For those not participating in the Olympics, this three-week break in the middle of the NHL season has been an opportunity to rest, relax, review and reset. As Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm did that, he felt much the same as he did going into the break: proud of his team, and happy with where they were.
That's completely understandable, of course. The Bruins are in a playoff spot with just 25 games remaining in the regular season. Even with two shootout losses to Tampa Bay and Florida right before the break, their 12-2-3 record since Dec. 31 is second-best in the NHL.
But there was one area Sturm identified as a problem that needs addressing: the penalty kill. While the Bruins' PK started strong this season, it has been among the worst in the NHL for a couple months now. Since Dec. 1, Boston is killing at just a 69.8% rate, second-worst in the league in that time.
"Probably the biggest thing is the PK," Sturm said Wednesday when asked about adjustments he wants to make. "We're gonna change it a little bit moving forward. I think over the break, I think that was our biggest homework. It was the PK more than anything else."
So, why was the PK struggling so much?
"There's a few reasons," Sturm said. "First of all, we take way too many penalties. We all know that. We have to get better. That's just the bottom line. We just have to. I think the other thing is, power plays get better. When you look at us at the start, we were all out and we did exactly what we wanted to do. The thing is, after a certain time and certain games, it's… Spotter [assistant coach Steve Spott] calls it a copy league. What it means is you can … see certain weaknesses on their PK, and with the diamond everyone is almost playing is, yeah, they got us, pretty much.
"And we just couldn't handle it, and we didn't have the answer. And also, we were taking way too many, and all of a sudden it was a little bit of a downfall. So again, we try to have something in place right now that hopefully fits our group and players better. Remember when I said five-on-five game, the way I want to play is not for everyone. So, you got to fit the right group and the right players. And I think hopefully the PK, it's going to help us to fit the guys we have right now."
As Sturm said, the number of penalties taken remains a big part of the problem. The Bruins had seemingly cleaned things up in the first half of January, giving opponents two power plays or fewer five times in a six-game stretch. But the discipline issues returned right before the break as they surrendered four or more power plays in four of seven games, including giving the Lightning a whopping eight in the outdoor Stadium Series game. On the season, the Bruins' 212 times shorthanded are 11 more than second-place Florida.
Missing Olympics 'frustrating' for Zacha
The Bruins who aren't in Milan hit the ice at Warrior Ice Arena on Wednesday for the team's first official practice as they build towards a return to game action next Thursday. Pavel Zacha was among those skating in Brighton, but he wishes he had been playing in Czechia's thrilling quarterfinal game against Canada (a game Canada ultimately won in overtime).
Zacha figured to be a key part of the Czechs' forward group, but was unfortunately ruled out for the Olympics right before they began because of an upper-body injury suffered in the Bruins' Jan. 29 win over the Flyers.
Zacha wore a red no-contact jersey for Wednesday's practice. The hope is that he'll be ready to play when the Bruins host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 26, but he'll need to get final clearance from doctors before then.
"That was one of the most frustrating things," Zacha said of missing out on the Olympics. "...Making the decision to not go was really hard. Even watching the games now, it's hard to watch a little bit that I can't be there and experience it."
When Zacha first suffered the injury, on a high hit from Nicolas Deslauriers, he didn't think it was going to be serious enough to keep him out of the Olympics. That only made it tougher to swallow when he just didn't improve enough to get cleared to play – a decision he said that he, the Bruins and the Czech national team all made together.
"I thought right away that I'm going to be going, because it was getting better," he said. "And then it was just kind of stagnant, and then it was starting to get worse. Within three days was good, and it started getting worse the next five, six days. So, with the timeline after like a week and a half, I kind of knew that it's probably not gonna happen to come back. So, it was even more frustrating because I was hoping the first three or four days, that it was on the right track to get better. So, that was frustrating, but there's nothing you can do about it."
The Bruins were without both Zacha and Elias Lindholm – their top two centers – for their pre-Olympics trip to Florida, and still managed to come away with two points from two tough games against the Lightning and Panthers. Unlike Zacha, Lindholm did get cleared in time to play for Sweden, who got knocked out by the United States in overtime in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Getting both back in the lineup post-break will be key for Boston.
Minten marvels at fellow Vancouver native Celebrini
One Bruin who has had no problem watching every game of the Olympics is rookie center Fraser Minten.
