"I think he's a person on our team that has some offensive confidence right now."
The Bruins’ lackluster 7-7-2 start this season has been the byproduct of several shortcomings all across the ice.
Boston has arguably been the worst team in the third period, while the team’s 5-on-5 scoring has labored since the puck first dropped in Florida on Oct. 8.
But the Bruins’ potent power play — once a foundation of Boston’s success over this extended contention window — has been downright listless so far during the 2024-25 campaign.
“Still fighting it,” Jim Montgomery said Saturday morning. “It’s not fluid. The entries [into the offensive zone] aren’t what we want. Guys knowing what they’re going to do with the puck — whether it’s shooting or passing it — that ‘next-play’ speed is not where it needs to be.”
After failing to cash in on another two power-play bids during their 3-2 overtime loss to the Senators, the Bruins are currently tied with the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals for the second-worst success rate on the power play at 12.5 percent (8-for-64). Only the Blues (10.8 percent) have struggled more while up a skater.
It’s a crushing development for a Bruins team that is already struggling to consistently fire pucks into twine.
Boston was no stranger to 5-on-5 scoring woes under Bruce Cassidy. But those struggles were offset by a lethal power play anchored by premier playmakers like David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Torey Krug.
While Krug and Bergeron no longer don black-and-gold sweaters, Pastrnak and Marchand are still in place on Boston’s power play.
New signing Elias Lindholm is a solid replacement for Bergeron at the “bumper” position, while Montgomery has several options to turn to at the netfront spot — including Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, and Justin Brazeau.
So what gives?
“We definitely have to shoot more pucks,” Pastrnak said on Tuesday. “Honestly, retrieve the puck after the shot, right? We cannot be one and done. We need to shoot the puck. And the kills are so good in the NHL these days that you need to shoot it and then retrieve the puck. That’s when the holes open up, you know? And so we have a lot of work to do there.”
As talented as the Bruins’ personnel might be on the power play, Boston’s scoring punch during those critical 5-on-4 situations has waned significantly due to indecision with the puck and a dearth of shots sailing into high-danger areas.
Enter Hampus Lindolm.
Montgomery and Boston’s staff made their first significant tweak to the man advantage on Monday, swapping out Charlie McAvoy for Lindholm as the team’s power-play QB at the blue line.
It’s a necessary move at this point, especially given Lindholm’s willingness to move the puck and pepper goalies with little hesitation.
“I think he’s a person on our team that has some offensive confidence right now,” Montgomery noted. “Just want him to be direct. We find our power play has been slow, so we just want him shooting pucks or moving pucks quickly.”
Even if Lindholm may not boast a booming shot, the 30-year-old defenseman moves the puck with authority and has a knack for finding shooting lanes.
Much like Krug, a left-shot D like Lindholm can also easily feed the puck toward Pastrnak at his usual spot at the left circle. That may not seem like much, but that half-second can sometimes be all that’s needed to beat a goalie clean or catch a PKer out of position.
The results speak for themselves when it comes to Lindholm’s presence on the top power-play unit.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, McAvoy, Pastrnak and Marchand have skated together on the power play for 276:57 of ice time. Over that stretch, the Bruins have scored 28 goals — equating to a goals scored per 60-minute rate of 6.07 — while also giving up six shorthanded tallies.
When you swap out McAvoy for Lindholm under those same circumstances?
The Bruins have outscored teams, 8-0, in just 21:52 of power-play reps where Lindholm has skated with Pastrnak and Marchand since last season — equating to a goals scored per 60-minute rate of 21.95.
It’s a startling jump as far as offensive potency when Lindholm has taken McAvoy’s spot — one that Boston is hoping will continue on Tuesday when the team looks to get back on track with a road matchup against the Blues.
“I think he’s being a lot more assertive,” Montgomery said of Lindholm, who has already matched his scoring output from last year with three goals through 16 games. “He’s being [a] shot-first mentality, for sure.
“I think that in the other two zones, when he moves the puck, he’s moving it and joining — so when he gets it, he has more time. Instead of trying to beat the first or second forechecker, he’s moving and jumping by those guys, so when he joins the play, he has more time.”
