Boston Bruins: Jekyll And Hyde On Special Teams
The Boston Bruins are currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. That’s where they were at the end of the last season. The Bruins know that’s an unwanted to place to be in, and thankfully they are taking the steps needed to get back into playoff contention.
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Right now, the biggest problem the Bruins have is their Jekyll-and-Hyde special teams units. Sure, the Black and Gold are number one in the league on the power play. The B’s are scoring in one out of every three power plays. That’s fantastic. But the Bruins penalty kill is a different story.
The Bruins, in part to their young defensive core, and in part to the Bruins looking lost earlier in the season look terrible while down a man. Boston Bruins are still the worst team on the penalty kill, stopping the puck only 71.7% of the time. That’s nearly three percentage points behind the 29th-ranked team in the league, the Ottawa Senators(74.6%).
In yesterday’s article about David Krejci, we talked about how the Bruins performance on the penalty kill is improving. A few games ago, it was hanging at 70.0%, the lowest it has ever been during the Claude Julien period in Boston. Now, in part to putting Krejci on the penalty kill and the return of Dennis Seidenberg, the Bruins are improving.
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“Our penalty kill has been better,” said Claude Julien of the B’s recent improvement. “Our five-on-four, in the last three games I’d say, has been pretty good. Even though we allowed a goal [against Detroit] and it looks bad on our penalty kill, overall I think our guys have been much better in attention to details. But then again a few times we’re not getting the puck out when we should, so we’ve got to keep working on it.”
The return of Dennis Seidenberg will only help the B’s. In his first game back against the Colorado Avalanche the B’s blanked the Avalanche on the power play. Seidenberg continued his stalwart defense as the B’s stopped two of three Detroit power plays. Seidenberg, like fellow defensemen Adam McQuaid, Torey Krug and Kevan Miller are fearless in blocking shots on goal further limited scoring opponent’s scoring chances.
Then there are the forwards putting it back together for the Bruins. Leading the charge on that front (to no one’s surprise) is Bruins alternate captain Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron is the Bruins’ most dependable defensive forward. Boston’s Little Ball of Hate Brad Marchand is still one of the most dangerous players in the league when it comes to scoring short-handed as well.
The Bruins are recovering from an ugly start to the season. They’re getting better, and the Bruins improved penalty kill will only lead to more wins for the team moving forward this season.