WILMINGTON - There is nothing special about the Bruins right now, and that especially includes their special teams. As of yesterday morning, the Black and Gold stood a meager 21st overall on the power play and 24th on the penalty kill in the NHL.
"We know it's not good enough to make the playoffs, the last couple of weeks," said coach Claude Julien, noting his club's 1-2-2 slump that has the Bruins tied for the eighth-most points in the Eastern Conference. "It has to get better."
To that end, Julien and his coaching staff came out early for practice, a scheduled 10:30 a.m. start, to work with the members of the faltering man-advantage. The best change they could make, of course, would be to reintroduce Patrice Bergeron to the unit, but the 22-year-old pivot/point man remains sidelined with a Grade 3 concussion, and it could be months before he is back to work. He'll be home watching the game on TV tonight when the Bruins face the Maple Leafs on Garden ice.
The Bruins have gone 2 for 22 (9.1 percent) on the power play in the half-dozen games for which Bergeron has been unable to suit up. The penalty-killing unit, burned five times in the first two games Bergeron was sidelined, has recovered of late, allowing only one strike in 17 chances (94.1 percent success).
"A lot of this has to do with confidence and making the right decision," said Julien, addressing the power play's malaise. "We're a little hesitant. We have to hope our confidence comes back."
The power play has contributed in large part to Boston's paucity of scoring. As of yesterday morning, the Bruins' 36 goals were second fewest in the league. The Rangers were last with 34 goals in 17 games.
One possible remedy: shoot more. The Bruins have landed only 393 shots on net. As of yesterday, only Vancouver (388) was more challenged for offense. Carolina, the league leader with 627 shots, averaged 34.8 shots per game, compared with Boston's 24.6. The Bruins finished 17th in the league last season with 2,370 shots (28.9 average).
"We are trying to get the guys to shoot more," Julien conceded, his squad outshot, 46-22, in last Saturday's 2-1 win over the Sabres. "If it's a decision to pass or shoot, we have to choose to shoot first."
Facing the problem
Phil Kessel, who centers the No. 2 line between Marco Sturm and Chuck Kobasew, spent a few extra minutes performing a faceoff drill under Julien's watch. Julien dropped the puck as Kessel dueled at the dot with Andrew Alberts, who hasn't seen regular faceoff duty since his days in Minnesota youth hockey.
"Then my coach in pee-wees told me to move to defense so I could see the whole ice," recalled Alberts. "You know, I had a scoring touch once, but I lost it."
The 6-foot-5-inch Alberts towers over the 6-foot Kessel, who spent most of last season as a winger, but Kessel repeatedly picked Alberts's pocket on the draw.
"It's been a while," said Alberts. "Phil got me pretty good."
Kessel, moved to full-time duty in the wake of Bergeron's injury, has been slow to come around at the dot. He has won only 36 of 82 faceoffs, a meager 43.9 percent success rate. Among Boston's regular faceoff men, Glen Metropolit (107 for 205, 52.2 percent) has been best.
"I'm feeling a little better at it," said Kessel. "It's coming back. The faceoffs are so important . . . if you lose, you're not happy. [Alberts] is a big, strong guy, and in a drill like that, it's good to go up against someone who's strong."
Julien said he likes to pit centers against defensemen in the drill "as a little bit of a psychology thing." If the center loses, said the coach, the embarrassment can prove to be a source of motivation.
Manny, hurting Manny
Julien dropped hints that Manny Fernandez, whose cranky knee still isn't right, might not be available for backup duty tonight when Tim Thomas is expected to get the start for Boston."We are being cautious," said Julien, when asked about Fernandez's condition, and whether surgery might be an option for the 33-year-old netminder. "At the same time, we're allowing him to see his way through it."
Julien said Fernandez would have more tests later in the day, and the coach did not rule out the possibility the Bruins would call up a goalie prior to tonight's game.
"We won't let [Fernandez] come back until he's 100 percent," said Julien.
The Bruins had Tuukka Rask, their top Providence goalie, with the varsity for three games, but the Finnish phenom never saw action. Julien said yesterday that he considered playing Rask in a game, but circumstances - tight games, important points - dictated otherwise.
Providence opened its home schedule last night against Portland and doesn't play again until tomorrow night at home against Worcester.
If Fernandez remains questionable, it's possible Rask will be called back to Boston today for another brief backup stint.
Feeling better
Aaron Ward, believed to be fully recovered from his recent concussion, was given the day off to tend to family business, said Julien. The veteran blue liner is expected to suit up against the Leafs . . . Defensemen Andrew Ference (upper core) and Bobby Allen (left arm), both of whom wore red sweaters (ineligible for contact) during Tuesday's workout, skated under full contact yesterday at Ristuccia Arena. "It felt strong during the drills," said Allen. "Shouldn't be a problem." . . . Captain Zdeno Chara remained on the ice for an extra 45 minutes, posing for pictures for an upcoming edition of The Improper Bostonian . . . Julien said he would like to see Kessel, a clever stickhandler, opt more often to make soft dumps of the puck behind opposing defensemen, rather than attempting to stickhandle his way through crowds . . . Following tonight, the Bruins play only once more on Causeway Street (the day after Thanksgiving) before Dec. 6.
