During his back-to-back 30-goal seasons in Montreal, Michael Ryder made his money - or future dough, to the tune of $12 million in Boston - on the power play, striking from the left wall.
A common sight north of the border: Ryder stepping off the boards into the slot and wristing home one of his signature top-shelfers (35 of his 60 goals from 2005-06 and 2006-07 came on the power play). Now, with 2008-09 winding down, Ryder is back in his old position, thanks to the arrival of one of the newest Bruins.
For most of the season, Ryder had been deployed as a stationary slot man on the power play. But with Mark Recchi serving as the most effective net-front presence the Bruins have had this season, the bosses (assistant Geoff Ward is in charge of the power play) have shifted Ryder to his office on the left side.
"I played there a lot in Montreal," said Ryder. "I like getting up and, when there's a hole, trying to shoot. I feel comfortable there. For me, it opens up a lot more things that I can do."
The tweak has worked magic for the power play. The Bruins introduced the change against New Jersey March 22. In the five games since (all victories), they are a sizzling 7 for 17 (41.2 percent), despite being blanked on both opportunities last night in a 2-1 win over Ottawa.
On the No. 1 unit, Matt Hunwick and Dennis Wideman have been effective puck-moving point men. Marc Savard has been set up in his usual spot along the right boards. Ryder is lurking at the left wall and in the slot.
And Recchi, strictly a net-front man now (he had also been stepping out on the right side of the goal line), has been the catalyst for the change.
"It seems like he gets his stick on everything," said Ryder. "When you've got a guy there like that who's around the net, has a good stick, and knows how to get there for the rebounds and the screens, he's helped our power play."
Last Saturday, Recchi potted a pair of power-play goals against Toronto in Boston's 7-5 win. The next night, Recchi scored the winning goal against Philadelphia when he found the rebound of a Chuck Kobasew shot, fought off the check of defenseman Braydon Coburn, and roofed a shot over goalie Antero Niittymaki.
"He's so good in those areas that he's created a lot of goals from there," said coach Claude Julien. "At the same time, Michael Ryder is probably more efficient from the slot with his quick release. It certainly gives you that element that if you move it to the point, our D's now know that there's somebody in front and they can shoot it to the net."
Hnidy looked shaky at the start. Ottawa agitator Jarkko Ruutu gave the defenseman one of his signature shoves to the head on Hnidy's first shift. Later in the first period, however, Hnidy blasted Ruutu into the boards.
"There was an opportunity to put him in the lineup tonight with our situation," said Julien. "I didn't necessarily want to wait until the last game or the second-to-last game. We need this guy. He's part of our team. If we plan on making this a long playoff run, there's going to be guys who are going to be banged up."