"Every game. Haven't missed one," Minten said Wednesday in the Bruins dressing room, eyes glued intently to the second period of Canada-Czechia while talking to WEEI.com.
Minten, a proud Canadian having grown up in Vancouver, correctly predicted his country would pull out the win – although it wound up being too close for comfort for Canadian fans, requiring a tying goal in the final four minutes of regulation and then some overtime heroics from Mitch Marner.
Minten, like much of the hockey world, has marveled at what fellow Vancouver native Macklin Celebrini has done for Team Canada at just 19 years old. Celebrini had another goal and two assists Wednesday. Playing on Canada's top line with Connor McDavid, the former Boston University star now leads the tournament in goals (5) and is tied for second in points (9).
"It's very cool," Minten said. "Not that surprised. He's so good. He's really good, or great, at everything already. So, a very versatile guy, and super, super competitive, and smart. Yeah, he's been doing it his whole life, from Vancouver to college to the NHL right away. He just dominates games, and is a huge factor. So, pretty cool to see him out here helping Canada."
Minten, 21, said he occasionally played against Celebrini growing up, when Celebrini would play up an age group or two at tournaments. Minten's younger brother played against him more. Minten and Celebrini were teammates at the 2023-24 World Junior Championships, when Minten was a captain for Canada.
That experience of representing his country, and watching these Olympics, has Minten dreaming about the possibility of someday being an Olympian himself.
"I mean, yeah," he said. "I think every Canadian kid would love to do that. So, it's always fun to see NHL players back there. Yeah, another thing that you can strive for, for sure."
In the present, though, Minten is keeping his focus on the Bruins, finishing his rookie season strong, and hopefully making a playoff run. Asked what stood out to him the most when he reflected on the season so far, Minten pointed to the physicality and physical strength that is required to be consistently effective at this level.
"It's huge," Minten said when asked how much of a difference it's been from even the AHL. "I mean, you feel the effects 50 games in, 60 games in, for sure. You really have to be like, almost bulletproof your body, to be able to endure it and take the contact. The hardest part is probably that there's no rest in between. You take a hit, and you're taking another hit two games later, and it just compounds over and over and over. Whereas maybe in prior levels, even in the A or in junior, where you play Friday-Saturday, and then you don't play again until Friday-Saturday. So, just the lack of downtime is probably the toughest part physically."
What's encouraging for the Bruins is that even if Minten has been feeling the physical toll of the season, he's clearly figuring out how to navigate it while also increasing his offensive production. Minten is sixth on the team in points (29) and tied for fourth in goals (14), with his output really increasing over the last month and a half, with 16 points (8g, 8a) in his last 17 games prior to the break.
Olympic semifinals set
What an amazing day of hockey Wednesday was. Canada came from behind to beat Czechia in overtime. Finland did the same against Switzerland, in that case scoring twice in the final 6:06 of regulation to force OT. The United States gave up a tying goal with 1:31 left in regulation, but recovered in time to beat Sweden in overtime thanks to Quinn Hughes' heroics. The only quarterfinal that wasn't down-to-the-wire was Slovakia's 6-2 beatdown of Germany in the first game of the day.
A few Bruins-related notes from the day: Charlie McAvoy was nails in Team USA's win, setting the tone physically with a trio of big hits on Joel Eriksson Ek, Gabriel Landeskog and Lucas Raymond. He was third on the team in ice time (19:22) and was on the ice for the Americans' lone goal in regulation. He was also on the ice for Sweden's extra-attacker goal, but there wasn't much he could've done on the play.
David Pastrnak scored Czechia's second goal against Canada, a one-time rocket on the power play in the first period. He was also on the ice for the Czechs' go-ahead goal in the third period – a goal that Czechia actually had too many men on the ice for, but got away with since no one noticed. Had Canada ended up losing on that goal, we would have had quite the international controversy on our hands.
Meanwhile, Hampus Lindholm finally got to play in Sweden's loss to the U.S. after not playing a single shift in the Swedes' first four games. That's because Victor Hedman got injured in warmups and was unable to play, opening the door for Lindholm to play 15:48. Elias Lindholm, now in a fourth-line role after starting the tournament in Sweden's top six, played 9:36 and was on the ice for the Americans' only goal in regulation.
The Olympic semifinals will take place on Friday, with Canada facing Finland at 10:40 a.m. ET and the United States taking on Slovakia at 3:10 p.m. ET. The winners will meet in the gold medal game Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET, while the losers will play for bronze Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET.