Bruins Game Grades: Can’t Win With A Powerless Power Play

In a year full of bad power play opportunities for the Boston Bruins, the two they had in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday may have been their worst of the season.

Trailing by a goal in the second period, the Bruins had two prime chances to draw the score even on the man advantage. But instead, they came up empty on both.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t score and when you only get one in a game like that,” Charlie McAvoy said. “We got some looks and a lot of shot opportunities, but we just didn’t get it across, so it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to lose. We’ll have to find ways to get better and find ways to be more dangerous.” 

The Bruins were nothing but a danger to themselves and had as many shots on goal with a man advantage as the Capitals did while shorthanded. They repeatedly failed to enter the attacking zone cleanly. When they did, they could barely get set up.

“We need to execute better on our entries,” Interim coach Joe Sacco said. “I think it starts there, and then, when we’re in the zone, we need to get tighter to the net. We need to improve that area of the game for our team.”

Truer words have never been spoken, and neither have more obvious ones.

If the Bruins had capitalized on just one of those two chances, they very likely could’ve walked away with two points in the standings.

Bruins: B+

As frustrating of a loss as it was for the Bruins, they played an overall solid game. The Capitals were just a little bit better.

The Bruins doubled the Capitals in scoring chances and had a 13-10 edge in ones of the high-danger variety.

But of the combined 84 shots the Bruins attempted, only 27 threatened Capitals goalie Logan Thompson. Washington completely took away the center of the ice, fearlessly clogging any and all shooting lanes Boston had and blocked 28 shots.

“It was a tight-checking game like we knew it would be,” said Sacco. “You have to fight for your offense. You have to work for your offense.”

Both games so far this season between the Bruins and Caps have been highly competitive, and there’s one more between them on April 1.

If they somehow meet in the playoffs, it’ll make for a great series.

The Power Play: F

Boston has been among the worst in the league all season on the power play, and today’s disjointed performance was a clear example of why.

They’ve tried several different combinations at this point but have only converted on 13 percent of their chances.

But failing to score on the man advantage versus Washington wasn’t the most frustrating aspect for the Bruins. It was the fact they failed to generate any momentum from their two opportunities.

“We’re trying to find groups of five that might work better together,” McAvoy said. “I don’t care who’s out there. Whatever five is out there,  we got to get shots. We got to get chances. We got to make it where, after the power plays over, score or don’t score, that we can take some momentum from it.”

Jeremy Swayman: A

The games in which Jeremy Swayman has given the Bruins a chance to win this season have been few and far between.

Typically, he’s either been the reason they’ve lost or the Bruins won by such a wide margin that it didn’t matter how many goals they let it.

Lately, though, Swayman has performed the way the Bruins expected him to when they signed him to that massive extension over the summer.

He pitched his second shutout of the season on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets and kept the Bruins in the game against Washington, stopping 24 of 26 shots.

The two goals he let in weren’t softies, either. There wasn’t much he could do to stop Aliaksei Protas’ shot from in tight, or the one that Jakob Chychrun launched from the right circle during a Capitals power play.

Swayman gave the Bruins a chance to win. The Bruins themselves didn’t return the favor.

Brandon Carlo: D

The blame for Protas’ goal at 12:05 of the first period can be put solely on Brandon Carlo’s shoulders.

Pierre Luc-Dubois turned the usually reliable Bruins defenseman into a turnstile along the endboards, winning a battle for the puck and making a clean pass to Protas out in front to put the Caps on the board.

An early equalizer from Pro courtesy of strong work on the boards by PLD pic.twitter.com/gzO4lkck1s

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 31, 2024

Cole Koepke: B

The Bruins have been searching for a spark on their third line for a while now and may have found it in the form of Cole Koepke.

He himself didn’t do all that much besides land two shots on goal in 11:38 of ice time against the Capitals, but his presence clearly woke up something inside his new linemates Justin Brazeau and Trent Frederic.

Koepke was on the ice when Brazeau opened the scoring just 1:21 into the game, and the line continued to play with the energy and pace that had alluded them as the Bruins controlled the game early on.

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