An anticipated reunion didn’t exactly go the way that Matt Grzelcyk was expecting on Saturday night.
While Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy have plenty of history together prior to their current tenure with the Bruins, the two have only been paired up sparingly in their young NHL careers — logging just 79 minutes of five-on-five TOI in over 50 games together ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Maple Leafs.
But with Boston’s D corps still missing some key cogs in Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller, Bruce Cassidy opted to keep McAvoy and Grzelcyk on one pairing — reconvening a duo that started for 24 games during their lone season together at Boston University in 2015-16.
Grzelcyk and McAvoy had their work cut out for them against Toronto, with their primary matchup set against the Leafs’ top line of Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Zach Hyman (11:29 TOI in five-on-five play).
And while the Tavares line had its chances during that stretch with a 6-2 edge in shots on goal, Grzelcyk was encouraged by the play of McAvoy in what was just his second game back following seven weeks on the shelf with a concussion.
“It was nice tonight,” Grzelcyk said. “He’s obviously a great player. He hasn't really missed a beat since he went back, so it’s been great to see. Privilege to be out there with him, for sure. We had a pretty tough matchup tonight, but he was skating well, he was closing off plays and made it easier for me to read with how decisive he was.”
After rolling through a number of partners on the blue line during his time in Boston, Grzelcyk was just excited to be back playing alongside McAvoy. He didn’t think he’d have to fight for him, though.
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 174 pounds, Grzelcyk is far from the Bruins’ first choice when it comes to dropping the gloves, but the Charlestown native jumped into action midway through the third period — answering the call after McAvoy was dropped to the ice off of a late hit by Hyman.
Coming to the defense of McAvoy while the 20-year-old defenseman was still gathering himself on the ice, Grzelcyk went after the Leafs winger, eventually getting his sweater pulled over himself before heading to the box.
Given the late timing of the hit and with the score seemingly out of reach for Toronto (6-2), getting in a scrum with Hyman was second nature for Grzelcyk, even if it stood as the first fighting major in his NHL career.
“I’m still trying to process the play with exactly what happened,” Grzelcyk said of the hit on McAvoy. “Just saw it was Charlie that went down. Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team and you never want to see, especially a guy like that, down. Just trying to stick up for your teammate there. If there was anyone else close enough to the play, they would have done the same thing.”
With the usual Bruins bruisers like Miller and Chara
currently sidelined due to injury, Boston has had a next-man-up mentality when it comes to on-ice policing, even if Cassidy was quick to note that it has often led to players like Grzelcyk and
Torey Krug
dropping the gloves in defense of a teammate.
‘Well, listen, they’re real good buddies,” Cassidy said of Grzelcyk and McAvoy. “It just seems like every time one of those hits happen, it’s our smallest guy that’s the closest guy in the vicinity, but they always go and show up, so you have to give them credit for that. I think the response from those hits come, and we’ve talked to our team about that.”
There’s major cause for concern for a player like McAvoy following a hit like that, considering his recent return from a major head injury. His status for Sunday’s game against Ottawa is a bit uncertain, with his availability likely predicated on how he feels in the morning.
If McAvoy is cleared, Grzelcyk is looking forward to another chance to team up with his former college D-pairing partner.
Even with Saturday’s tall task of defending the Tavares line, the McAvoy-Grzelcyk pairing has impressed in the past — with the duo posting a dominant Corsi For Percentage of 67.25 during their brief time together during 5v5 play.
"It’s been a few years, but we do have a lot of chemistry playing with each other,” Grzelcyk said of teaming up with McAvoy. “We’re good friends off the ice as well, and I think that does make a difference. We’re always communicating every day. We know each other’s tendencies, even though we usually don’t play together up here too much. But when he’s closing off plays and being physical like he was, it kind of allows me to get back on pucks and try to move pucks up to the forwards."
Krejci moves up
Lost in the shuffle of Boston’s offensive outburst and the late hit on McAvoy Saturday was a significant career milestone for center
David Krejci
.
With a secondary assist on
Torey Krug’s
first goal of the season, Krejci moved into 10th place on the Bruins’ all-time points list, bumping Hall of Famer
Cam Neely
out of the spot with his 591st career point.
Krejci added a goal in the 6-3 final to put himself just 14 points away from ninth place, which is held by
Terry O’Reilly
(606).
The full top 10 is as follows:
R
ay Bourque
(1,506 points),
John Bucyk
(1,339),
Phil Esposito
(1,012),
Rick Middleton
(898),
Bobby Orr
(888),
Wayne Cashman
(793),
Patrice Bergeron
(760),
Ken Hodge
(674), O’Reilly (606) and Krejci (592).
Never one to harp about personal achievements, Krejci didn’t have much to offer on stamping his name in with some elite company.
"It's nice. But that's not something I was going into the season looking to achieve,” Krejci said. “I’m here to help the team and glad we got the win tonight.”
Krejci’s performance on Saturday was welcomed, especially while serving as the man in the middle of a top heavy line with
Brad Marchand
and
David Pastrnak
on the wing. With Boston still without
Patrice Bergeron
for at least a couple of weeks, Krejci has largely answered the call, and is on pace for his sixth 60-plus point season with the B’s — along with his first since the 2015-16 season.
“I’m proud of him. I feel bad for my boss, Cam, but that’s how it goes,” Cassidy said. “Lists are made to be broken, people are made to be passed, so good for Krech. … He’s been a great Bruin for a long time, and he keeps right on trucking."
