Bruins Power Play Lacks Power

Written by Greg Ezell

Monday, 02 November 2009 10:57

I'm about to blow the collective minds of my readers (that's what she said). I'm about to say something that I believe has not been said, heard or though of until today:

The Boston Bruins' power play sucks.

Okay, so maybe it isn't something new to the hockey world, but it certainly is frustrating. On Sunday, the power play woes continued as the Bruins went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. In fact, the last time Boston scored a power play goal was against Philadelphia on October 22 in Philly.

Boston Bruins power plays:
11/1 @ New York - 0 for 5
10/31 vs Edmonton - 0 for 2
10/29 vs New Jersey - 0 for 2
10/24 @ Ottawa - 0 for 4
10/22 @ Philadelphia - 1 for 2

So in a week and a half, the Bruins are 1 for 15 on the power play, an awesome 6.7%!

Shots during those power plays:
11/1 @ New York - 8
10/31 vs. Edmonton - 3
10/29 vs. New Jersey - 5
10/24 @ Ottawa - 8
10/22 @ Philadelphia - 2 (1 goal)

The Bruins have mustered 26 shots on goal during those 15 power plays and only 1 has touched the back of the net and it was a Derek Morris slapper in Philly. The question here is, what the hell is wrong?

From what I've seen, the biggest issue is the players. The Bruins power play has been dreadful and it's because there is no flow. Sure, there have been some flashes of a real power play, but for the most part, it has been just a simple game plan of "skate down. lose puck. zone cleared." and it's sickening.

Going by NHL.com's stat lines Michael Ryder and Marco Sturm are 40+ minutes each of total ice time on the power play this season. Out of a combined 83:32 minutes of power play ice team, the duo has 1 goal, which is Ryder's.

An even more telling sign is that the Bruins leader in power play goals is Marc Savard with 2, a guy who has been on the long term injury reserve since October 21, 2009. Correlation?

Want another eye popping stat? For this young season, the Bruins are ranked 29th on the power play in the league with 12.2% success rate. The only team worse than Boston with the man advantage is the Florida Panthers with 11.8% success rate.

So what's the issue with the power play? I'd love for the readers to weigh in on their thoughts. Is it execution? Lack of coaching? Injuries? A terrible set-up?

I think it just needs more Chara-Hulk.

chara-hulk

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written by HaysBessie26, March 02, 2010

Set your life more easy take the mortgage loans and all you need.

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Sarah is the editor and site administratior at Something's Bruin. She's a diehard Bruins, P-Bruins, and Boston University fan, and blows tons of gas money every season attempting to visit as many NHL & AHL arenas as possible. When not focusing on the NHL, she covers the P-Bruins/AHL beat, and focuses primarily on covering the prospects in the Bruins system, from juniors up to the top minor leagues.

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