It’s clear at this point that the top Bruins power play unit needs to find some traction before the clock turns to Stanley Cup playoff time. The Bruins went 0-for-2 on the power play in Saturday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center and once again went another game without their big guns being able to clock in on the man advantage.
Just as apparent as the struggles, to Jim Montgomery, is the fairly simple solution to addressing their scoring woes with their top offensive players: too much passing, and not enough shooting threat to score.
“Whether it’s pucks at the goal line, up top with Charlie [McAvoy at the point] or at the elbows, they all need to look to score. It seems really simple, but a lot of times when they get the puck it seems like they’re looking like ‘What is my next play?’ said Montgomery. “They’re not looking to score. If I have the puck [in a passing posture] then I’m clearly passing and if I’ve got the [stick] half-cocked then that guy is going to respect the fact that I might shoot.
“It brings the [penalty killing] box in and expands passing lanes. It literally is, or can be, that simple.”
It’s not exactly the leather-lunged gallery gods in the TD Garden balcony screaming “Shoot!” during the tense moments of a Bruins game, but the clear point is that the PP could benefit from more players being viewed as scoring threats. Only David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle have registered one power play goal apiece during the month of March as regular members of the top PP unit while Justin Brazeau has matched that production all by himself with 2 PP goals on the second power play unit while Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha have also produced on the second PP unit recently as well.
Justin Brazeau knocks home a rebound off a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) March 20, 2024
Second goal of the season for Brazeau. pic.twitter.com/XvnM0uNsnJ
In a stunning development, Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and McAvoy have teamed for exactly one power play goal in the 22 games since the NHL All-Star break in a serious star power outage for the Black and Gold.
Montgomery estimated that eight of the last 10 PP goals for the Bruins have been produced by the second power play unit, and that’s something the Bruins need to make a concerted focus ahead of the postseason while avoiding the frustration of not producing at the same clip as they did earlier in the season.
“The tougher thing mentally is to not get frustrated, both coaches and players,” said Montgomery. “Because they are used to having success, when things continue to not [create] successful outcomes you tend to get impatient. We’ve tried to be less impatient but be more of a shot-first mindset. I still don’t think we have a shot-first mindset out there [on the power play].”
Some of it easier said than done when one of the Bruins power play units isn’t producing much even as the B’s still sit eighth overall in the league (23.8 percent) thanks to a second unit with players like Brazeau, Geekie, Jake DeBrusk, Kevin Shattenkirk and Mason Lohrei that have been picking up the slack.
ONE TIMERS
1. Brad Marchand is having a solid year, but it has not gone unnoticed that the production has not been the same for the left winger since the NHL All-Star break. Marchand has three goals in 23 games (along with a minus-4 rating) since coming back from the break and has scored on just 5.4 percent of his shots on net. So there’s clearly a little bad luck in there as well, but his coach is sensing the frustration from the 35-year-old as the team is preparing for the playoffs. Could there also be a little bit of fatigue after logging a lot of heavy minute efforts in the first half of the year?
“In the 82-game [regular season] grind you’re going to have nights where you have it and nights where you don’t. But I think with Brad we always get his maximum effort and that’s how he leads us. That’s why we’re one of the teams with the most points in the league because a lot of times your team plays like a reflection of your captain. Our captain competes really hard, and our team competes really hard. But there’s frustration and [Marchand] is part of the frustration that we’ve talked about on the power play. He expects to do great things and that’s why he’s a great player. But when things don’t go your way, you get a little impatient and I think he’s impatient right now.”
2. Interesting to hear Montgomery note that he’s checked in a few times with Brandon Carlo in recent weeks as he’s been on the ice for a number of goals against as a shutdown defenseman. Carlo is a minus-4 in the 23 games since the NHL All-Star break and is a minus-3 during the month of March.
“I talked to Brando about where he’s at mentally about 10 days ago and then [on Friday] just checking in,” said Montgomery. “He’s the one that’s played the most game of [Carlo and Hampus Lindholm]. Hampus just had that three weeks [out of the lineup due to injury] so he’s a little fresher. He’s just getting used to playing coming back [from injury] and getting into the flow again. But those are fine. Whoever we ask to shut down, they shut down.” In a related note, Charlie McAvoy is a team-worst minus-5 in the 10 games during the month of March for the Bruins.
3. Interesting wrinkle for the Bruins on the fourth line as both Jesper Boqvist and Johnny Beecher will share center duties with Beecher taking draws, and then Boqvist jumping into the center position when the puck is being transported up the ice and into the offensive zone. Makes total sense given that Beecher is winning well over 50 percent of his faceoffs while Boqvist is clocking in at just under 37 percent faceoff winning percentage right now.
“Well, we’re going to have Beecher take the draws because he’s so good at it, right?” said Montgomery. “If they lose a draw in zone Beecher is going to play center until we get out of the zone, but when it goes five-on-five out of our zone we want Boqvist playing center. We want [Boqvist] handling the puck and when you play center you end up handling the puck more. He’s done a great job, he’s confident with the puck and Beecher’s goal is a great entry by him carrying it all the way from the defensive zone. He makes a great play delaying high, makes a great play in a danger area where he’s up close to the blue line and it allows [Andrew] Peeke to find Beecher. We just like him transporting the puck and his speed underneath pucks. It makes defense give up to the blue line where we don’t have to forecheck as much, and all three of them did a good job in that last game of deciding when it was time to forecheck and when it was time to carry it in.”
4. It feels like a lot of the Hart Trophy discussion is now centering on Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid in the stretch run of the NHL season. But that would really be giving short-shrift to a guy in Pastrnak that’s again going to top 50 goals for the second straight season, has set a career high in assists (55) already this season and continues to evolve as a complete offensive player for the Boston Bruins while on pace to set a new career-high in points as well if he keeps scoring at his current rate. “I think he’s had to change his game because of the way we’re constituted as a team,” said Montgomery. “He needs to have the puck on his stick more, so instead of being a 90 percent goal-scorer, he’s become 50/50 [scoring goals versus making plays].”
5. There are no imminent contract extensions for anybody on the Boston Bruins at this juncture of the season, but one player that deserves some serious consideration is Danton Heinen. He’s a guy currently playing in a top line role with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand that’s got 14 goals and 29 points and a plus-7 in 64 games this season while playing on a minimum veteran contract worth $775,000 after making the team on a training camp tryout situation. That is outstanding value for the B’s no matter how you slice it and Heinen has shown that he’s a much more impactful two-way player than he was during his previous run with the Bruins. Heinen confirmed recently that no new contract has been discussed, but he would love to remain in Boston in his second go-round with the team. “You never know with this game. There are ups and there’s downs and I’m just happy to be a part of it,” said Heinen, who scored one of two Boston goals in the B’s loss to the Flyers on Saturday. “It’s been great. You can’t say enough about this place. It’s a great room to be a part of [with the Bruins]. I haven’t heard much [about an extension]. I’m just focusing on my game right now. If it comes then it comes, then that’s great. But I block out that kind of stuff and just play and have fun. I love it here. But I’m just focused on the stretch [of games] at this time of year.”