As head coach, Bruce Cassidy is often tasked with overseeing multiple operations — or putting out multiple fires — for the Bruins, both in-game and during practice.
Of course, no bench boss can do it all, with Jay Pandolfo, Joe Sacco and Kevin Dean all divvying up responsibilities when it comes to directing the team’s special-teams units, D corps and more.
And while Cassidy is often forced to look at things in the big picture with this club, he prefers to be pretty hands-on in one area of the game — the power play.
“It’s what I did as a player,” Cassidy said of the man advantage. “It’s probably one of the few things I did well, so I had to try to make my living that way, and I enjoyed it. I was good at it. I see the ice, saw it as a player, so I like that part of the coaching. I’ve tried to pass it off a little bit as a head coach, but I always go back to it, so there’s no sense passing it to someone and then stepping all over their toes. It’s unfair to that particular person.
“Jay has helped me a lot, so at some point, I will pass it off. I just want to be comfortable with how we teach it to the players, because I think they’re creative and they want to do their own thing, yet I do believe there is a checklist of plays you have to go through. You can’t just do whatever the hell you want.”
Under Cassidy’s tutelage — and with skilled playmakers like Torey Krug, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand anchoring the top unit — Boston’s power play has been devastatingly efficient.
In Cassidy’s two full seasons as Bruins head coach, the Bruins have ranked fourth (23.6%, 2017-18) and third overall (25.9%, 2018-19) in the NHL when it comes to cashing in on their chances on the power play.
With 14 goals and 98 total points accrued on the power play over the last four seasons, Krug has established himself as one of the best PP QBs on the blue line in the league. But the blueliner is more than happy to tip his cap to the man that runs the man advantage from the bench.
And while Cassidy has been at the helm when Boston’s power play has hummed at an effective rate, he’s also guided it during the rough patches come with every grueling NHL campaign. The latest setback has come at a rough time — with the Blue Jackets killing off seven of Boston’s first eight trips on the power play so far in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
For now, Krug isn’t panicking — especially with Cassidy in tow.
"Bruce is the best power play coach I've ever had and some of the things he sees are pretty incredible,” Krug said, adding: “I just think he gives so many cues. When there’s something going on on the ice, it a cue for us to move the puck to certain area and try to make a play from there. …. (Columbus) has guys that are working hard and they get paid to be penalty killers and we have guys that get paid to score goals and be on the power play.
“We have one extra guy on the ice than they do, so just go to work and we have to execute. I think we're pretty close. We have to make one more good pass and then we'll break them down. It's just about getting some guys going and we'll go from there."
Saturday’s showing was a rough look for the B’s power play, as Boston failed to convert on any of its four chances during Game 2 against Columbus. In total, Boston only managed to land two shots against Sergei Bobrovsky in 6:22 of 5v4 play, while the Jackets managed to generate two SOG during that same stretch.
While the Leafs’ gameplan against the Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs primarily revolved around taking away the slot and seam passes — often bunching up three skaters around Bergeron at the bumper.
More ice has been afforded to Boston during Columbus’ kill, especially near Pastrnak’s office at the left circle and along the half-wall — opening the chance for one-time attempts and backdoor scoring bids that were prevalent in Thursday’s Game 1 victory.
Speaking on Sunday, Cassidy noted that the Bruins’ overall gameplan on the power play won’t differ too much in terms of drawing up plays. But the personnel could certainly change. While Marcus Johansson has served as Boston’s netfront option on the first unit as of late, Jake DeBrusk could return to a similar role.
Demoting Pastrnak from the first unit could also be an option, as David Krejci filled in admirably on the elbow when Pastrnak was on the shelf due to thumb surgery. Limiting Pastrnak’s reps on the man advantage might be a tough look for a winger that generated 33 points on the power play during the regular season, but given how he’s looked as of late, perhaps No. 46 could be a stopgap solution while No. 88 looks to get back into a groove.
David Krejci is doing a pretty solid job filling in for David Pastrnak on the power play.
1-1 game. pic.twitter.com/TxhulrkRFz
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 13, 2019
Brandon Dubinsky had some fighting words for the city of Boston after tonight’s Double OT win pic.twitter.com/HntkEgWPH6
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 28, 2019
Brad Marchand STOMPING on Cam Atkinson’s stick ??
Via @Sportsnet (YT) pic.twitter.com/2cJxVRjYBx
— Bar South N Celly™ (@BarSouthNCelly) April 26, 2019
Brad Marchand on his incident with Cam Atkinson:
"I think he was trying to dull my blade there. Send me to the room, get it sharpened. It's kind of rude of him to do." pic.twitter.com/oQX2j2z2WC
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) April 26, 2019