Donnelly: Coyle, McAvoy take matters into their own hands in pivotal Game 3 win

Charlie Coyle's dominant first-round series continued in the Bruins' pivotal Game 3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Friday.

The Bruins knew they'd be going into Game 3 without captain Patrice Bergeron. Lineup adjustments were plentiful at the morning skate ahead of Friday's contest in Sunrise, Fla. as Boston looked for answers after a Game 2 blunder. 

Minutes before the game, David Krejci became a late scratch due to an upper-body injury, shuffling the forward group even more. 

Enter Coyle, who made the most of another audition as a top-six center in Game 3. 

"It's tough to replace a couple guys like that. You can't. You can't solely do that," Coyle told reporters postgame. "It takes everyone. You could tell everyone kind of brought that tonight. ... You can't replace a Patrice Bergeron or a David Krejci. You just can't. But we do it together. Every guy pitches in. I thought it was a really solid effort all around."

"My game doesn't change too much, you know. I just try to do what I do best, no matter who I'm playing with. Just try to take advantage of a good opportunity."

Thrust into the top center spot in between Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk moments before the opening puck-drop, Coyle continued to excel as he has throughout the series, adding a timely goal in the middle frame, finally getting rewarded with his first point in the three games.

In 9:07 of 5-on-5 time together as a line, the Bruins out-attempted Florida 15-11, outshot them 10-5 and outscored them 1-0. Scoring chances were 7-5 for the Bruins (5-4 high-danger), and they had the best expected goals-for percentage (54.29) of any line for Boston.

“I just tried to add to [their strengths], play my game, win some face-offs, make sure we’re playing with the puck and just get to that net," Coyle said on NESN's postgame coverage. "You see that one go in, and we just throw the puck there, we get bodies there and good things happen. I just try to read off them and do my job, and hopefully, it works out. It did in a big way.”

Coyle was physically dominant, using his larger frame to establish body positioning to win battles. It was on full display on his second-period goal. Coyle (listed at 6-foot-3, 223 pounds) won the face-off back to the point before making a beeline for the top of the crease, engaging in a battle with the comparable Aleksander Barkov (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). The East Weymouth, Mass., native refused to let Barkov knock him off his spot, maintaining a strong base to remain in front of Lyon before getting a stick on Marchand's wrister to redirect it home.

It was yet another case of Coyle's expertise in the dirty areas of the ice.

“He’s just a man. That’s a weird compliment, but it is. He’s a beast," Nick Foligno told reporters. "He’s so lanky and so long, but also strong. When he puts his body into a puck or another body, you’re not getting it. He really drives our team that way. When he plays that way, it’s amazing how he leads like that. I just thought tonight, you know, his puck battles and his commitment. What a play on the goal he scores. When he puts his body into guys, there’s not anyone in the league that can defend him. We’re so privileged to have him on the team, a guy that’s a big-minute player for us. He really stepped up tonight for us.”

For the series as a whole, the Bruins have a 44-40 edge in 5-on-5 shot attempts with Coyle on the ice to go along with an even better 25-19 advantage in actual shots on goal. Scoring chances are 28-22 for Boston, too. In Game 1, he created two individual scoring chances for himself, both at 5-on-5, before putting up zero in Game 2. On Friday, Coyle generated six individual scoring chances. All six were high-danger chances and all were during 5-on-5 play. He has carried his knack for being one of the B's best at even-strength into the postseason.

“It’s great. [Coyle]’s an animal, through and through, especially around playoff time," Ullmark told reporters. "He has a lot of composure, routine and all those things. He’s hit over 100-plus games in playoffs now. It goes to show he’s been through a lot, and knows what needs to be done every single night in these kinds of games. It’s a blessing for us to have him.”

After an up-and-down first two games, Boston got progressively better as Game 3 wore on, outshooting Florida 28-22 over the final two periods. Attempts favored the Black and Gold, 47-42, in that span. At 5-on-5, scoring chances were 18-12 for Boston in the final 40 minutes.

“I don’t think we really played our game the first two games, even when we won [Game 1], we didn’t feel like we played our best," Coyle said. "Sometimes, even if you don’t have your game, you’ve got to find ways and little details. … We’ve got to make it tough on them, and that kind of compounds as the series goes on.”

Speaking of making it tough on the opposition over the course of a series, enter Charlie McAvoy, who led the B's with eight hits in Game 3. He opened the game with a crushing hit on Eetu Luostarinen right off the opening face-off. Later in the third, he crunched Anton Lundell, with which Aleksander Barkov and the Panthers took umbrage.

"The two Charlies, I thought it was great to see. I thought they led in a great way," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought everyone was on board, but I thought they spear-headed the attitude that we needed."

No. 73, no stranger to a big hit, leads the series with 20 hits through three games. His eight on Friday were second only to the bruising Radko Gudas's nine. The latter has 16 hits in the three contests. Over the course of a seven-game series, physicality like McAvoy has shown can carry a lot of weight as far as creeping into the backs of forwards' minds, making them think twice about trying to beat him on a rush or go into a 1-on-1 battle in the corners. It's in that area where McAvoy has started to unlock another level in the postseason.

"It's great to have [Coyle and McAvoy] because they play the right way," Ullmark said. "Guys will follow when you have guys doing the right things and playing the simple way. It's playoff hockey, you know. There are going to be some big hits both ways. I'm lucky I'm not a forward on their side when Charlie's coming down."

McAvoy was also Boston's best blue-liner in terms of driving possession and offense. He led all B's defensemen at 5-on-5 with a 68.42 percent (26-12) share of shot attempts and a plus-one goal margin. Shots went 13-4 (76.47 percent) in Boston's favor with McAvoy on the ice, while scoring chances were 11-4 (73.33) and high-danger looks were 6-3 (66.67). He was second among the Bruins in all situations with a 36-20 (64.29 percent) shot attempt differential, a 17-9 (65.38) shots margin and a 15-9 (62.5) edge in scoring chances.

Boston had 1.38 expected goals-for with McAvoy on the ice at 5-on-5, and 2.61 in all situations. Both were the highest among any Bruins skater.

Simply put, McAvoy was dominant at driving the play when he was on the ice for Boston.

“There’s other guys who kind of lead the way and set that path, and we just follow suit. There were a lot of guys that had monster games tonight. It’s just huge," Coyle told reporters. "It’s not just scoring and making big plays, it’s just little things – buying time for our D-men to break the puck out, blocking shots and getting that puck out when we’ve been out there for a little while. Guys knew the task at hand and followed through and did it. 

"That’s a sign of a good team. Just knowing what’s at stake at that moment and doing the job that needs to be done. There were a lot of guys who were monsters tonight.”

Ullmark said, "The Charlies out there are just absolute animals."