In one corner, Artemi Panarin: A shifty, dynamic Blue Jackets winger with 116 goals and 320 career points in just four full NHL campaigns, and enough skill to leave even the most steady defensemen tangled in a heap of themselves during one-on-one situations.
In the other, Brandon Carlo: A promising 22-year-old blueliner for Boston — but still green when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with just 11 postseason contests under his belt entering Saturday night.
On the scoreboard above them: A dire situation for the Bruins at TD Garden — with Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals stuck in a 3-3 deadlock with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
Momentum was back on Columbus’ side in the final stanza, with the Jackets erasing a pair of two-goal deficits thanks to three tallies scored on four shots — all within the span 3:27 of ice time.
And with Panarin — now up to 25 points in 22 career postseason games — coasting into the Bruins’ zone with 1:40 left, the Jackets liked their chances once again. The one thing standing between the Russian winger and a Grade-A bid against Tuukka Rask?
Carlo — who, rather than collapse back in order to put his 6-foot-5 frame between the puck and Rask, opted to engage Panarin head-on as the forward cut in from the left circle and toward the slot.
A bold move from the young defenseman, but one that didn’t make Torey Krug blink twice.
A prototypical stay-at-home presence on the blue line, Carlo’s highlight reel may not as extensive as more fleet-footed defensemen like Krug or Charlie McAvoy.
But challenge the soft-spoken D-man at your own risk.
“Brando’s been doing it not just all playoff long, all year long,” Krug said of Carlo’s ability to shut down scoring chances. "He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He ends more plays than I’ve seen by anybody in this league, to be honest.”
Saturday night was no different. Before Panarin could begin corralling the puck in search of a clean shot or feed to Josh Anderson, Carlo had already taken away all of the time and space to work with, knocking the winger off balance with a body check.
Regaining the possession of the puck, Panarin was hounded by a pair of poke checks from Carlo — with an additional shove diverting the 5-foot-11 forward’s momentum back out toward Boston’s blue line.
Panarin’s juggling act with the biscuit continued, until backchecking support from Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak finally forced the Russian to relinquish the puck.
In a fitting reward for his defensive efforts, it was Carlo who regained the puck to put an end to Columbus' go-ahead bid. But he didn’t hold onto it for long.
Just six seconds after Panarin first made his move to the slot, Carlo orchestrated the sequence that put a dramatic end to Game 5 — hitting a charging Marchand in stride with a clean, cross-ice feed to start an odd-man rush down the other end of the sheet.
Whereas Panarin ran into a brick wall, Sergei Bobrovsky was not so fortunate when it came to defensive support — as Pastrnak tipped a pass from Marchand past the Jackets netminder with 1:28 left on the clock.
Game.
“He takes on one of the best one-on-one players in the world, and ends a one-on-one and off we go and get a goal,” Krug said of Carlo. “A great job by him.”
"(Panarin's) a great player obviously, he’s very shifty, he does a really good job of getting to the inside," Carlo added. "So just trying to eliminate that opportunity for him, it was good that I could get my stick and body on him. Glad we could get the turnover and get it moving the other way."
It was the response that not only the Bruins needed, but Carlo in particular. In his first foray of playoff action after a pair of season-ending injuries robbed him of the opportunity in both 2017 and 2018, Carlo has excelled when called upon — averaging 22:40 of ice time (second on Bruins) to go along with a team-high 3:02 ATOI on the penalty kill.
But given his heavy workload, Carlo is not immune to faults, as a puck deflected off of his skate earlier in the period while he was hovering in the low slot, allowing Dean Kukan to eventually beat Rask for the tying goal at 13:58.
But if we're taking the good with the bad when it comes to Carlo, there's certainly been much more of the former. Even with his 228 minutes of 5v5 ice time logged so far this postseason, and primarily operating in Boston's zone with an offensive-zone faceoff percentage of 48.41, Carlo has only been out on the ice for six 5v5 goals against. That's good for a GA/60 rate of 1.58 — with only Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Danton Heinen, Charlie McAvoy and Noel Acciari posting lower totals.
"I definitely think there were nerves in that first game (against Toronto)," Carlo said of adjusting to the pace that comes with the postseason. "I didn’t really know what to expect in the playoffs but as I’ve gotten more and more experience here I feel like I’m starting to grow my game even more. Feeling pretty good out there, confidence is definitely growing.
"I burped a puck out there, resulted in a great scoring chance but tried to not get too far ahead of myself and panic. I think that’s just going to make things worse for myself so that comes with experience in this league which I’ve appreciated from having that experience and then hearing it from the guys who are experienced, feeling pretty good."
Keeping things simple and playing to his strengths has been Carlo's mantra all season. The plays themselves oftentimes may not get fans out of their seats, but Carlo will welcome every textbook clear, blocked shot and poke check that presents itself if it puts his club on the road to success.
It doesn't matter if it's an arduous two-minute PK shift or a six-second shutdown effort against a game-changer like Panarin. Carlo will be ready to answer the call.
"That’s part of being a good team, and a mature team that knows how to win," Krug said of Carlo changing the momentum of Saturday's win."Certain players realize that big plays have to be made, it’s all about understanding what the game needs. If a game needs a big hit or a blocked shot or a big stop and then skate the puck out of the zone. It’s all about what the game needs and I think he’s starting to understand that."