It’s difficult enough as it is to win games in the NHL. The Boston Bruins aren’t making it any easier on themselves as the league’s most penalized team.

With 124 total infractions to date, the Bruins have faced 94 shorthanded situations this season for an average of 3.91 per game. That hasn’t inhibited them too much yet, but it’s quickly beginning to catch up to them.

On Sunday night against the San Jose Sharks, the Bruins committed a total of seven penalties, two by Jonathan Aspirot, one by Nikita Zadorov–who has so far has been sent to the box more than player in the league this year–as well as one each from Pavel Zacha, Hampus Lindholm, and Henri Jokiharju.

Boston’s PK unit survived five of the six shorthanded situations it faced, including a prolonged 1:50 stint in the second period where it was down two men. But as valiant of an effort as it was, it didn’t help the Bruins avoid falling 3-1 in what was the 11th instance this year in which they took five or more penalties in a single game.

“We had all the momentum, but then just took too many penalties,” Elias Lindholm told reporters in San Jose. “It killed us a little bit. I don’t know how many penalties we took, but it’s hard to win games in this league when we’re in the box that much.” 

It’s helped early on this year that the Bruins have been very strong while shorthanded, ranking 11th in the league on the kill while executing at an 83 percent clip. They’ve also been fortunate enough, for the most part, to outscore their mistakes–something that most, and even they themselves, didn’t expect before the year began.

Driven by Morgan Geekie and his 17 goals, which are tied for the league lead, the Bruins sit in the top half of the NHL in scoring, averaging 3.08 goals per game. They also own the fourth-best power play that has scored on 25.6 percent of its opportunities.

Too bad it’s not seeing the ice very frequently. The Bruins have spent over 31 more minutes killing off their own penalties this season than they have trying to make opponents pay for theirs.

The more often the Bruins have their penalty killers on the ice, the more often players like Geekie and David Pastrnak are stuck on the bench.

“You automatically leave your best players on the bench,” said Bruins coach Marco Sturm. “If you’ve ever played the game before, you’ve got to be in a rhythm. If you’re not, it’s tough to get going again.”

So how do the Bruins start to solve what was already a major problem and that’s only growing worse? Just stop taking penalties, right? As simple of a solution as it is, it continues to elude the Bruins.

“That’s a good question,” Sturm said. “Obviously, we need to talk to the group. We already did a bunch of times. We have to find a way. Five penalties a night, it’s going to be hard. Players are too good and too skilled on the power play. We have to correct it.”

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