Why Matt Grzelcyk was far from only Bruin breathing a sigh of relief after game-winning tally

Matt Grzelcyk is never going to get confused for Al MacInnis or Al Iafrate when he winds up for a slap shot — but the 5-foot-9 blueliner has had a knack over the years for sending foes ducking for cover when uncorking shots from the blue line.

P.K. Subban and MacKenzie Blackwood can certainly attest to the damage that the 27-year-old defenseman can do when afforded a bit of space in the offensive zone. 

But so far in 2021-22, Grzelcyk hasn’t had a lot of luck fall his way when it comes to finding the back of the net. 

Be it a lack of reps with the top power-play unit or minutes separated from his usual D partner in Charlie McAvoy, Grzelcyk’s offensive totals across the board have largely tailed off so far this year — but a goal-scoring drought can often be more of an exercise in luck (or lack thereof) than anything else.

And it certainly hasn’t been due to a lack of effort on Grzelcyk’s part. 

By the time Craig Smith’s feed hit him on the tape in the closing minutes of regulation on Thursday night, Grzelcyk had successfully landed 44 shots on goal through the 22 games of the new campaign — all turned aside. 

Among all NHLers, 44 shots on goal stood as the sixth-highest total without a tally to show for it — with only Keith Yandle (48), MacKenzie Weegar (53), Esa Lindell (56), Thomas Chabot (64) and Matt Roy (65) boasting higher shot volumes without much in terms of a reward.

But on shot No. 45, Grzelcyk finally found twine — with his blast from the high slot sailing right past Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 2:33 left on the clock. 

Grzelcyk picked a great time to finally snap his scoring drought, with his tally putting Boston ahead for good in the eventual 3-2 win — and securing Boston’s first 5v5 goal in close to 133 minutes of ice time.

"I think at that point, you're just trying to play hockey,” Grzelcyk said postgame. “We had some good possession in the zone and just kind of took a look before Smitty was kind of making that play and saw that the winger who might be covering me kind of dive down towards Smitty. I knew I'd have an extra second or two to take a look. And like I said, the guys did a great job in front and just tried to hit the net first and foremost and luckily, it went in.”

It was easy to discern the relief on Grzelcyk’s face upon finally getting rewarded. Not only did his third-period strike hand Boston a much-needed two points in the standings, but it was a weight off of Grzelcyk’s shoulders after failing to settle into much of a groove on Boston’s depth chart.

But Grzelcyk was far from the only Bruin breathing a sigh of relief once that puck sailed past Skinner in crunch time.

For the second night in a row, Boston’s second line of Charlie Coyle, Taylor Hall and Craig Smith were putting forth middling returns as Boston’s next wave of scoring punch. Much like Wednesday’s loss against Vancouver, the Coyle line entered the third period against Edmonton with zero shots on goal. 

Hall, who finished Wednesday’s game on the third line in an indictment of his lackluster play, still only managed to log 11:37 of ice time against the Oilers. The only B’s players with fewer reps were Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman and Trent Frederic.

But rather than split up that second line once again, Joe Sacco kept that top-six unit together down the stretch in Edmonton, hoping that the playmaking potential entrenched somewhere on that three-man unit would bubble up to the surface. 

Sacco’s patience was rewarded by the Coyle line in the seconds leading up to Grzelcyk’s go-ahead goal, even if the play itself won’t make many highlight reels. 

"It was nothing pretty,” Coyle said of his line’s shift in the third. “At least I don't think. Maybe it was pretty from the top. But I mean, it's just nothing too flashy. It's just retrieving pucks, winning battles and Smitty coming off the wall with it and making a good play and finding the open man and Grizz finishes it and guys going to the net. It's just simple hockey. And if we execute that, and we bring our compete and win battles, we're gonna see our opportunities.”

While a trademark shift involving the likes of Hall and Smith would have likely featured an odd-man rush or a sharp-angle snipe, this O-zone sequence still yielded a productive result for a B’s team in desperate need of 5v5 offense.

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• Coyle swoops into the offensive zone and shields the puck from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins along the boards before getting stuck in a puck battle at the end boards. 
• After battling for the biscuit, Coyle eventually emerges with the puck and feeds it up high to John Moore, who fires in a shot that sails wide.
• Smith, reading the play, skates over along the boards, retrieves the puck and cuts over to the slot and into Grade-A ice. 
• The defense collapses around Smith, with Zach Hyman — who was shielding Grzelcyk up near the blue line — skating over in support to cut off Smith. Smith makes the quick feed over to Grzelcyk, who now has plenty of room to operate with Hyman out of position.
• With Grzelcyk advancing with the puck and handed all of the real estate he needs to unleash a shot, the Coyle line does what it can to make things difficult for Skinner down low — with all three converging near the crease in hopes of creating an effective screen.
•  Bang. 3-2 game.

“They did a lot of good things, right? I mean, obviously it started with a good strong forecheck,” Sacco said. “We won some puck battles. We did a good job of using our third forward high — kicked it out to the D, because they were overloading their coverage.

“And we had good net-front presence on the goal. Charlie Coyle did a great job in front of the goaltender. They had to take a defenseman to try to take him out and the goalie ended up losing sight of it. It was a good shot by (Grzelcyk). Lot of good things on that goal.”

Much like how Boston manufactured its game-winning strike, the overall product on the ice Thursday was far from crisp for a B’s team trudging through the second leg of a back-to-back slate — coupled with the remnants of a non-COVID ailment that spread through the locker room. 

The Bruins shouldn’t expect Linus Ullmark to bail them out to the extent that he did on Thursday, especially when the opposition lands 43 shots against them. 

But given the manner in which Boston has routinely come up short in games this season — outshooting and out-chancing opponents by wide margins, only to not make a dent on the scoresheet due to a dearth of simple, high-danger plays — Thursday stood as a refreshing change of pace.

“We ended up getting a point (in Vancouver), but we weren't incredibly happy with the way we played,” Grzelcyk said. “We knew we had a back-to-back coming into a tough building, playing one of the best teams in the league. 

“We have a lot of character on this team, a lot of believability and sort of addressed it before the game that we want to play with a little more urgency, play with some more passion. I think that was kind of missing from our game last night and I thought everyone bought in and did a great job.”