Bruins present difficult challenge due to structure, special teams

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2022-23 regular season by former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Mark Recchi and Phil Housley will take turns providing insight.
In this edition, Recchi, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame player who has been an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, writes as if he were a coach doing the pre-scout on the Boston Bruins, the top team in the NHL with a 29-4-4 record.

The Bruins, coming off the emotional high of winning the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Monday, have the Los Angeles Kings next on the schedule, a game at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.
Todd McLellan and his coaching staff, after playing the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, will turn their focus to the Bruins, the best team in the NHL this season. They saw them already on Dec. 15 and won 3-2 in a shootout at TD Garden, so they have some knowledge of what to expect.
But they have to go over it again, so it's Thursday morning and let's assume we're going to focus on the power play. We'll leave the penalty kill meeting until the evening, before the game.
In the power-play meeting, our attention will be on how we're going to try to break through the neutral zone and what the Bruins do in the zone to kill. We were 1-for-6 on the power play against Boston on Dec. 15, so we have some clips to show, but we need reminders.
What we know is the Bruins are No. 1 in the NHL on the penalty kill at 85.1 percent. We also know they've scored three short-handed goals. So right away we know they're good on the PK and dangerous too, especially with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

But it's not just Bergeron and Marchand. They're aggressive and looking to expose you even when Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek are out there. There are times when Coyle and Nosek will start on the PK too, but you can't think it'll be easier.
They're so structured and aggressive on the PK. They're coming at you all the time to force you into a bad play. You have to make three good passes to relieve the pressure and if you don't, you're chasing the puck down to the other end of the ice.
The power-play meeting will discuss how you have to be aware and to avoid high risk plays.
The pregame penalty-kill meeting will discuss the Bruins' power play, which is sixth in the NHL.
Now, the overall team meeting will discuss discipline and how it has to play a huge part in the game because they are so good at special teams. But when we're looking at their power play, we're looking at Bergeron in the pocket on their first unit. He's the key. It's unbelievable how smart he is. Then you have Marchand and David Pastrnak on the flank. You know that puck is somehow going to get over to one of them through a little soft play, but if you don't cover Bergeron, he's a one-timer threat.
Because Bergeron is so good, the best guy in the pocket in the NHL, the best at finding soft spots and always available and always supporting the puck, it's really hard for the penalty kill because you have to respect him but you have the two guys on the flanks that are obviously tremendous with great shots.
Jake DeBrusk has been their net-front guy and if you take away other options, he's a threat down low.
They have so many good options so the key, other than staying out of the box, is to stay disciplined on the PK, tight, and you don't want to give up the seam play. That's really what you have to try to avoid, because if it starts going east-west on you, you could be cooked.

When we discuss 5-on-5, it'll be a conversation about their depth, their excellent structure and how they play a strong disciplined game.
We'll talk about their great leadership and how it's going to be quite difficult to throw them off their game because you know they have a history of playing the right way all the time.
We'll talk about how to forecheck the Bruins and how they're going to forecheck us, what we can do to beat their forecheck.
Their forecheck last season was pretty much a 1-2-2, but this year they're definitely more aggressive and it feels like it's more a one-and-a-half and one-and-a-half instead of a true 1-2 with the forwards on the forecheck.
They put pressure on the first guy quickly. They're not afraid to pinch. They pinch on the weakside and they're very good at it. They're disciplined on their structure. If the guy does pinch on the weakside they still have people above all the time.
When we're talking about forechecking them, it's important to note that last season they used to rim the puck a lot, but this season they're using the middle of the ice a lot more. Knowing that, you have to know you have to read their defense.
If they're going to go 'D' to 'D' then you're going to put pressure on that second 'D' and your third guy is going to stay above their center and then you have a weakside possible pinch if that's the structure you play.
It's being smart and reading what their 'D' are doing.
Part of the team meeting will also be about the mindset of facing a team that is rolling like the Bruins. You'll want to point out that they're finding ways to win right now, but I don't think they're playing their best.
Their coach, Jim Montgomery, has talked about it, that they haven't played 60 minutes lately because starts have been a problem. They come on strong and they finish well, best third period team in the NHL, but they haven't started well so you want to discuss jumping on them early, getting on them and keeping the gas pedal down to see if you can take advantage of their slow starts.
They're coming on a long road trip after coming off a big, fun weekend with an emotional high. Maybe you can catch them on a letdown. I don't think the Bruins' leadership will let that happen, but if I'm a coach, I'm saying it's a possibility so let's get on them right away.