Wheres the thread for our power play?

[bigbadbruins1]

I'm sure I can't be the only one to notice, but we have tendency for giving up a lot of ( very good) scoring chances on our own power play. I for one am getting sick of short handed breakaways every game, especially considering we've given up 10 short handed goals. I'm starting to question if Cassidy will reel in the aggressiveness, it just seems like a glass cannon of a PP. we score a lot but there is a good chance that we give up a short handed goal/ opportunity.

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[BigBadBruins7708]

problem is Cassidy.

he insists on sticking Pasta up at the point, which handicaps them 2x.

First it puts your most deadly goal scorer far away from the danger areas
Second, it puts a forward at the point, which as we have seen leads to failed keep ins and routine odd man rushes against.

 

[JCRO]

Pasta was the direct reason of that shorthanded goal last night. Being the guy on the point, he tried to play the puck with his skate when it bounced off the glass and completely whiffed.

Resulting in a break for the habs player with Bergy trailing behind him.

You HAVE to either get the puck no matter what OR make sure the opposing player can't get it. He struggles with this when he works the point.

Don't get me wrong. He's dynamite on the PP at the point. But he's also a liability. Thus a double edged sword.

I say they try this-
Pasta-Bergy-Marchy
Gryz-Krug

You lose JDB in front of the net. But you continue to work the umbrella and have two guys who can work the point and still keep the PP interesting. As well as Bergy and Marchy working the front of the net and down low. Their strengths.

Heck, Krug has been working the half wall more than the point on the PP recently. And you still have Pasta up high and around the tops of the circle/dots for the one timer.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

problem is Cassidy.

he insists on sticking Pasta up at the point, which handicaps them 2x.

First it puts your most deadly goal scorer far away from the danger areas
Second, it puts a forward at the point, which as we have seen leads to failed keep ins and routine odd man rushes against.

a forward at the point isn't necessarily a problem, but Pasta is one of our most high-risk players.

But yeah putting him outside the dots on the PP is soooo infuriating. It seems like the strategy is to start him out high and then do a stealth switch to get him down low and open but often they can't pull off the switch because they just end up losing possession before it happens.

 

[22Brad Park]

Pastrnak has best hands on the team (krecji) and best one timer.He should be top the circle down .The umbrella sucks.
Cassidy is to blame here.

 

[ODAAT]

I`m not 100% sure what if any affect it would/could have but Butch employs the exact same PP umbrella approach with the 2nd unit as he does the 1st. Like to see a different approach especially seeing as that 2nd unit`s skill set isn`t as high as the 1st unit and I`ve long been on record saying how opposed I have always been to having a forward anywhere close to the PP in a D position

 

[Boston Bandit]

Wheres the thread for our power play?

This team doesn't get one until they fix that power play.

 

[Emerz]

Pasta was pretty much blowing pucks by goalies over and over from the top of the circle to start the season and then they decided to change it up, now he doesn't get many touches on the PP.

It generally just cycles through marchand/bergeron/krug/behind the net.

Not really sure why, but then again, they do score at near 30% of the time on the PP.

The shorthanded goals against are a major problem however.

 

[ODAAT]

Pasta was pretty much blowing pucks by goalies over and over from the top of the circle to start the season and then they decided to change it up, now he doesn't get many touches on the PP.

It generally just cycles through marchand/bergeron/krug/behind the net.

Not really sure why, but then again, they do score at near 30% of the time on the PP.

The shorthanded goals against are a major problem however.

The PP itself is solid, the complete lack of focus and attention those on it have to the possibility that the puck has a chance to go the other way, especially prior to last night having given up 9 goals is worrisome

 

[Trap Jesus]

While I don't like the SH goals against obviously, they are still one of the best PPs in the league, and that goes for recently as well when they switched Pasta's position. Maybe just more attention to detail needed rather than trying to reinvent the wheel on a PP clicking at an absurd 28%. 3rd highest this year, and 3rd highest since the 1989/90 season.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Someone's always scoring on our PPs. Whether it's us or not is a different story.

 

[elMatador]

I would like to see a change in the personnel and also the structure. The first unit is out there too long, 1:20 to 1:30minute. Not enough time for the 2nd unit to set up an umbrella. There has to be a more urgency by cutting the time of the 1st unit to 1min max.
Krug and his reluctance to use the slap shot is affecting the whole set up. He has only 1 pp goal this season and even that goal was not scored by a slap shot. Krug's becoming more a liability during the odd men rushes. That makes him expendable.
Unfortunately Chara's days on PP are gone. Gryzelcyk had his look earlier this season. His shot is not heavy enough.
I would like to see one of McAvoy, Carlo or Vaak to grab it. Carlo would be my dark horse. If Chara was able to master his shot Carlo can do as well. Could take time but might be worthy the patience. Carlo's defensive play is already a top notch, has also a huge reach but most importantly he has a superior skating compared to prime Chara.

