Charlie McAvoy had to watch Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals from high above the ice at TD Garden, but he had zero qualms when it came to the performance of a D corps playing without one of its top-pairing options.
Tuukka Rask was active in net (29 saves on 31 shots), but the Bruins managed to hold their own against the Hurricanes at 5v5 play, an area where Carolina has dominated this season — holding 56.47 percent of shot attempts in the postseason going into its series with Boston.
Both the Bruins and Hurricanes were even in shot attempts, 38-38, during 47:36 of 5v5 play on Thursday — but Boston also held a 2-1 edge in goals scored during that stretch, while McAvoy’s replacement in the lineup, Steven Kampfer, buried a puck past Petr Mrazek to open the scoring just 2:55 into the game. For McAvoy, forced to sit out due to a one-game suspension, Thursday's result (a 5-2 victory) brought a sigh of relief.
“Kampf steps in and scores the first goal of the Conference Finals — true goal scorers way, he just walks in and there was no doubt about it,” McAvoy said. “I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that whoever is in there for the group of six, they can get the job done.
“So happy and proud of those guys for the way they played in Game 1. There were pockets where they played well, but our D played strong, the stayed strong, really good sticks. All around, it was a great effort by those guys.”
Kampfer performed admirably in what was just his second career playoff game, but the Bruins will obviously roll with their usual D-corps structure for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. McAvoy will slot back up top with Zdeno Chara, while Connor Clifton will return back to the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk.
McAvoy’s contributions on the box score are easy to spot. Now in his third go-around in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 21-year-old currently leads the Bruins in ice time this postseason at 24:46, while recording a goal and six assists over 13 games.
His stamina and playmaking ability have raised his stock as a premier blueliner at the NHL level, but he might be even more impactful away from the puck, especially during this Cup run.
As has been the case all year as a top-pairing option, McAvoy has primarily been matched up against a top-six line this postseason — with plenty of those reps spent out of the opposition’s zone (46.24 O-zone faceoff percentage).
But even with those heavy minutes (272 5v5 min. played in the postseason), McAvoy has only been out on the ice for six goals against during this playoff run — good for a goals against per 60 minutes rate of 1.32.
The only Bruins ahead of him in that stat? Danton Heinen (0.66), David Pastrnak (1.15) and Patrice Bergeron (1.28).
But if you ask Bruce Cassidy, the biggest area where McAvoy can leave his fingerprints on a matchup is in the transition game — where McAvoy currently ranks second on the B’s in terms of possession exit percentage at 33.9%. In other words, during all of McAvoy’s exit attempts from the D zone, he’s had the puck on his stick over a third of the time.
(When McAvoy is at his best, he’s nearly unstoppable with the puck on his stick — capable of carrying the biscuit through all three zones and setting up scoring plays before the opposition can gather itself. When he has his legs, as seen below against Columbus in Game 5, McAvoy can impose his will against a team.)
“Breakouts. Good transition in the neutral zone,” Cassidy said Saturday of what Boston missed the most with McAvoy’s absence. “Those kind of seam passes or those up the middle passes that maybe other guys just don’t have the vision or confidence — or both — to make.
"He makes those quick-strike plays to forwards, getting pucks in their hands in good spots with a little better chance to attack. ...That’s probably the biggest difference.”
One of the main reasons the Hurricanes have juiced their puck-possession numbers during 5v5 play is due to their ability to dictate O-zone time by way of a frantic forecheck. Even when Rod Brind’Amour opts to go a bit more conservative with a 2-1-2 forechecking structure, big bodies like Jordan Staal and Micheal Ferland can knock some bodies around down low.
Having one of the top blueliners when it comes to zone exits in Grzelcyk (49.4% possession exit percentage) does give Boston a bit of an equalizer against Carolina’s forecheck. Adding another plus-player in transition play in McAvoy could put Boston over the top.
When you factor in breakup percentage (Dividing the number of times a skater dispossesses an offensive player of the puck by the number of times said defender targets an offensive skater) McAvoy clocks in at 16.1%.
That’s second on the Bruins (again - Grzelcyk leads the way at 20.5%), but McAvoy’s totals rank higher than a number of landmark defensemen across the league, including Roman Josi (13.7%) and John Klingberg (1.5%).
Add those metrics to McAvoy’s workload and offensive production, and the B’s have a hell of a weapon set to return on Sunday afternoon.
