This Bruins Change Worth Watching Over Final Two Games Of Season

The Bruins do still have something to play for with two games left in the regular season.

Boston could still catch the Rangers or the Hurricanes for the Eastern Conference’s top spot. If the Bruins win out, they would get to 113 points, while New York and Carolina have 112 and 111 points, respectively, and each team has just one game left. It’s possible but not likely the Bruins get that top seed.

As long as there’s hope for the top seed — New York and Carolina each play Monday night — the B’s might as well try to win out. So that top seed should still be an objective. What might be more important for Boston in the season’s final six periods, though, might be fine-tuning the parts of its game that have been an issue all season or down the stretch.

One thing that stands out to head coach Jim Montgomery is his team’s power play. The B’s are technically in the top half of the league when it comes to the man advantage, ranked 14th as they have converted 22%. But the Bruins are limping to the finish line on the power play. Boston has converted at a paltry 15.4% rate since Feb. 1, ranking it 29th in the NHL ahead of just the Islanders, Canadiens and Flyers.

And if the Bruins can’t get themselves into the top spot, they’ll have a first-round date with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts aren’t the same team they were a few years ago, but they will be a very tough out, especially if the Bruins can’t get the power play going. Tampa Bay ranks fifth in the league in penalty kill.

Montgomery is changing things up ahead of his team’s penultimate game Monday in Washington. Kevin Shattenkirk, who scored Saturday in Pittsburgh, was skating on the first power play at morning skate Monday, taking Charlie McAvoy’s spot. Danton Heinen and Pat Maroon are going to get some run on that top unit, too, alongside stalwarts David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. Brad Marchand, Jake DeBrusk and McAvoy, meanwhile, get bumped to the second unit.

Montgomery toyed with the changes Saturday in Pittsburgh, voicing his displeasure with the power play in his postgame press conference.

“It was me giving it to everyone on the power play. There was no cohesion, the passing was off and I didn’t like the effort getting back after the turnover by everybody.”

Montgomery reiterated as much Monday in D.C.

“We need more pace and purpose to our power play, and we’re not getting that kind of urgency that we think we need,” Montgomery told reporters, per Bruins video. “As we build toward the playoffs, we’re hoping this will help. Like we do 5-on-5, we play with a lot of pace and purpose, and we need that with our power play, offensively.”

It will be interesting to see what someone like Maroon can do on the first unit with just one game in the Black and Gold under his belt. That unit had varying levels of success on the ice, generating some good scoring chances but also giving up some shorthanded opportunities. Montgomery, though, harped on the shorthanded goal the Bruins allowed Saturday night, a tally that goes on the first unit, a setback that led him to his annoyance and apparently prompted the change.