BRIGHTON, MA — The Boston Bruins may have snapped an 0-for-13 drought on the man-advantage in their 3-2 overtime win of the Florida Panthers on Saturday, but they still went 1-for-5 and have scored just two power play goals since March 26.
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery wants his powerplay to gain more confidence again so they can see the scoring chances they’re maybe blinded to by their current struggles.
“I also think it’s mental. We talked to them today; we had a meeting. Guys aren’t seeing plays that are there – they’re not seeing it in practice sometimes. …surprising,” Montgomery said after practice Monday at Warrior Arena.
Minus screaming at the top of his lungs to “SHOOT!” Montgomery then sounded like most Bruins fans likely have when watching the Bruins’ listless power play as of late.
“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,” a baffled Montgomery said.
The still-reigning Jack Adams Award winner would love to see his team create some havoc on the powerplay and that means more attention to detail, better positioning, and most of all – just like you, Bruins fans – shoot the puck!
“I think the details of everybody in their position needs to be better,” Montgomery explained how he’s suggested to fix it to the players. “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.”
The Bruins’ powerplay units (below) will need to heed and execute their coach’s advice on Thursday as they will face the best penalty kill in the NHL when the Carolina Hurricanes come to town for a rematch of the Bruins’ 4-1 win in Carolina last Thursday. The Hurricanes will enter the game killing off the opponents’ powerplay at an 86.2 percent clip. Oh, by the way, if the Bruins began the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday night, they would face the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently have the fifth-best penalty kill (83.2 percent) in the NHL.
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