As good as the Boston Bruins played over the last handful of games headed into Tuesday night, they were every bit as lackluster in a lifeless 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden. There were many culprits in the loss as most of Boston’s best players didn’t bring much to the table with Jeremy Swayman letting up a few strange goals, David Pastrnak turning over five pucks with zero points and a minus-3, and Boston’s shutdown pair of Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy finishing with big dash evenings (minus-2) as well.
So it probably wasn’t going to be their night no matter what transpired with some of those individual performances.
“We really had no transitional offense and give them credit…they checked,” said Jim Montgomery. “And that’s what we’re going to see in the playoffs. We’ve had a good stretch here and we’ve been playing well. We’ve got a couple of days off, we’ll reset and get ready for Pittsburgh [on Saturday].”
One area that’s continued to be a chronic problem in the second half of the season for the Black and Gold has been a toothless power play that went 0-for-3 against the Hurricanes and, to make matters worse, allowed a shorthanded goal in the third period that put things out of reach. It was a lazy play all-around coming right off an offensive zone faceoff lost by Pavel Zacha before Seth Jarvis beat everybody down the ice and scored on a puck fired off the end boards that he collected and scored at the other side of the net.
It simply looked like the Hurricanes were ready to pounce on them at that late juncture of the game and the Bruins, by contract, were way too passive. The game was still a reachable two-goal deficit leading into that power play, but it was over at that point.
It was an unfortunate turn of events, but truth be told the Bruins allowed a couple other odd goals on pucks around the net, but the disastrous power play doomed them on a night when it felt like Carolina had the jump on them. The absolute low point was Andrei Svechnikov beating Swayman to the post on a Michigan lacrosse-style goal where Andrew Peeke was late, and not hardnosed enough, on the post coverage.
Can't give Andrei Svechnikov (@ASvechnikov_37) space behind the net. 😤 pic.twitter.com/ZjNVS6NsZX
— NHL (@NHL) April 10, 2024
So what’s the issue with a sputtering B’s power play where David Pastrnak (one PP goal) and Brad Marchand (zero power play goals) have struggled mightily in 30 games since the NHL All Star break where Boston’s top power play unit simply hasn’t performed?
The easy read is that opposing penalty kills have eliminated Pastrnak as a shooting option from the faceoff dot with blanketed coverage, and they are now daring other players to beat them on the man advantage. That can be effective when players like McAvoy, Marchand and Zacha are perhaps looking to pass a little too much rather than taking the shooting option when the seam is there.
Montgomery has some theories, but to the B’s bench boss it comes down to each individual PP participant sticking to their individual roles while the team is in the throes of a 2-for-27 stretch on the PP while consistently struggling to even maintain momentum in the second half of the season.
“I also think it’s mental. We talked to them [earlier this week], we had a meeting. Guys aren’t seeing plays that are there – they’re not seeing it in practice sometimes. Surprising,” said Montgomery. “I know it’s easy, I’m standing there and I’m watching – but my old eyes can see it, they should be seeing it.
“I think the details of everybody in their position needs to be better. We need to have a shot-first mentality from the elbows, and from the top. We need our bumper to be more active, we need our net-front guy to take away eyes better, do drive by screens and make more plays from the goal line. We need everybody doing their job better.”
Perhaps the biggest concern is that the second unit has outperformed the B’s star-studded top power play group in the second half of the season at a time when the B’s are hoping to build for the playoffs.
But even the second unit took a hit when net-front behemoth Justin Brazeau suffered an upper-body injury that knocked him out of the lineup for an unknown amount of time. They still have players like Jake DeBrusk, Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie on the second unit who have all consistently produced on the PP since the All-Star break, but obviously there needs to be more from key offensive players like McAvoy and Zacha if they are going to maintain their spots on the top group.
“I think it’s just confidence, to be honest with you,” said DeBrusk. “That’s the biggest thing with power plays. I remember there were times when being here it seemed like the power play couldn’t miss at certain times, and other times it seems like it is right now.
“I don’t mind our unit. The biggest thing with the second unit is just getting in [the zone]. I think once we get in [the zone] we’ve generated a lot. One or two passes and we’ve played against some aggressive kills where you’ve got to be on your toes a lot. But I think confidence is the biggest thing with the power play. Obviously with different options and weapons you try to lean on that when things go wrong, but that’s what other teams are going to be trying to take away. So it’s just about simplifying, getting pucks to the net and making that one play.”
It all sounds easy in theory, but the simple truth is that it’s no longer a bad stretch of games, or a simple slump, for Boston’s top power play unit. It’s become a legit concern headed into the Stanley Cup playoffs with very little practice time left to adjust things before hockey teams start playing for keeps in the postseason in a couple of weeks.
