team needed it to.

So, both Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk will see time on the second unit as the puck-carrier through the neutral zone on the delayed entry. Krejci wants the puck on his stick. He has the ability to slow things down and control the play. He’s a big believer in the delayed entry.

“Yeah, I love it,” admitted Krejci. “As long as I get (the puck) in my hands then I like the (power play) no matter what it is.”

On the second unit, McAvoy is the player bringing the puck into the zone. If it works, McAvoy draws two players towards him, which should make Krejci the strong option.

“He usually does a really good job and I have an easy way to get through the blue line, and then dish it laterally,” Krejci said. “There’s a lot on Chucky because if he gives it to me too early, and I’m the last guy and they have a good gap on me, it’s tough. He’s been doing a really good job of sucking the players towards him and then kicking it to me.”

The second unit also has Backes camped out in front, so the defense needs to keep close tabs on him, which opens up options for Krejci.

“I like it, but you need the right players,” Krejci said. “If it doesn’t work, then it looks really bad. But, most of the time, for our line it works.”