 

[BigBear83]

Isnt sacco the guy thats in charge of the PP?... i personally dont like marchand on the pp..

 

[Dr Hook]

I like the second unit that uses 2 d-men old school style. Grizz is great on the PP but not as a shooter. He won't work as the single d man in a unit. Paired with McAvoy and that is a good powerplay combo. Those shorties, though. It happens because Krug rotates down the half wall and who comes up a lot of the time? Pasta. Not the guy you want on the blue line if there is a breakout. Bergeron was there last game, but he was not fast enough to catch Byron. Shorties will happen to everyone, but ten at just over halfway through is way too much.

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

Krejci used to play the point with Krug and Bergy worked the bumper with Marchy playing split duties on the half wall and the front of the net. This allowed Pasta to play the circles, behind the net, or work the boards. Not sure why they switched it around other then we have zero capable offensive minded centers after PB and DK so one needs to play on pp2. Sucks though

 

[ODAAT]

I like the second unit that uses 2 d-men old school style. Grizz is great on the PP but not as a shooter. He won't work as the single d man in a unit. Paired with McAvoy and that is a good powerplay combo. Those shorties, though. It happens because Krug rotates down the half wall and who comes up a lot of the time? Pasta. Not the guy you want on the blue line if there is a breakout. Bergeron was there last game, but he was not fast enough to catch Byron. Shorties will happen to everyone, but ten at just over halfway through is way too much.

terrific post, I`ve long cringed with a forward playing the PP. Byron has ridiculous speed, was a nice goal, rocket of a back hand too but shhh, don`t tell anyone I said something kind about a Habs goal

 

[EON]

Grzelcyk should be running the top unit instead of Krug. Offensive output is close while Grzyelcyk does a better job preventing SHGs.

 

[mmk]

Unit 2:

Charlie-Heinen-Celly-Krech-Donato

Edit: we can do Gryz and Charlie on the back end. No reason why we can’t have two D on a PP unit just because it’s out of style.

 

[bigbadbruins1]

Grzelcyk should be running the top unit instead of Krug. Offensive output is close while Grzyelcyk does a better job preventing SHGs.

I thought Krug was bad defending but more than double the goals/60 on the PP? sweet jesus even more reason for me not to like him.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I thought Krug was bad defending but more than double the goals/60 on the PP? sweet jesus even more reason for me not to like him.

Its bad because he's on the PP with Pastrnak. Pasta on the point is the cause of all the shorties

 

[BMC]

Dear sweet Jesus they even managed to f*** up a 5 minute major PP last night. Who the hell does that in the NHL???? I suppose I should be satisfied that they didn't give up a couple of SHGs while they were at it.

 

[JCRO]

I don't think a single person on that first unit had a good game last night. And all of them together on that same unit made it worse

I was calling for Krejci to be subbed in somewhere on that unit last night. Would've liked to see Cassidy do some sort of adjusting. Particularly entering the third period still in the middle of that 5 min major and seeing how poorly the first unit moved the puck during it at the end of the second.

 

[NDiesel]

Grzelcyk should be running the top unit instead of Krug. Offensive output is close while Grzyelcyk does a better job preventing SHGs.

Many of those goals are hardly Krug's fault. I have watched Pasta the majority of the time being the guy who turns it over leading to a goal.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

yeah the problem isn't Krug at the point, the problem is that he's usually NOT at the point.

I really think this is just a classic case of them overthinking something. The PP was fine before they made changes to their setup. Just go back to Pasta on the half-wall and stop trying to run set plays all the time.

 

[wintersej]

I would like to see a change in the personnel and also the structure. The first unit is out there too long, 1:20 to 1:30minute. Not enough time for the 2nd unit to set up an umbrella. There has to be a more urgency by cutting the time of the 1st unit to 1min max.
Krug and his reluctance to use the slap shot is affecting the whole set up. He has only 1 pp goal this season and even that goal was not scored by a slap shot. Krug's becoming more a liability during the odd men rushes. That makes him expendable.
Unfortunately Chara's days on PP are gone. Gryzelcyk had his look earlier this season. His shot is not heavy enough.
I would like to see one of McAvoy, Carlo or Vaak to grab it. Carlo would be my dark horse. If Chara was able to master his shot Carlo can do as well. Could take time but might be worthy the patience. Carlo's defensive play is already a top notch, has also a huge reach but most importantly he has a superior skating compared to prime Chara.

No. The trend amongst all teams is MORE time for PP1 and it has been the single greatest contributor to PP scoring rates going up across the league.