Boston Bruins: 3 keys to tuning out the Blues in Game 3

2. The power play has to be more effective

The 2018-2019 Boston Bruins have been very effective on the power-play. During the regular season, the Bruins were 65/251 for a 25.9 percent.

The Bruins were third in the entire NHL behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

Heading into the Cup Final the Bruins led the playoffs in power play scoring. They were 17/50 for a 34 percent rate. So far, in these past 2 games, the Bruins have gone 2/10 on the power play. Now, some of this could be a due to the fact that St. Louis is great on the penalty kill; let’s take a look at some of the stats.

During the regular season, the Blues were 9th in the NHL with a 81.5 percent penalty kill rate, allowing only 43 goals on 232 chances. Heading into this series with Boston, the Blues allowed 9 goals on 41 chances, for a 78.1 percent penalty kill rate. So far this series, the Blues have shut down the Boston power play.

You can partially blame the Bruins struggles based on the fact that the Blues have a good penalty kill, but they still have got to find a way to get something going.

It seems that it is becoming a habit where they just pass the puck around like a hot potato when they’re in the Blues’ zone, and especially on the power play. Everyone is looking for the highlight reel pass, when in reality we just need pucks on net. When there are shots on goal, that increases the chance that a goal will be scored; a tipped puck here, rebound there and next thing you know the puck is in the back of the net and the goalie is wondering where it went.

Let’s hope the Bruins power play wakes up in Game 3. There aren’t going to be many chances, so the Boston Bruins have to take advantage of any chance they can when the St. Louis Blues go shorthanded.