Boston Bruins 2011-12: Lack of Power-Play Success Costs Bruins vs. Senators

The Ottawa Senators defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night at the TD Garden, and just like in last year’s playoffs, the Bruins power play struggled mightily.

The Bruins scored just one power play goal in seven chances against the Senators, including a failed attempt to double their lead in the second period when they had a five-on-three advantage for 58 seconds.

Despite the lack of success on the power play, Bruins forward Daniel Paille isn’t too worried.

"I don't think we have too much concern," said Paille. "Especially the last few games we've moved the puck well. Today we struggled a bit in the second but that happens. I think the whole preseason we've been solid so I think we should be able to maintain that through the year."

In last year’s playoffs, the Bruins' power play was historically poor, but miraculously, they were able to overcome it with great even-strength play and solid penalty killing.

There’s very little chance they can be successful again with that kind of power-play success this season. There’s no question the Bruins can win games with a bad power play, it just makes the games tougher to manage and play through.

They are certainly capable of winning games by the score of 1-0, 2-1 and any other close margins because of their solid goaltending, but the extra effort they expend by not having comfortable leads as often as they’d like is concerning.

The Bruins can’t be letting teams hang around and believe they can come back. Having a weak power play allows the opposing team to be calm mentally, but more importantly, it allows them to be aggressive and not worry about paying for it if they take a penalty.

In the playoffs last season, Bruins head coach Claude Julien tried many different power-play strategies and lines, including having Zdeno Chara in front of the net screening the goalie.

One player who did not receive too many power-play minutes during the playoff run but should this season is sophomore forward Tyler Seguin.

Seguin is one of the most offensively gifted players on the team, and his speed and accurate shooting would really ignite the power play. Seguin played well on the power play in the limited minutes he got last season, and he could play a big role on it this year.

Seguin’s energy and offensive intensity on the power play is contagious; plus, he does what the Bruins should have done a lot more of last season with the man advantage—shoot the puck! Putting the puck on net creates chances in front of it, and the Bruins don't do that enough.

The Bruins too often look for the cutesy pass and the perfect setup. They need to just get pucks to the net and score those dirty goals their strong forwards will put away in front of the opposing team’s goaltender.

The Bruins’ power play has looked better this preseason than it did in May and June of last year, but it needs to be better.  

Boston can’t let teams hang around and comeback late in the games because the Bruins can’t finish them off by capitalizing on the power play.

All quotes obtained first hand.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston. Follow him on Twitter for NHL/Bruins news and analysis. Follow @NicholasGoss35