If Thursday was a sign of things to come, Charlie Coyle is going to transform Boston’s forward corps

It takes a certain amount of crazy to willingly skate down into the crease, scratch and claw for premium plot of real estate down low and wait in anticipation (!) for a screaming puck of vulcanized rubber to come sailing toward you. 

Then again, just about every player in the NHL has to be a bit crazy to willingly welcome such punishment on a regular basis. 

But only a choice few in the league can check off all of the boxes that Charlie Coyle did on Thursday night. 

Namely, finding a way to screen a 6-foot-7 body in net in Stars goalie Ben Bishop. 

“You’ve got to still stay there,” the 6-foot-3 Coyle said of his M.O. when tasked with screening a player of Bishop’s stature in the crease. “ That’s where the puck goes and you’ve got to do your part. I don’t know if you’ve got to stand on your tippy-toes or what.”

It might not have been flashy, but Coyle's efforts to shield Bishop from the play developing just a few feet outside of the net proved to be just what Boston needed in that short sequence — as Danton Heinen promptly rifled the puck past Bishop for a power-play tally.



Whereas Coyle largely ingratiated himself to his hometown fanbase this past spring by finding his scoring touch during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's the 27-year-old pivot's puck-possession proficiency and overall hockey smarts that should have Boston's coaching staff salivating at what the Weymouth native can bring to this club over a full 82-game slate.

Based on what he showcased during Thursday's season-opening victory over the Stars, perhaps the more valid question is what can't he bring night in and night out? Because you'd be hard-pressed to find an answer there.



Had this been the roster that Boston rolled out last October, the B's would be in rough shape going into Thursday's season opener, as David Krejci was sidelined due to a nagging lower-body injury, while Boston's top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak struggled to shake off some early-season rust — totaling three shots on goal on a scoreless night.

That top-six futility normally would doom a top-heavy B's offense, but less than six minutes into the contest at American Airlines Center, Boston managed to build itself a 2-0 lead off of its first two shots on goal. That's some solid O-zone efficiency from Boston, and both tallies were made possible by No. 13 in the middle.

Brett Ritchie might draw plenty of headlines for his role in Boston's victory, given that the former Stars winger opened the scoring for Boston just 1:09 into the new season. But the scoring chance for Ritchie wouldn't have been possible if not for the efforts of his center in Coyle — who thwarted a breakout attempt by Dallas by using his long reach to dislodge the puck from Andrew Cogliano before he could reach the blue line.

Before Dallas had time to regroup, the puck was skittering back towards the Stars' net, giving Ritchie a chance to corral it and snap it past Bishop to put Boston on the board.



That 200-foot game and poise with the puck were one of the main reasons why Coyle drew praise for most of the preseason when it came to his play on the ice — both in game action and even during practices.

Even before he battled down low to deny Bishop a clean look on Heinen's goal, Coyle was already using his big frame to give Boston's second power-play unit some time to get set up in Dallas' zone. While Dallas' top men on the PK succeeded in denying the usual  suspects in David Pastrnak and Torey Krug from the time and space that they are accustomed to working with in the O-zone, the Stars had few answers for a mismatch like Coyle on the second PP unit — both in transition and especially when he's shielding the puck along the boards.

(The sequence in the seconds leading up to Heinen's goal, in which Coyle is able to keep the biscuit away from John Klingberg and allow his teammates to get into position.)



Having already done his part, Coyle was expected to return to the elbow now that Boston was operating in the Stars' zone, but opted instead to serve as a netfront option. Clearly, it worked out.

"He was good. He was arguably our best player, our most noticeable player in camp," Bruce Cassidy said of Coyle. "And the screen, to me, made that goal. Danton, he might beat him anyway, it's a good shot. Don't get me wrong. But Bishop, he's a real good goaltender — he's a guy, you usually have to take away his eyes. Charlie did a good job there. He was originally the guy that was going to be one of the elbows, not the netfront, but he had the presence of mind to get there, because that's the way — it's a fluid game, sometimes, and we needed somebody there."

“You don’t want to pass up too many shots, but get him moving," Coyle added of the strategy against Bishop. "With a big guy like that, they’re usually not the quickest, but he’s a good goalie. You’ve got to collapse on rebounds and get him moving."

While it remains to be seen just how long a makeshift line of Coyle, Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk will stand as a viable trio, it's hard to knock the results from Thursday night.

On a night in which the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line's offensive contributions failed to manifest and a fellow top-six line of Par Lindholm, Karson Kuhlman and Heinen were outshot, 7-2, in 12:15 of 5v5 TOI together, the Coyle line held a 64.29% shot share and landed four shots on goal in 9:16 of 5v5 TOI together.

Still, Coyle believes Boston was simply scratching the surface, which is to be expected during Game 1 of 82.

“Something to build on," he said. "I think as a whole, and personally, too, I think we had a decent start and then the ice gets a bit sloppy and try to make the right plays, but at that point you have to make hard plays. Not play safe, but just hard and we kind of forced too many turnovers and that’s what they feed into, so I think that’s why they had a push or two as the game as the game went along.”

Indeed, Boston is just scratching the surface at what this roster is capable of. And when Boston's top-six crew starts to get rolling, Coyle and his line will be poised to put an already promising forward corps over the top.