Claude Julien: Bruins Tend To 'Take It Easy' On Power Play, But Did 'Better Job' Against Buffalo
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins power play began the 2016-17 on a dismal pace, scoring just three goals in 38 opportunities in their first 11 games. But the floodgates opened on Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres as the Bruins exploded for three power play goals in eight opportunities in their 4-0 win. The team's power play percentage improved from 8 percent to a still-poor 13 percent, leaving them 23rd in the league in that category.
Monday night was a massive improvement over their previous game against the New York Rangers, in which the Bruins went 0-for-3 on the power play and allowed two shorthanded goals. The Bruins have also cut back on their own penalties in recent days, averaging 8.3 penalty minutes in their last three games after averaging 17.3 minutes in the previous three.
Brad Marchand opened the scoring for the Bruins on Monday when he gathered a loose puck from the slot and fired a wrist shot past Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.
David Krejci later scored his first goal of the season on a two-man advantage in the second period, blasting a one-timer from Torey Krug into the back of the net.
David Pastrnak put an exclamation point on the game when he collected another rebound from Lehner and ripped the puck past the goalie point-blank.
Head coach Claude Julien was happy with the team's production on the power play on Monday but acknowledged that they might not have been giving a full effort in that situation to start the season.
"In order to be successful, you have to outwork the penalty kill," said Julien. "That's always been the case. We have a tendency sometimes, on the power play, to think 'We've got the extra guy, we just have to take it easy.' But at the same time, I think we did a better job of finding the seams and getting shots at the net and jumping on those loose pucks and rebounds - those are the kinds of things we need on our power play."
Even more encouraging about the power play was the performance of Krejci, who went the first 11 games without a goal - the longest drought of his career to start a season. Julien hopes it's just the beginning of a good streak for the struggling center.
"When you're known to be a guy that can produce and get points it's nice to get that one," said Julien. "Hopefully, he can build on that and gain some confidence, some mojo, whatever is needed to continue to help us out that way.
"When he's on his game, he's one of the most dangerous players on our team."
Hopefully, Krejci begins to look more dangerous than he has for the balance of the season. The same can be said for the Bruins' power play as a unit.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
