When asked to size up the most daunting opponents that the Bruins have faced in the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign, Bruce Cassidy was quick to praise the Penguins for being the fastest foe that Boston has encountered so far on the docket.
The Canadiens were cut from the same cloth as Pittsburgh in terms of attacking in waves during O-zone possessions. The Avalanche and their top line can bury you in a hurry, while the Blues can outmuscle you and make a one-goal deficit feel like five with their packed-in defensive scheme.
But when it comes to the “best” opponent that Boston has battled this season? Cassidy gave the nod to the club that exited TD Garden on Saturday with a 3-2 shootout victory — the Washington Capitals.
“This is speed and brawn,” Cassidy said of the Caps, who have captured points in 14 of their last 15 games. “They’re a strong team, they’re one year removed from the Cup. You can see why. I give our guys credit, I thought we battled pretty hard most of the night against bigger men, especially our younger guys.”
Indeed, the Bruins should have some positives to draw from Saturday’s result, in which a shorthanded B’s roster playing without the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Jake DeBrusk, Torey Krug and countless others managed to draw a point from the top team in the Eastern Conference — although the manner in which Boston conceded a regulation victory left many in the locker room soured by the final result.
Against a depleted Boston lineup, the Capitals did tilt the ice in their favor for extended stretches, headlined a 30-16 edge in 5v5 shots on goal and 26-17 advantage in scoring chances. But things could have been even worse, considering that some of the healthy bodies logging minutes for Boston played right into the kind of mismatch that Washington skaters like Tom Wilson, Alex Ovechkin, Radko Gudas and Garnet Hathaway tend to exploit.
“It’s a tougher game for the [Connor] Cliftons and the [Matt] Grzelcyks of the world,” Cassidy explained.
Sure, Washington boasts plenty of elite playmakers with players like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jakub Vrana, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson leading the way, but with steam trains like Wilson and Ovechkin supporting the Capitals’ offense, very few teams possess the personnel capable of handling both blistering speed and plenty of brawn.
Luckily for the Bruins, they might have a suitable counter towards Washington's strengths in a 21-year-old blueliner.
It's been an interesting campaign for Charlie McAvoy — in the first season of a new three-year, $14.9-million contract. Expectations are sky-high for the promising defenseman, with the BU product still looking to find the equilibrium that comes with being a top-pairing D tasked with shutting down top-six forwards — while also chipping in offensively without operating with too much risk.
There's been plenty of road bumps along the way — down both ends of the ice. But against the Capitals, McAvoy put together his best effort of the season, recording a pair of assists over 23:23 of ice time while also neutralizing Washington's top line of Ovechkin, Wilson and Kuznetsov.
"He was terrific tonight," Cassidy said of McAvoy. "Level of competition tends to bring out the best in Charlie, we certainly saw that tonight. We needed it against a heavier group. I think he took the challenge head-on. ... With Charlie, he’s got to stay in the moment, that’s when he plays his best hockey.
"So we’re not in there feeding him, it’s not information overload for that particular type of player. It’s Protect the middle of the ice, be assertive with the puck when you see ice, make good decisions when to go, and I thought tonight a lot of it fell into place. He was up the ice at the right time, defending at the right time, not being vulnerable to a serious counterattack from a team that can finish. He wasn’t putting himself in bad spots. I thought that was the best part. As much as he was involved in the game, there wasn’t much risk. That’s a sign of a guy that’s growing."
Entering Saturday's game, McAvoy had only recorded four helpers through his first 19 games. When Cassidy opted to slot McAvoy next to Matt Grzelcyk in order to bring more of a scoring punch to his game, an ill-advised move by McAvoy to play the puck along the end boards led to a 4-on-1 rush by the Flyers and subsequent goal from Travis Konecny back on November 10.
But on Saturday, McAvoy made the right moves in the O-zone when the situation presented itself — without putting his club in a tough spot with his positioning. In particular, McAvoy capitalized at 11:32 in the first — pinching up along the boards to play a puck and starting a scoring sequence that ended with a goal from Charlie Coyle.
McAvoy's positive steps in the O-zone are indeed a good sign for his continued growth, but it was his ability to trade punches with the likes of Wilson and Ovechkin that truly elevated his showing on Saturday night.
"If you're gonna play against guys like that, you've got to be physically up to the task," McAvoy said. "So I take that very seriously and try to play hard on those guys and a big part of that is physicality."
With McAvoy hounding the Capitals' bruising wingers and keeping them outside of the slot and Grade-A areas, Ovechkin and Wilson were unable to leave their usual marks on the scoreboard.
In total, McAvoy was out on the ice for 12:04 of 5v5 TOI at the same time as Ovechkin. And during that stretch, Boston held a:
- 9-7 edge in 5v5 shot attempts.
- 1-0 edge in 5v5 goals scored.
- 6-1 edge in 5v5 scoring chances.
- 2-1 edge in 5v5 hi-danger scoring chances.
