In his return to lineup, Hampus Lindholm showed why Bruins valued him as missing piece on blue line

When it comes to the game of hockey, there isn’t an awful lot that Hampus Lindholm isn’t proficient in.

Be it a stout frame (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) and ability to log heavy minutes, an active stick capable of disrupting feeds, an effective point shot or a crisp transition game, it doesn’t take very long to discern why the 28-year-old blueliner has staked his claim as a top-pairing fixture in this league for close to a decade.  

But if there’s one area of the game that Lindholm doesn’t quite excel at — it's watching it from afar. 

“Watching hockey is not something I've ever been good at,” Lindholm noted following Boston’s Game 6 victory at TD Garden.”Super happy to be out there with the boys.”

What ultimately amounted to three games missed and a little over a week on the shelf felt like an eternity for Lindholm — who was felled by an upper-body injury in Game 2 after getting popped by Andrei Svechnikov while skating behind Boston’s net. 

Considering how ugly the optics were in the aftermath of that hit — with a dazed Lindholm needing help off the ice — it was safe to assume that Boston’s deadline pickup’s availability for the remainder of this Cup run was going to be in jeopardy. 

But only a few days after getting dropped by the Hurricanes’ top-six forward, Lindholm was back on the sheet at Warrior Ice Arena. After nearly getting the green light in Game 5, Lindholm was cleared in a do-or-die home tilt on Thursday. 

“It was pretty quick after, actually,” Lindholm said of how long it took for him to get back to full health. “Luckily I’m in good shape enough to take it in a good way. Luckily I didn’t take it worse."

And in Game 6, Lindholm certainly looked no worse for wear as one of Boston’s anchors on the blue line.

For those who didn’t watch Boston’s 5-2 victory, Lindholm’s contributions could perhaps be overlooked in some aspects. 

Yes, he was as advertised in terms of his reps (a team-high 24:48 of ice time), but it’d be easy to fixate on the zeroes on the score sheet and dismiss a bit of what Lindholm provided in his first game back.

But a player like Lindholm — while certainly capable of lighting the lamp and generating scoring chances in the offensive zone — brings more to their club than just points, assists and other measurable metrics. 

“I don't want to say surprised at the way he's played — I just haven't watched him so much over the years,” Charlie Coyle said of Lindholm. “But he's been such a great player for us and just how poised he is with the puck, the way he can shield and break out and enter their zone, transition that way and make those plays. 

“He makes some plays where you're sitting on the bench and you don't even see it and he sees it. And when he's got the puck on his stick and bodies in front of them, and (he) makes it look easy. We want those guys in our lineup, they make a huge difference."

When the Bruins sacrificed heaps of draft capital to pry Lindholm out of Orange County back in March, the B’s hoped that the defenseman’s ability to break pucks out, hit skaters in stride in the neutral zone and snuff out scoring chances would serve as the missing piece on a roster already lauded for its stingy defensive structure. 

And in Game 6, Lindholm made all of the little plays necessary to help keep Boston’s season alive.

Even though he didn’t record a helper, Lindholm’s slick saucer feed to Brad Marchand eventually led to Charlie Coyle’s power-play tally in the second period. On multiple occasions, Carolina’s efforts at forcing turnovers by way of a frantic forecheck were negated by Lindholm's ability to corral the puck and go tape-to-tape on clean exits out of the D-zone.

An assertive move in the opening period from Lindholm helped Boston draw its first power play — with the defenseman driving through the neutral zone and hitting Tomas Nosek with a feed, leading to a hooking call against Sebastian Aho.

“He just holds onto the puck and always makes a really good pass, a really good play — a smart play, that's gonna relieve pressure,” Patrice Bergeron said of Lindholm’s talents. “But also, when you get that puck, you're not in trouble. He just doesn't give the trouble away to you. I've been really impressed with him, honestly, from Day 1. The way that he plays, he plays hard. He's a big boy too. And strong and talented offensively, but defensively sound.”

Of course, even though Lindholm is often at his best when he’s orchestrating safe passages through the neutral zone, the primary role that comes with his job description is limiting chances around Boston’s net.

And in the first period, Lindholm and his partner in Charlie McAvoy helped ensure that the Hurricanes were not going to open the scoring for the sixth straight time in this series. Following a Jake DeBrusk turnover, the Hurricanes pushed for a counter-rush — with Aho and Seth Jarvis bearing down on Jeremy Swayman.

But Lindholm swatted Aho’s feed in the slot, preventing Carolina from even getting a Grade-A shot off. Just seconds later, McAvoy put an emphatic stamp on the sterling defensive play by demolishing Aho with a crushing check. 

The road isn’t going to get any easier for Lindholm and the Bruins in Game 7. Carolina will be looking to land punches early by way of that frantic forecheck — and it’s safe to assume that Lindholm and McAvoy will have plenty of reps against top-six regulars like Aho, Svechnikov and others. 

But for as much as Carolina might hold a sizable advantage in their own barn, a re-engaged Lindholm could help Boston tilt the scales ever so slightly back in its favor on Saturday afternoon.

“They're just good players with good hockey IQ that want the puck,” Bruce Cassidy said of the Lindholm-McAvoy pairing. “Some guys, they're more defensive-minded. They don't really want it a lot. Those two both want it, so when you want the puck and you're sort of presenting yourself to where you think is a good spot to get it and I think that's what happens with them both."