Boston Bruins center Ryan Spooner finally contributed a point to the power play Monday afternoon against the Kings. He has been playing well in his role on the third line this season but I don’t know why he’s been getting as much time as he has been getting on the man advantage.
He has zero goals and 11 assists in 22 games this season. As of now he has an unfortunate minus-1 rating but having a negative rating on the third line for the Boston Bruins seems to be a trend for the last few years aside from the Stanley Cup winning season (and of course his power play time doesn’t contribute to the rating).
You might think zero goals and a point every other game to this point in the season isn’t so great either, but for an NHL third line rookie he is doing everything that is expected of him. If you think about who would be in his spot from last year, you could say he is also doing a pretty good Rich Peverley impression too. The last few years, this season with the Dallas Stars included, Peverley has put up just short of half a point per game. Spooner, much like Peverley, isn’t the guy who is going to get the goal most of the time but he is the guy who uses his speed to create opportunities for goals to come from his line mates.
However, much like my frustration in watching Peverly play a key role on the power play last season I’m again watching a guy who doesn’t score get ice time on the man advantage. We all know the Bruin’s power play isn’t exactly the best around. But they seemed to find something in putting big defenseman Zdeno Chara in front of the net to pick up rebounds and screen the goaltender, as the power play is the best it has been in recent memory with him in that spot.
Ranked 12th in the NHL this season they are miles above their 26th, 15th, 20th and 23rd ranked power play units of the last four years. Their 19.1% success rate is the best since 2008-09, when they were ranked fourth in the league at 23.6%. As announced by Jack Edwards in Monday’s game, the B’s are in the bottom six of NHL teams in power play goal production but don’t let that fool you. That is just showing they are drawing fewer penalties and thus getting fewer chances on the power play.
I know people have been injured and you can’t pull from the fourth line because they are the guys that are going on for the vulnerable shift after the power play so the rest of the lines can get a rest and reorganize. But why are we seeing some instances where Milan Lucic, Carl Soderberg or Loui Eriksson (when he’s been available) are sitting on the bench to watch guys who aren’t known for scoring goals getting opportunities on the man advantage? Seeing Spooner on the power play is becoming a little too consistent to be a reward for good play elsewhere or trying to fire other guys up by taking away some of their power play time. Spooner was the top dog on the AHL club in Providence, leading the team in scoring last season with eight goals coming on the power play. His NHL game just isn’t there yet though and for some reason the coaching staff just likes to play guys who don’t score.
Case in point: Claude Julien’s decision to put Spooner out as the #1 shooter in the shootout in Chicago Sunday afternoon. When you are looking at the bench next to you and see Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Pat Kane, and Marian Hossa sitting there, what makes you come to the decision to start off the shootout with a guy who hasn’t potted an NHL goal? Was the rational that maybe Chicago’s shooters would be too relaxed to score knowing they were at an advantage right off the bat? I don’t know what the mindset was there. Lucic, Smith, Krecji, Iginla, the list can go on of guys I’d rather see in a shootout but were on the bench Sunday afternoon.
Admittedly, there aren’t too many complaints to be had on the season so far, especially considering the injury plague they have been fighting all year long, so I know this is a little nit-picky. I just don’t understand why Julien insists on putting guys on the ice in scoring situations that aren’t offensive threats.
I like Spooner in the role he is there for and he’s been great in that role thus far. A third line checking guy using his speed and size to make opportunities for goals to be scored by his line mates and defensemen. His 11 assists thus far are proving that he is doing his job. His zero goals and one power play point shows me that he should be kept in his role as a third line player and let him concentrate on that before giving him more responsibilities. Especially when there are guys on the bench who are ready at the NHL level now.
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Main Photo Credit: Eric Bolte – USA TODAY
