Bruins trying new-look powerplay at Wednesday's practice
One of, if not the only weak spot on the Boston Bruins right now, is the powerplay. Despite the team still sitting in 7th on the man advantage, it's been an area of concern as of late.
It's true, penalties are called less when playoffs come but that may not be the case for much longer. Judging by the way the NHL is heading in regards to the quantity of penalty calls, strong powerplay percentages could be crucial.
As noted above, the Bruins are currently seventh in the league on the powerplay at 23.2%; however, it has been on a free fall the last 30 games.
Dating back to December 23rd, 2022, Boston is 13 for 89 on the man advantage. That's 14.6%, which is lower than the league worst Philadelphia Flyers, who are sitting at 15.4% on the season.
At the same time, the Bruins are 23-4-3 in that span. But just think of how much more dangerous they would be with a lethal powerplay?
That's why head coach Jim Montgomery tried out a new-look unit at Wednesday's skate, according to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic:
PP2: Lindholm, McAvoy, Krejci, Zacha, Bertuzzi
Why not ride the hot hand. Dmitry Orlov was recently named the NHL's first star of the week after recording 3 goals and 6 assists in his first 5 games with the Bruins.
Per StatMuse, Orlov is also one of just eight Bruins skaters to score a powerplay goal in those 30 games. David Pastrnak leads the way with four
Boston is set to host the league's number one powerplay of the Edmonton Oilers (31.7%) at TD Garden on Thursday night.
One positive is that the Oilers rank 24th in the NHL on the penalty kill at 75%, while the Bruins are first with a 86.6% success rate.
*Stats collected from StatMuse.
| POLL | ||
Which team will score more powerplay goals on Thursday? | ||
| Oilers | 21 | 29.2 % |
| Bruins | 51 | 70.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
