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Bruins ‘experimenting’ with Chara in front of the net on power play

New York Rangers v Boston Bruins - Game One

BOSTON, MA - MAY 16: Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins is congratulated by teammates on the bench in the second period after scoring against the New York Rangers in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Jared Wickerham

He’s big. Huge, actually. So it would seem to make sense that Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara would be placed in front of the opposition’s net during the power play.

At 6'9" and 255 pounds, he not only provides a massive screen for opposing goalies, but would prove difficult - perhaps impossible at times - for defenders to try and get him out of the way.

“We’re tinkering with that,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe.

“We’re going to have a look at that. We have some guys that we feel can shoot the puck from the back-end. Z is probably one of our best guys at screening with his big body.

“We’ve known that for a long time. It was probably what we feel like we didn’t have for the back-end. It’s something we’re experimenting with.”

This isn’t some kind of miracle breakthrough, however.

You’ll recall - and as the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa reports - Chara was in front of the Leafs net, causing a screen, when Patrice Bergeron scored the game-tying goal in the third period of Game 7 in that first round series.

The Bruins went on to win the series.

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