BOSTON — Ryan Spooner seems to be past the groin injury that cost him 19 of the Bruins’ first 38 games this season.
On Thursday, when blizzard conditions prompted the postponement of the Bruins’ scheduled game against the Panthers at TD Garden (make-up date and time TBA), Spooner had extra time to think about the right elbow — not his own, actual right elbow, but the spot where he’s found most frequently when his power play unit is on the ice.
The 25-year-old forward, a full-time Bruin since the second half of the 2014-15 season, has long been stationed during power plays in the area also known as the right half-wall — near the boards, sometimes into the faceoff circle, about halfway between the offensive blue line and the end line. That hasn’t changed this season, but Spooner has recently joined a different set of players. Previously a member of what’s considered the Bruins’ top group, which includes forwards Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, plus defenseman Torey Krug, Spooner has been shifted to a second unit.
“It’s a little bit of a different look,” said Spooner, who joined forwards David Krejci, David Backes and Jake DeBrusk, plus defenseman Charlie McAvoy, in Saturday night’s 5-0 win at Ottawa. “It’s going to take some time, but I think if we keep it simple … that helps us out a lot.”
It took almost no time for the new group to click on Saturday. Spooner, who had scored only one goal in 16 previous games, netted his second of the year on the Bruins’ first power play of the game. Krejci, who’s usually stationed opposite Spooner on the left elbow, gave the group another power play goal in the second period.
“As a unit, the philosophy we’ve kind of had is that when we have a chance to shoot, we have to shoot — even if it’s me or (Krejci), and we both like to pass first.
“If I have a chance to shoot, I have to shoot. (Krejci) knows that if the puck goes from him to Charlie (McAvoy, at the point) to me, he has to get to the net. We have to try to get three bodies there (Backes and DeBrusk are always stationed closest to the net), and hopefully score. We actually did it twice against the Senators that exact way.”
It’s a bit of a switch from Spooner’s previous group, whose go-to plays involve setting up Pastrnak for one-timers from the left circle, or feeding Bergeron for shots from a “bumper” position around the right circle. Spooner hasn’t found the change too drastic, though.
“I’ve been playing the half-wall for four or five years now,” he said. “At the end of the day, I just have to do the same thing.
“I either have to (pass) it to the middle, up top or down low, or shoot it. Things don’t really change too much for me.”
Rookie Danton Heinen, a frequent half-wall fill-in for Spooner while the latter was injured, finds himself in that familiar spot again. Adjustment, therefore, has been minimal, which is a good thing: His group barely saw the ice on Saturday, since the second group scored on two of that night’s four power plays, although Bergeron did score during a third-period manpower advantage. Both groups were a combined 0 for 3 in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over the Islanders.
“It’s a matter of getting comfortable with them again,” said Heinen, adding that he studies Spooner to gain a little more know-how. “They’re all great players, so you want to get it in their hands, but you’ve also got to make the right plays. I’m just trying to get comfortable, gain a little chemistry on that unit.
“You don’t want to get in their way. They’ve been doing it for a long time, so they have their plays, and they know exactly what they want to do. You just want to complement them as best you can, set them up as much as possible.”