BOSTON -- If theres one specific topic of conversation for improvement when it comes to the Bruins, its the power play.
They finished middle of the road during the year in power-play percentage, but limped to a 2-for-23 performance in their first-round playoff loss to the Washington Capitals. This came on the heels of an 0-for-21 against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round last year, in spite of which the Bruins somehow managed to win in seven games.
Thats a 4.5 power-play success rate over the last two years in the first round. Excluding the Stanley Cup Finals, the Bruins are 7-for-84 (8.3 percent) over the last two years in the postseason, and Bruins management finally admits that something has to give.
We got away with an ineffective power play last year," said team president Cam Neely Thursday in management's postmortem with the media. "This year it kind of bit us in the butt.
"We need to have a philosophical difference in how we look at the power play. I dont just look at the percentages when it comes to the power play. I look at when we get them, when we score on them and what time in the game they are coming for us. I think we have the personnel to improve on the power play. There are some things . . . we can do different, but its an area that absolutely needs improving. Well be discussing that in the offseason.
Nobody was talking about pink slips for the coach designing Bostons oft-stagnant power play, Geoff Ward, or making wholesale personnel changes. But Neely indicated there absolutely will be internal discussions on the matter, with plenty of time in the spring and summer to discuss strategy.
Its something Im going to leave internally for now, but its something that can be better, said Neely. The player personnel, I think, is strong. You look at the regular season and it was an area that was okay. But at the end of the year we started falling off and we could never right the ship.
Boston Bruins
Its an area where the players need to take as much responsibility as the coaching staff because its a privilege to be on the power play. Its certainly an area of the game that can make a difference between winning and losing.
In losing seven one-goal games for the first time in NHL Stanley Cup playoff history this year, the Bruins now know exactly what kind of difference a fully operational power play can make.