Ryan: Bruins’ patience with Charlie McAvoy’s offensive game sure is paying off now

Death, taxes ... and guys in Craig Janney sweaters screaming “SHOOOOOOOOOOOT” from the upper stratosphere of Section 306.

It's the three constants in life — at least for Bruins fans who’ve logged far too many games at TD Garden. 

The bellowing from hockey fans imploring the players on the ice to let the biscuits fly has become a constant in just about every rink these days — serving as a familiar backing track to the usual cacophony of cheers, jeers and skates etching into the frozen sheet. 

Does screaming into the void during a power play accomplish much? Nah, not really. 

But it’s like honking your horn while ensnared in rush-hour traffic on Storrow Drive. It isn’t going to make the cars in front of you move any faster — but perhaps it makes you feel a lot better about the current plight playing out in front of you. 

Much to the Bruins players’ delight, their bench boss rarely adds his voice to the chorus of wails that often radiate down from the nosebleeds during a power play.

Especially when Charlie McAvoy is operating with the puck along the offensive blue line.

For as much as Bruce Cassidy is more than willing to take his players to task both on the bench and off the ice following a defensive lapse, lazy clear or a fairly egregious O-zone gaffe (passing a 2-on-0 chance, for example, will obviously elicit some wrath), the B’s head coach tends to hold his tongue when it comes to McAvoy’s decision making in the O-zone.

Granted, there has been some viable criticism when it comes to McAvoy’s propensity (or lack thereof) to pepper the net. 

Over the previous three seasons (2018-21), there have been 279 NHL defensemen that have logged at least 500 minutes of even-strength ice time. And in that pool of blueliners, McAvoy ranked 160th overall in shots per 60 minutes (4.24), with offensive conduits like … Brandon Carlo (5.21 shots/60) and Zdeno Chara (4.38 shots) ranked higher than the young D-man.  

The power-play totals over that three-year span are even worse. Of the 99 D-men with at least 100 minutes of power-play TOI, McAvoy ranked 87th overall with a shots/60 rate of 6.51. 

But for Cassidy, giving McAvoy a bit of a longer leash in the O-zone (especially on the power play) is a byproduct of both the personnel McAvoy often finds himself with on the ice — and the trust that Boston’s coach has in his top defenseman to eventually sort things out. 

“You want to let him play,” Cassidy said of his feedback toward McAvoy in regards to shooting. “I mean, he's a very fluid, creative player. So I don't want to be that guy that — it's easy for me to say, 'Hey, pass here, shoot here.' He's running a power play with some high-end talent with one puck and they all want it. 

“Marshy wants it to get it in to Bergy, Pasta wants to shoot it. High tips available ...  It's like a quarterback a little bit. Everybody wants the ball.”

It hasn’t always been an easy road when it comes to cultivating offense out of McAvoy — especially as far as putting pucks on net. But given the results being put forth at a consistent clip so far this season, it sure seems like Cassidy’s faith in his young blueliner is paying off.

It’s not often that you see the Bruins comfortably best an opponent — even one as meek as this spiraling Canadiens club — when their big guns in Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak all fail to find the back of the net.

But even with that trio's absence in the goal-scoring column, the Bruins found solace in their top man on the backend — with McAvoy recording the first two-goal game of his career in Boston’s 5-2 win over the Habs on Sunday night.  

Unlike the other B’s skater that potted two tallies on the night in Charlie Coyle (one of which was a painful gift after a failed clearing attempt from Jeff Petry clanged off his visor and into twine), luck played no part in McAvoy’s offensive outburst. Instead, the 23-year-old took the initiative as Boston’s O-zone conduit — landing a career-high seven shots on goal.

The manner in which two of those seven shots sailed past Habs netminder Sam Montembeault followed a similar script, much to Cassidy's delight.

McAvoy's first tally (at 5v5 play) came off an attempt just seven feet outside of Montreal's net, with the D-man pouncing on a second-chance puck after Taylor Hall's shot ricocheted off Montembeault.

McAvoy, lurking in the low slot in search of a Grade-A look, promptly knocked home the second offering – before bulldozing teammate Nick Foligno near the crease.

“I felt really bad about that," McAvoy said of trucking Foligno. "But he was the first person to give me a hug after.”

McAvoy's second goal came from about 40 feet further out, but the power-play strike was the result of activating off the blue line and snapping home a puck from the slot — an encouraging step for a young player that is still learning the ropes as Boston's QB on that PP1 unit.

"I think he's done a better job with it this year no matter what," Cassidy said of McAvoy ramping up his shot volume. "I think everyone's basically probably had a part in that — getting him to be a little more shot-driven. And some it's just maturity in the league. You just recognize after a while, the volume of shots with people going to the net is a great way to create offense and you saw some of it tonight."

For McAvoy, adopting a shot-first mentality has been more of an internal undertaking, rather than a mandate brought upon by his teammates or coaches. 

"I feel like sometimes I'll have a game where I'll reflect on it and afterward is when I'll kind of think to myself, 'Hey, you gotta shoot the puck more,'" McAvoy said. "And then I'll try and make it my focus the following game to just shoot, not trying to force anything, but really just have a shot-first mentality. So I think the onus is on me to continue to do that and not wait until I'm having games where I feel like I'm overpassing before I have to dial back and be like 'Shoot the puck more.'  So tonight, it was good."

So far, the results speak for themselves when it comes to McAvoy's O-zone production. McAvoy — whose previous career-high in scoring for a single season was 32 points — is now up to 12 points over his first 13 games of the 2021-22 campaign. 

For those keeping track, that's about a 75-point pace over the span of a full 82-game slate. Such a scoring feat would put McAvoy in pretty esteemed company, with only four B's defensemen surpassing 70 points in a single year (Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Brad Park and Carol Vadnais). 

The organic, in-arena soundtrack to Sunday's long-awaited rematch between the Bruins and Habs featured all of the hits.  

The blare of the Garden goal horn. The impassioned jeers from the Boston crowd as they mocked Montreal's "Ole, Ole, Ole" chant. And yes, the familiar calls of "shoooooooooooot" from high above the ice.

But amid that crowded din was likely a rowdy dose of hootin' and hollerin' within the Bruins' front-office box.  

Because after a few years of patience, it sure seems like their franchise defenseman (now signed through 2030, mind you) has fully grasped his offensive capabilities.

His ceiling, meanwhile, has yet to be charted.