The Boston Bruins are looking to make their penalty kill an elite unit after the Olympic break.
Boston’s penalty kill ranks 28th in the NHL, and as the Bruins have returned to practice, the focus has been on improving it, according to head coach Marco Sturm.
“Power plays get better,” Sturm said after practice on Saturday. “They do. If you look at us at the start, we were all out, and we did exactly what we wanted to do. ... We were taking way too many, too. That was a little bit of the downfall. Again, we try to have something in place right now that hopefully fits our group and players better.”
Bruins forward Sean Kuraly, who’s been on the penalty kill, believes it’s minor adjustments the team needs to make.
“We were on a roll earlier in the season,” Kuraly said, via Boston Herald. “Does that mean power plays figure out what we’re doing and we didn’t adjust well enough? I don’t know. It’s a culmination of a lot of things.
“As players, you definitely take it on to yourself to think of what we can do better. It’s just all the little things. Can we win more faceoffs and get more clears? On clears, can we do cooperate clears and share on our clears? Can we be a little bit better up ice, be a little stiffer and put ourselves in a better spot? Can we be better with our stick detail? Can we communicate better?”
Kuraly believes that if the Bruins simply talk more on the ice, it will help with positioning and, in turn, help Boston’s penalty kill be better.
If the Bruins are going to make the playoffs, the penalty kill will have to become a strength for Boston.
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