Stop the madness: Bruins must play Hampus Lindholm on PP1 over Charlie McAvoy

There would be no shame in Charlie McAvoy taking a step back in his duties and allowing Hampus Lindholm to run the Boston Bruins' first power-play unit. McAvoy has been a force at five-on-five ever since he got away from the Mason Lohrei pairing, and he and Nikita Zadorov have also been rock solid on the penalty kill. McAvoy does plenty of jobs for this team, but quarterbacking the first power play has to stop being one of them.

It isn't just the atrocious turnover that allowed the Toronto Maple Leafs' Steven Lorentz to score a shorthanded goal on Tuesday night. There is something off about the way that McAvoy runs the point in the attacking zone. He wants to be a shot option, but he doesn't make the best decisions when it comes to when to pass and when to shoot. He also takes too many extreme chances, which hinders his ability to hold the line.

Contrast that with Lindholm, who was a massive reason for two of the Bruins' power-play goals against the Maple Leafs. One of them was a seeing-eye wrist shot of his own that found the top corner to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. It came on the next power play after McAvoy's giveaway gave the Leafs back some momentum and allowed them to tie the game at one.

Lindholm also played a significant part in David Pastrnak's second goal of the game in the third period. Toronto was starting to get some momentum back again when they closed the lead to 4-3, but the Bruins had a chance to get one back on the power play. McAvoy's time on the ice for the first minute of the power play was a loss, but then Lindholm replaced him, made a nice keep at the blueline, and executed a clever pass to start the play that led to Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic assisting on Pastrnak's snipe.

Bruins must play Hampus Lindholm on PP1 over Charlie McAvoy

There is a certain calmness when Lindholm is on the ice for the power play. Given how well he executes with the second unit (which usually includes Pastrnak staying on for the full two minutes), common sense would say that he would be even better if given the chance to run the first unit on a full-time basis. He had the opportunity on Saturday night when McAvoy missed the game, but the Bruins only had one opportunity, when the second unit executed on an assist from Mason Lohrei.

It might be a bitter pill for McAvoy to swallow, but give Lindholm a chance to run the first unit and Lohrei a chance to run the second. Give McAvoy the two minutes off and allocate his minutes into moments where he is more effective at five-on-five and on the penalty kill. He'll get over it in time when the Bruins continue to climb up the standings.