Bruins’ power play has struggled at times.
Going into the season, Boston knew that David Pastrnak was going to miss about the first month of the season as he recovered from offseason hip surgery. Not only did the Bruins lose Krug in free agency on the power play, but Pastrnak and his 28 goals from last season would be out of the lineup.
While two of the top producers on the power play were missing, the Bruins began the season not skipping a beat on the man advantage. There were some surprises that scored some goals, even some big goals at certain moments in games, that had the B’s near the top of the league in terms of percentage.
Nick Ritchie has been a nice net-front presence on the power play and he is second on the team with five power play goals. Patrice Bergeron has four man-up goals, but a usual, despite missing the first seven games, Pastrnak is leading the unit once again with six PPG’s.
Marchand and Jake DeBrusk are the other two players that have multiple power play goals with a pair each.
Grzelcyk and McAvoy have split time as the defensemen on the power play. Grzelcyk scored his first power play goal of the season on March 15 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both Grzelcyk and McAvoy each have four assists.
When Pastrnak returned to the lineup and when Grzelcyk was out with one of his multiple injuries he’s dealt with this season, Cassidy went with a five-forward power play unit that ended up getting goals in three consecutive games. That was a nice adjustment that should be considered again this season in certain situations.
The power play has struggled as of late, dropping all the way to 12th in the league last week. In their three games prior to their COVID-19 pause, the Black and Gold had scored power play goals in three straight games, which had vaulted them to ninth. The Bruins will need to get more production from their units as we go deeper into the season.