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Big Screen: B’s to keep Chara in front of goal on PP

Zdeno Chara, Pheonix Copley, Connor Carrick

Zdeno Chara, Pheonix Copley, Connor Carrick

AP

Sounds as though NHL goalies are in store for more of Zdeno Chara’s posterior.

Chara, one of just two defensemen in the league to score 10 or more power play goals last year (Shea Weber was the other), will once again be parked in front of the goal when the Bruins take to the man advantage this season.

“To be honest with you, it would be tough to take him out of there,” B’s head coach Claude Julien explained, per the Boston Globe. “Why make a strength a weakness? So right now I think our plan is hopefully to leave him where he was.”

The Boston power play, which has traditionally struggled under Julien, caught fire last year with Chara on top of the crease. The Bruins finished with the NHL’s third-best man advantage -- operating at a 21.7 percent clip -- a far cry from the 20th-ranked unit the club had during its Stanley Cup championship campaign in 2010-11.

(The Bruins were even worse with the man advantage during that postseason, going a ghastly 10-for-88.)

While putting Chara in front of goal seems like a no-brainer -- he’s 6-foot-9, 255 pounds after all -- it’s not always that clear cut. The veteran blueliner is also a good weapon to have on the point, with his powerful shot (once clocked at 108 MPH) and ridiculously long reach.