By admin 
Nothing has plagued the Boston Bruins more this season than their poor execution on the power play.
Boston has been near or near the bottom of the league all season and is currently 30th after converting just 13 percent of its power play opportunities so far.
From changes to their strategy and to their personnel, the Bruins have tried many different ideas, hoping to find a spark of some kind in the man advantage. But as they enter the new year, they seem to have run out of new ideas.
Resigned to their reality, the Bruins will recycle the same units that looked uninspired and at times incompetent against the New York Rangers tonight.
“I have every confidence that we will achieve a turnaround with that group,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco told reporters in New York this morning. “Any time things don’t go your way, you have to make some changes. You can’t stand still, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Bruins had experimented with a number of different power play formations over the past few games, but took a seemingly impossible step backward with a Horrible game Tuesday against the Washington Capitals.
Now, Boston’s top unit will once again feature David Pastrnak alongside Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy.
“We have a job to do today,” Pastrnak said. “We have to take advantage of the power play. You don’t have to score every time, but we’re going to make sure we create momentum for our team.”
The top unit has held the Bruins back all year. Between the five players it scored a total of eight goals. Pastrnak contributed half of that.
While it’s not a high bar to clear, the second unit is what tonight will consist of Charlie CoyleMorgan Geekie, Justin Brazeau, Oliver Wahlstrom and Mason Lohrei, has been much more reliable, even with less ice time.
In the 23 games before Sacco shook up the units last Saturday, the Bruins scored nine times on the power play, with only three goals coming from the first unit.