The Boston Bruins might be, in Terry Murray’s words, a “wounded bear,” but penalty killing is one area in which they have been consistently strong. The Bruins’ penalty kill is the league’s second-most efficient, at 87.2 percent, and two weeks ago, the Bruins killed all five Kings power plays in the Kings’ shootout victory.
The Kings, after a long power-play drought, have scored one power-play goal in each of their last two games. Here’s what Murray said today about the last time the Kings faced Boston’s penalty-kill unit, and what the Kings’ power play needs to do in order to be effective tonight.
MURRAY: “Through the middle of the ice and getting some offensive-zone setups, we did a pretty good job of that. The area you’ve got to be totally on board with, with five guys, is movement away from the puck. The people who do not have possession of the puck have to move, and they have to be quick and it has to be very specific. If you don’t, because of their aggressiveness, you run out of options very quickly as you have possession of the puck.
“Even if it’s just the half-board, goal-line low player, those two are kind of playing catch, and you don’t have, up top, something readily available, you’re done. Chara is so good at reading and his stick is so long. He gets ticks on pucks and breaks plays up. You can’t fool around on his side of the ice for a long time without bringing the puck back over the top and to the weak side, which is wide open because they’re so aggressive. So it takes four guys moving and alert to make the power play happen against this team.”
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