Charlie Coyle's slump-snapping tally came at perfect time for key cog in B's lineup

When the time comes to stitch together the final highlight reel from the 2021 Bruins season, it's safe to assume that a bevy of content will be provided courtesy of Thursday's 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden. 

After all, David Krejci's tightrope act in the third period — in which he maneuvered around Rasmus Dahlin, fooled Henri Jokiharju into skittering through no-man's-land off another toe drag, activated the Eye of Agamotto, ground time to a halt and promptly fed the biscuit to Taylor Hall — was nothing short of O-zone mastery by a suddenly awakened behemoth on Boston's second line.

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Of course, there were other plays — David Pastrnak hammering a one-timer into twine off of a feed sailing up toward his laces. Brad Marchand going top shelf off an empty-net strike from 122 feet out.

All filthy displays of skill. All serving as validation that Boston's top-six unit will be a thorn in the side of even the most stout defenses come the postseason.

But when it comes to determining just how long Boston can keep this 2021 campaign going, perhaps the most important play from Thursday's win came off the stick of Charlie Coyle.

The 29-year-old forward's third-period tally was impressive in its own right, with the Weymouth native using his 6-foot-3, 213-pound frame to muscle his way to the Buffalo net — fighting off a pair of Sabres skaters before roofing one past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s glove.

The goal, serving as Coyle's sixth of this COVID-shortened season, held significant sway over Thursday's result — snapping what was a 2-2 deadlock at the time and jumpstarting a final scoring surge punctuated by both Hall and Marchand's tallies.

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But in the bigger picture, finally etching his name back in the scoring column could be the turning point that Coyle needs to right the ship — and get back to being the puck-possessing, third-line ace that they need him to be if this club has its eyes set on a deep postseason run.



Thursday's goal was a trademark type of play for a player like Coyle — who's often at this best when the puck is stuck on his blade and he's using his size and reach to extend O-zone time and drive play deep into Grade-A ice. But given how long it's been since Coyle last lit the lamp (way back on Feb. 28), the Mass. native would take just about any fortuitous bounce, tipped feed and other break that came his way.

 

While quenching the longest goal-scoring drought of one's NHL career (28 total games) might naturally seem like a weight off of one's shoulders, Coyle played it cool when it came to discerning just how much his extended slump was hovering over him.

"No," Coyle flatly declared. "I mean, it's not about me and scoring goals. It's about the team winning. Yeah — do I realize that I didn't score in a little bit? Yeah. But you just got to make sure you play your game. I don't go into every game saying 'Hey, I got to score, I got to score.' It's just about me bringing what I'm capable of bringing, what I need for the team to play well. And they need a lot more than scoring goals. Is it great? Yeah, it is. And I want to do more of it. But it's not something that that was weighing on me."

Even if Coyle's scoring woes weren't looming over him, finally breaking through in the O-zone should still bode well for what lies ahead — with Boston needing more even-strength production outside of its now very effective top-six unit. With just seven games left on the docket before the playoffs get underway, the B's desperately need Coyle to get more comfortable in the offensive zone — and build some confidence with more points on the box score.

While an ideal situation is that Coyle will be able to slot back into his usual spot as the third-line pivot come the playoffs, Boston has opted to shift him over to wing over the past week — giving him some freedom to play a more simplified game in order to try and build him some traction.

"Sometimes you move to wing and you play just more straight line and I'm playing with a guy in Sean Kuraly who's really responsible defensively," Coyle said. "I can trust him and be able to get on the forecheck and know that he's back there, or vice versa. If he's in there, then he trusts me. That's the beauty of playing with another centerman who has kind of got that defensive mentality a little bit. So that makes it a little easier and I can get in there and do my thing and forecheck, win battles and that's when I usually get to my game and I play well and our line plays well, and usually chances come from that."

 

 

Do the Bruins expect Coyle to suddenly turn back the clock and be the third-line conduit that routinely hammered his matchups during the road to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019? They'd welcome it, no doubt. But with Boston's top-two lines dicing up the competition, all that Bruce Cassidy and the B's need is for Coyle to get back to the level in which they can comfortably pencil him into that 3C spot this summer and trust him to play a 200-foot-game, extend O-zone and pot the chances in front of him.

Thursday's breakthrough, at long last, stood as a major step forward for Coyle when it comes to getting back to that type of game.

"I always want to contribute," Coyle said. "You want to contribute every game. That's what you want. But it's a team game and usually is kind of scattered throughout. But I'm happy to contribute. I am. And it's nice to see that go in and help my team win. I'm happy about it, for sure. I'm not going to downplay that. But I just got to keep doing what I set out to do and what I'm capable of and that stuff will happen."