“His physicality in the playoffs, too,” Cassidy said of what the B’s missed on Thursday without McAvoy. “I think he upped his — obviously got suspended for it — but he’s trying to play a more physical, clean game than maybe he did during the regular season. Knowing that he’s matched up with top guys every night, he’s gonna see them for two weeks straight, I think those are the two things we’ve missed.”
Rask not taking things for granted:
Ask some in the B’s locker room about a potential Stanley Cup Final, and the blinders go up. Three more wins are needed before this club can clinch the Prince of Wales Trophy and punch its ticket to the fourth and final round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it's not overlooking the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I believe we do,” Zdeno Chara said when asked if this 2018-19 Bruins team has the same characteristics as the 2010-11 squad. “But I think as of right now, we’re no further than Game 2. It’s easy to talk about the Stanley Cup Finals or runs, but we are where we are and that’s in front of Game 2.”
For as much as the B’s are focused on putting one foot in front of the other and remaining fixated on the task at hand, it can be hard to tune out things out completely — especially with just seven more wins separating Boston for another Stanley Cup title.
The last time the Bruins hoisted the Cup in 2011, Rask was the backup to Tim Thomas, with the 23-year-old netminder sitting on the bench for the entirety of the postseason while Thomas orchestrated a Conn Smythe campaign.
And after coming up short against the Blackhawks in heartbreaking fashion two years later, a now 32-year-old Rask knows that another opportunity for this veteran core might not be in the cards for quite some time. After all, this stands as the furthest that this group has gone since that Cup run in 2013.
“You realize that these opportunities don’t come (often),” Rask said. “You can’t take it for granted. When you’re a young guy and you happen to be in the Finals or win or whatever, you’re like, Well, this is easy. We could be here every year. That’s most likely not the case. When you’re a veteran and you’ve had the luxury of seeing it, and then a few years, you don’t make it. And you’re like, Well, it’s actually really, really tough. So just try to embrace it and really, really enjoy it.
The Bruins have certainly enjoyed Rask’s performance in net all spring, with the goalie now up to a .938 save percentage this postseason. The next closest remaining netminder? San Jose’s Martin Jones at .909.
Injury updates:
With McAvoy back in the fold, the Bruins only have two question marks remaining on their roster — one up front and the other on the blue line.
While Don Sweeney noted last week that defenseman Kevan Miller has not been ruled out for the Eastern Conference Final, Cassidy added on Saturday that there is “nothing new to report there” when it comes to a timetable for the veteran. Miller has still not skated in any capacity, even ahead of the team’s scheduled practices.
Noel Acciari, on the other hand, skated with his teammates on Saturday while wearing a red, non-contact jersey. The fourth liner hasn’t played since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal, but he has a chance to slot back into the lineup as soon as this series heads south.
“He won’t play tomorrow,” Cassidy said of Acciari. “Doing well. He should be a full practice Monday. We’ll see what we’re doing that day, but we’ll be ready, whatever the case may be for Monday. And hopefully that allows us to play Tuesday and we’ll make our decision there.”
Of course, Acciari’s return would likely force one of Chris Wagner or Joakim Nordstrom out of the lineup if Cassidy is adamant about slotting the Providence forward back into the lineup. In five games together, the Nordstrom-Kuraly-Wagner line has generated a Corsi For Percentage of 44.78% — although just 15 percent of their total faceoffs have been in the offensive zone.
Odds and ends:
The players in Boston’s locker room have spoken at length about relishing the opportunity presented to them during this Stanley Cup run. As for Cassidy?
“I do, every day,” he said. “Bobby Orr is in the building last night, walks in and I get an autographed book. Guy’s my idol. How can you not enjoy that part of it? Ray (Bourque) is doing the banner. Another defenseman I looked up to for years. To be around that is a privilege, I said it all along. You can’t let it affect you every day. You’ve got to be in the moment, but for me, I do it a lot.”
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Seems like the Blue Jackets can’t let it go, eh?
Just to answer everyone...the golf course was quiet today...even when I rolled in birdies...@NationwideArena is and will always be louder then @tdgarden #fact but I will also say that the @NHLBruins will beat the @NHLCanes but it’s a 7 game series and time will tell..???to all!
— Brandon Dubinsky (@BDubi17) May 11, 2019