Three games in four nights might seem pretty daunting, but Charlie McAvoy had to be thrilled with a chance to put Sunday’s loss against the Sabres in the rearview as quickly as possible.
The 20-year-old defenseman has been strong for the B’s since returning from a 20-game absence due to a concussion — but McAvoy (and most of the Bruins, for that matter) didn’t have much of an answer for Jack Eichel and the rest of Buffalo’s top line at TD Garden.
Both McAvoy and his partner, Matt Grzelcyk, bore the brunt of Eichel’s offensive salvo on Sunday, with both B’s blueliners saddled with two goals against in the 4-2 loss.
In 12:25 of 5v5 TOI in which Eichel and McAvoy were on the ice together, Boston posted a 47.83 Corsi-For Percentage, while the Sabres held the edge in high-danger scoring chances, 4-1. Ouch.
“Charlie’s played against top lines since he’s been here, essentially. So, he’s been replacing (Zdeno Chara’s) minutes against them," Bruce Cassidy said following Sunday's loss. "We’ve used (John) Moore on that spot and Grizz and Charlie have been a pair, so we thought they could do the job.”
It was a rough result, but one to be expected for a younger skater going toe-to-toe with one of the top pivots in the league. McAvoy’s uncharacteristic struggles shed light on a greater cause for concern for a B’s D corps starting to feel the loss of regulars like Chara and Kevan Miller.
While Boston entered Monday’s road matchup against the Canadiens second in the league in goals allowed per game at 2.67, a few faults in the armor started to become more pronounced — with the Bruins surrendering four or more goals in four of its last eight games.
So what changed, then, during Boston’s 4-0 rout against the Habs?
Well, plenty did go the Bruins way.
For one, it helps when a sloppy outing from Montreal (24 giveaways) leads to easy entries and sustained offensive zone time for the B’s, while a relentless forecheck kept the Habs hemmed in — and made for a relatively easy night for Jaroslav Halak (22 saves in a shutout).
But on the blue line, it hard to ignore the lift that McAvoy provides for Boston’s D corps when he starts to hit his stride.
Given what we know about McAvoy’s already established skill set — and a ceiling that continues to stretch higher and higher — it should come as no surprise that on a night in which Montreal was limited to just 11 5v5 scoring chances, McAvoy put forth one of his top performances of the season.
Ranking third on the B’s blue line in TOI at 19:47 — McAvoy did it all for Boston in Monday’s win, logging both 1:58 on the power play and 2:27 on the penalty kill that turned aside three Habs stints on the man advantage.
In 11:25 of 5v5 TOI with Grzelcyk, Boston’s top D pairing shut down Montreal, with the Bruins holding the edge in shots (8-2), scoring chances (7-1) and high-danger scoring chances (4-0) during that extended stretch.
Dropping down for a pair of blocked shots and dishing out six hits on the night, McAvoy did his part to limit Montreal’s Grade-A chances on the night — while also contributing down the other end of the ice.
While most of Boston’s secondary-scoring woes this year have seen Boston’s bottom six shoulder most of the blame, Cassidy has harped on the need for the Bruins’ scoring chances to start from their defensemen — with players like McAvoy leading the breakout or opening up seams in the offensive zone.
McAvoy didn’t miss much of a step in that regard, finishing with two assists on the night — both during sequences in which he jumped into the play and fed both Colby Cave and David Krejci for tallies.
Great passing from Pastrnak and McAvoy lead to Colby Cave's first NHL goal.
2-0 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/kcUOj5tRkb
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 18, 2018