The Penguins' power play has been on a bit of a hot streak entering the coming series against the Bruins.
Since Feb. 20, the Penguins rank sixth in the league on the man advantage with a 26.7 percent success rate. In that same span, they've scored the third-most goals on the power play of any team with 16, two goals shy of the Lightning for the league lead.
The power play is about to be put to the test as the unit goes head-to-head with the league's top penalty kill in Boston, which is operating at a wild 89.5 percent success rate. That's 2.5 full percentage points higher than the next-ranked penalty kill.
With the tough test ahead, the Penguins spent much of Wednesday's practice working on special teams. They spoke after practice about what makes the Bruins' penalty kill so tough, and what the keys will be in beating it.
"I think they have a really aggressive penalty kill," Anthony Angello said of the Bruins. "They've got guys that have been playing together for awhile and have good chemistry. I think in order to have success against them, we're going to have to come ready to work twice as hard. We're going to have to have good puck movement, play more of a simple game, take what's given and get pucks to the net."
"They do a great job of pressuring," Mike Matheson added. "They have guys who have done it for a long time and have great instincts on the PK. I think every time we get a chance to do that, it'll come down to outworking them. I think there can sometimes be a tendency, since the pace of play can sometimes slow down when you're on the power play setting up and looking for options, you can' slow down your intensity and battle level. I think that's what it comes down to for us."
The Bruins' top penalty-killing unit has been led by blueliners Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, with Charlie Coyle and Patrice Bergeron being the two forwards with the most shorthanded ice time. The Bruins have had some key penalty-killing players either recently return to the lineup like in the case of defenseman Jeremy Lauzon after an injury, or on the verge of returning like in the case of Sean Kuraly after a two-week stint on the COVID protocol list.
The Bruins are the second-best in the league at preventing shots while shorthanded, only allowing a rate of 42.35 per 60 minutes of ice time. On a full two-minute minor, that translates to an average of 1.41 shots allowed.
The Bruins are especially good at preventing high-danger chances from the areas close around the net, ranking second to the Blue Jackets in that area on average.
When opposing teams' power plays do get shots off against the Bruins' penalty kill, the goaltenders have been strong. Bruins goaltenders Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak have for the most part split the starts this season, with third goaltender Dan Vladar taking two of the starts, including one against the Penguins. The three have combined for a shorthanded save percentage of .917, the best shorthanded save percentage among any group of goaltenders in the league.
Mike Sullivan said Wednesday that he thinks the Bruins' shorthanded success starts much earlier, with their faceoff percentage.
The league's average success rate for shorthanded faceoffs is 45.9 percent, a bit lower than 50 percent because penalty-killing units are typically facing off against opposing teams' top centermen on the power play. The Bruins' centers, however, have a combined success rate in the faceoff circle of 55.6 percent while shorthanded. Bergeron takes twice as many shorthanded faceoffs as any other Bruins forward, and for good reason: He wins 61.2 percent of all shorthanded draws.
"Bergeron takes the majority of their draws," Sullivan said. "He's extremely good in the faceoff circle. That's one of our challenges right up front."
Kuraly takes the second-most shorthanded faceoffs per game, and still has a success rate above league-average at 47.8 percent. Coyle is the only other frequent centerman to take shorthanded draws, and he wins 51.4 percent of them.
In the Penguins' four meetings with the Bruins so far this season, Evgeni Malkin's second-period tally in the third meeting between the two teams on March 15 was the only power play goal the Penguins recorded on 17 opportunities. He was able to score after quickly getting a shot off after a feed from Sidney Crosby as three Bruins started to close in on him:
The Bruins' penalty kill is actually a net even against the Penguins this season, with Brad Marchand getting a shorthanded goal in the first period in the first meeting on Jan. 26. McAvoy broke up a Penguins attempted entry into the offensive zone and passed the puck to Marchand, who was all alone back by the Penguins' blue line:
It's hard to find any flaws in the Bruins' penalty kill, and it'll be a difficult test for the Penguins' rising power play.
"They do a lot of things well, that's why they're the top penalty kill unit in the league," Sullivan said. "They're a good shot-blocking team, they make good decisions, they're a pressure-kill. We're going to have to be at our best. It's going to boil down to effort and execution, as it always does. Our power play, I think, has a good game plan going in. Now we have to take what the game gives us. We've got to think about shooting the puck when the opportunity presents itself, and then creating from there. It'll be a big challenge for us, no doubt."