With little margin for error, even an above-average power play isn't cutting it for this slumping Bruins' offense

When Torey Krug departed Boston and inked a seven-year, $45.5-million contract with the Blues back in October, it was a tough pill to swallow when it came to the Bruins losing a locker-room mainstay, established leader and one of the maestros of the club's lethal top power-play unit.

But in wake of Krug's exit, Boston did have some silver linings to draw from — beyond the fairly obvious cap ramifications when it came to not doling out that type of cash for the playmaking blueliner.

While few would question Krug's proficiency as one of the architects of a man advantage that has routinely diced up opposing PKs for years now, there was room for optimism that both Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy could slot into Krug's role on that PP1 unit and there'd be little drop-off — especially considering the usual suspects like Patrice Bergeron at the bumper, Brad Marchand on the elbow and David Pastrnak at the left circle were all not going anywhere.

Last year, Grzelcyk (albeit in a smaller sample size) seemed like a natural fit on the PP1 unit, given that Boston managed to generate a 12.07 goals scored per 60 minutes rate when Grzelcyk skated with Bergeron/Marchand/Pastrnak — while Krug generated a 11.72 GF/60 with that same unit. 

And yet, be it through struggles with new weapons up high, stagnant movement or opponents drawing up a winning gameplan against the B's power play, Boston hasn't had nearly as much success with their man advantage in the post-Krug era as many envisioned. And that return to normalcy for what has usually been a cheat code of a scoring unit for years is now costing Boston valuable points in the standings.



The 2,100 fans gathered at TD Garden on Sunday that rained a cacophony of "BOOOOOOOOS" down on the officials after they negated two potential Bruins goals in what was ultimately a 1-0 loss to the Devils had every right to be irked by a result sealed off of video reviews and a game of centimeters, no doubt. But perhaps most of that consternation should have been funneled over to a Bruins team that needed a couple of last-minute goals in the first place in order to avoid a third-straight regulation loss on home ice against a cellar-dwelling Jersey team.

While Boston's well-documented even-strength offense (or lack thereof) labored once again against New Jersey goalie MacKenzie Blackwood (who boasts a sterling .896 save percentage in games not against the Bruins this season), its tried and true, get-out-of-jail-free card in its power play also didn't make much of a dent at all on Sunday — failing to cash in on all four of its bids in the frustrating loss.

"Their goaltender, I thought he was excellent. It wasn't for lack of effort," Bruce Cassidy said of Boston's second straight shutout loss. "We could probably have a 15-minute discussion on where we're at offensively and why, but I don't think this is the time and place for that. Certainly, our power play could have helped us - had some good looks. Bergy shot one right through them that typically would have gone in, leaked wide. Couple other of good looks around the font of the net. Secondary scoring guys didn't generate much, and the top guys had some tough luck around the net."

You could perhaps absolve some of Sunday's showing if you'd want by noting that Boston was once again missing arguably their top offensive conduit in Brad Marchand — while the man advantage still managed to generate five scoring chances in 7:21 of 5v4 ice time against Blackwood — but let's be real, this power outage on the PP1 unit can't just be chalked up to as an "off night", especially against a Devils PK ranked 28th overall (73.2% kill rate).

After boasting a top-five power play in each of the previous three seasons (including the second-ranked unit last in 2019-20), Boston's power play has dropped from elite to ... well, still good, if not a bit average — with Boston currently 14th among 31 teams with a 22.7% success rate. A lot of slippage has been done in the past month, especially — as the Bruins have now only cashed in on seven of their 41 opportunities so far in the month of March.

And even though most of the blame for Boston's power play returning to mortal status will likely fall on Grzelcyk/McAvoy as Krug's replacements, they've been far from the only issue. Yes, both Grzelcyk and McAvoy don't have the same skills as Krug, who — when he was at his best — could move from the blue line down to the half wall and get a PK unit scrambling.

But even some of the usual suspects like Pastrnak have been far from stellar. As the always fantastic @bruins_stats noted, in 45 minutes of 5v4 ice time in which Pastrnak has been on the ice and Grzelcyk has been OFF the ice, the Bruins have only scored three goals — and relinquished three goals down the other end of the ice.

Some of that lack of production has also been the byproduct of simply waiting for the perfect shot — instead of simply peppering the net and letting guys like Bergeron and Nick Ritchie pounce on potential rebounds and tip shots.

Last season, the Bruins were 5th in the NHL in shots per 60 minutes on the power play (57.4). This year, incredibly, they're 28th (44.3) — with only the Devils, Blue Jackets and Coyotes landing fewer shots on net during their power plays.

Can the power play rebound? Of course it can. And all things considered, it's far from the main issue on this Bruins team — with even-strength scoring and injuries leading the way. Still, fair or not, even an average to good power play just isn't going to cut it right now.

Boston's scoring issues at 5v5 play is nothing new when compared to previous seasons, but in years past, Boston at least had an elite power play that could eviscerate lesser teams and help them steal points when their primary offense was stuck in neutral. But with the margin of error razor-thin due to Boston's lack of even-strength production, that drop from 2nd to 14th in terms of power-play efficiency has Boston on the wrong end of far too many low-scoring affairs.

It's not fair to chalk up all of these frustrations to a power play that has bailed this team out for years on end now. But when you can't consistently rely on offense during 5v5 play, such is the hand that the Bruins have been dealt.