A rusty start for Boston’s top power-play unit & 3 other thoughts from Bruins’ opening slate of games

The Bruins have opened the 2019-20 season on a strong note, beating both the Dallas Stars and Arizona Coyotes on the road to improve to 2-0-0. With Boston now set to battle Vegas on Tuesday night, here are four thoughts from the Bruins’ first stretch of regular-season play:

Boston’s top power-play unit is shaking off some rust

We’re only two games in, so there’s no need to read too deep into a smaller sample size — but it is fascinating to see how much better Boston’s second power-play unit has fared when compared to the big guns Bruce Cassidy usually relies on. 

Coming off of a postseason in which Boston’s man advantage struck goal on an absurd 32.4% of its opportunities, the B’s PP1 unit has spent most of the last two games shaking off the rust — with the usual suspects of Torey Krug, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk failing to get on the scoreboard against Dallas and Arizona. 

Some of those failed chances can be chalked up to bad breaks or poor puck luck — such as when Arizona’s Michael Grabner turned on the jets after a skittering biscuit and drew an interference call less than 10 seconds into a B’s power play. 

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But as a whole, the PP1 has even labored when they’ve managed to cycle the puck around and set up in their usual spots in the O-zone. 



So far this season, Boston’s top power-play crew has only managed to land one shot on goal — with Pastrnak and Krug logging 5:27 and 5:22 of 5v4 TOI during that extended stretch. Not exactly what you want to see from a pair of players that combined for 63 points on the man advantage last season.

Meanwhile, the regulars on the PP2 unit such as Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk and David Krejci have fared much better — with the group managing to outshoot Arizona, 3-0, in less than a minute of power-play time on Saturday, while Heinen tallied a power-play goal against Dallas.

Still, it’s very early in the season — and with two practices tentatively scheduled between a win over Arizona and a matchup against Vegas, expect Cassidy and his staff to divert plenty of time toward getting that first PP group humming again.

“We still didn’t play the way we can. It’s early in the year. We’re a little rusty. We’ve got to be better than what we’ve been — all the way around,” Marchand said after Saturday’s win..” “This wasn’t our best game, but we win.”

Cassidy has some decisions to make on the fourth line:

It’s a good problem to have if you’re Cassidy and his staff, but the impending return of Joakim Nordstrom could create a logjam on the fourth line very, very soon. 

While Nordstrom did not appear in a single preseason game and sat out Thursday and Saturday while recovering from a lingering foot injury, the versatile forward is traveling with his teammates and has recently been a full participant in practices.

Nordstrom was a key piece of Boston’s bottom-six rotation last season — tallying 12 points over 70 games (along with eight points during the playoffs) while averaging 1:39 of shorthanded TOI.

One has to figure that Nordstrom will reclaim his spot on a line with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner, but does that mean taking out a player like Par Lindholm? While Lindholm hasn’t exactly jumped off the box score to start the season, the Swede has been solid in all three zones. Along with averaging 1:10 of time on the PK, Lindholm made a great defensive play during Saturday’s win over Arizona, denying Phil Kessel of a dangerous shot from the slot with a fantastic backchecking effort.

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Of course, if Nordstrom is given the green light soon, Lindholm could find himself slotted higher up in the lineup, potentially replacing a player like Brett Ritchie, who would then join David Backes as scratches on this squad. 

A promotion for Lindholm isn’t out of the question, as Boston is still trying to determine just what they have in the versatile forward.

“He doesn't quit. His work ethic is outstanding,” Cassidy said of Lindholm. “We're trying to find the best fit. I think Kuraly is a better centerman than wing. I'd say the same about Lindholm, but they're on the same line, so we've got a problem. I've got to change them up and what line they're on, and yet they all play a similar style with Wagner or Backes, whoever happens to be in there. So that's something we'll have to consider. His effort is there and his details are good."

Bruins looking to maximize the effectiveness of Krug-Carlo pairing: 

Pairing a puck-moving, power-play specialist like Torey Krug with a stay-at-home blueliner in Brandon Carlo might seem to be an unorthodox match, but Boston has reaped the benefits that the two defensemen have been able to generate from working together — with Carlo’s lockdown numbers often offsetting any of the opposing scoring chances generated from Krug’s tendency to operate with a bit more risk, especially in the O-zone.

In order to maximize the efficiency of its second D-pairing, Boston has rolled out the Krug-Carlo combination primarily in favorable areas of the ice — with the duo’s faceoffs occurring in the offensive zone 60.87% of the time.

For comparison, only 41.18% of the Chara-McAvoy pairing’s faceoffs have been in the O-zone, while just 36.36% of the Grzelcyk-Clifton pairing’s faceoffs have been in a similar spot.

Boston is certainly catering to Krug’s strengths in the O-zone when it comes to his deployment, but the results have been encouraging — with Boston holding a 25-14 edge in shot attempts during the 25:43 of 5v5 TOI that its second D pairing has been out on the ice.

It will still need to limit chances down the other end of the ice — with opponents holding a 4-0 edge in high-danger scoring chances during that 25:43 — but the Krug-Carlo pairing should continue to build off of a 2019 playoff run in which the case could be made that they were Boston’s most complete D unit night in, night out.

Boston isn’t panicking despite offensive struggles

Boston’s scoring woes can’t all be chalked up to the play of the PP1 unit, as the Bruins currently rank 28th in the NHL in goals per game at just 1.50.

Once again, yes — it’s a small sample size. And while it will ease some of Cassidy’s worries if his forward corps breakthrough with three or four goals against Vegas, the B’s bench boss has at least been encouraged by his team’s attention to detail through two games. Hopefully, that adherence to winning hockey will result in a few more tallies on the scoreboard going forward.

“We just have some offensive issues right now, but I think our commitment to winning and playing the right way, when we're ahead, late and as the game goes along, has always been good here. We didn't do anything to hurt ourselves (Saturday),” Cassidy said. “When you have the lead on the road in the third period, you can beat yourself. ... But at the end of the day, I liked our details as the game went on."