McAvoy delivers clutch performance in Bruins’ Game 5 victory over Panthers originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
It sounds simple, but to win the Stanley Cup Playoffs you need your best players to be the best players consistently.
Charlie McAvoy is one of the Boston Bruins’ best players, but he didn’t look like that for much of the postseason. But make no mistake, he stood out big time with the team’s season on the line in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference second round series against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
McAvoy had a positive impact on both ends of the ice, but was especially strong offensively when the Bruins secured a 2-1 victory to extend the series to Game 6 on Friday night.
After not scoring a point since Game 4 of the first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, McAvoy finally broke the drought with an assist on Morgan Geekie’s first period goal that put the Bruins up 1–0.
Instead of just shooting the puck into the net and hoping for a juicy rebound, McAvoy played it behind the net, allowing Jake DeBrusk to maintain possession and set up Geekie for a scoring chance.
The Panthers tied the score and regained momentum when Sam Reinhart beat Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman at 6:23 of the second period.
The B’s responded just four minutes later when McAvoy entered the game and beat Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for his first playoff goal since Game 1 of the 2021 second-round series against the New York Islanders.
“He’s extremely competitive,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of McAvoy after the game. “He’s kind of quiet, he doesn’t talk much. But you could see him talking a lot on the bench. His game was fundamental to our victory and I think his goal is huge.”
McAvoy entered Game 5 with zero points and zero shots on net in the series. His 19 giveaways in 11 games were the most by any player in the postseason. We saw dramatic improvement from McAvoy in all three areas on Tuesday.
The veteran defenseman scored two points, blocked four shots, made three shots and led the team with six shots in 23:26 of ice time. He also committed zero turnovers.
“I’ve certainly been trying,” McAvoy told reporters after the game. “Certainly shooting, but I haven’t seen them get to the net yet. You never lose confidence. It’s the playoffs. It’s ups and downs, it’s exciting and every day is a new day. That’s all we’re given. I’ve been trying to keep the same mentality.
“I’m grateful for these opportunities and the guys I go to war with. I want to do my best and do the best I can. Tonight it was great to see them get into the net and create some opportunities for our team. There are ups and downs. You just have to stay balanced.”
McAvoy was also a beast defensively. He helped clear the defensive zone five times in the final three minutes of the game when the Panthers pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker. McAvoy was winning puck battles, blocking shots and eliminating danger as Florida frantically tried to force overtime.
The Bruins had an 11-9 advantage in shots, a 10-8 advantage in scoring chances and a 7-3 advantage in high-danger chances during McAvoy’s 15:07 of 5-on-5 ice time, by natural statistics trick.
It was the kind of stellar performance we’ve come to expect from McAvoy, who Ranked among the league’s top 10 defenders a few years ago.
The Bruins will need a few more of those efforts from McAvoy if they want to keep this series alive with another win in Game 6 at TD Garden on Friday night.
“Never say die. We’re going home and the series is open,” McAvoy said. “Let’s go home and win a hockey game.”
