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How Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy changed Game 4 |
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The Bruins were well on their way to a frustrating loss in Game 4 Monday night. One that would have tied their best-of-seven series with the Carolina Hurricanes at two games each.
There was no David Pastrnak for the third straight game, there were two goals by the Hurricanes that goalie Jaroslav Halak should have stopped, there were several loose pucks just sitting there in front of Hurricanes goalie James Reimer, waiting to be deposited into the net that never were, and there were what felt like 15 hit posts by the Bruins.
But then things changed for the Bruins after a bit of a gift from Reimer, followed by a massive hit by Charlie McAvoy, one that had there been fans in attendance inside Scotiabank Arena, would have created a massive buzz.
Trailing 2-0 in the third, Jake DeBrusk chipped a puck into the offensive zone, raced towards the loose puck only to look up and find Reimer doing the same.
Winning the race to the puck, DeBrusk went airborne thanks to a diving Reimer and slid the puck into the vacated goal as he flew the through the air, his body parallel to the ice.
Immediately after the goal you see Reimer looking up at the clock. He had to be thinking ‘here we go again,’ right?
“Anytime you can contribute in a win, it’s huge. Obviously, we’ve had some pretty good looks in the series,” said DeBrusk. “I just wanted to number one, try to find my game and just help the team. I kind of got lucky on the first one, I’d like to say,”
Although DeBrusk’s goal was a shift in momentum for a Bruins team that up to that point could not generate anything five-on-five it was what happened next that shifted Game 4 and potentially the series in the Bruins favor.
McAvoy’s hit took the momentum generated by DeBrusk’s goal and ran with it. Although the hit sparked the Bruins bench and sent them on a third period run, one that included four goals in a 6:51 span, they certainly were not happy to see Jordan Staal injured on the play. He left the game and did not return.
“You never want to see a guy get hurt. It's unfortunate. Hopefully he’s okay. He’s a big player for that team,” said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. “He plays hard minutes. He’s a shutdown guy. He plays all situations. It’s a tough guy to lose for them.”
17 seconds after McAvoy’s hit Connor Clifton sent a rocket of a shot over Reimer’s shoulders and the Hurricanes lead was gone just like that.
Finally, the Bruins had life.
“You have to be able to create your own energy on the bench and going into that third period and obviously you’re down two and the game hadn’t really been in our favor,” said McAvoy. “We had some chances and stuff but we were looking to create some energy and that was kind of the message – that we weren’t out of it. It was an opportunity to step up and make a hit, try and separate a man from the puck.”
The Bruins would go on to get two more pucks by Reimer as goals by Marchand and another by DeBrusk came within 2:37 of McAvoy’s hit.
Starting with DeBrusk’s first of two, and continuing with McAvoy’s hit, the Bruins went from a lackluster effort to a dominating third period in what seemed like a flip of a switch.
The Bruins outshot the Hurricanes 16-2 in the final 20 minutes.
“The play that Jake made and that line made on that first goal gave us a ton of life. And then Cliffy’s [Connor Clifton] goal, that was a great job by that line as well. After that first one we start to roll and we got a ton of life,” added Marchand. “Any time you have life, it’s a dangerous thing, you can feed off it. Again, especially with our group, the way that we play and the emotion and character that we have, it’s when we’re at our best.”
It’s been a great start to the series for McAvoy who continues to emerge as a true number one defenseman. McAvoy is averaging a team high 24:25 of ice time per game.
“You want to make sure all your stuff is in so you don’t deliver a dirty hit. You never hope to injure someone. Just to take the puck from a man and I hope he’s doing ok,” said McAvoy.
“All I’m thinking is to try and separate a man from the puck and try get us possession back as quick as possible so we can play offense and try and tie the game up. That was really my only thought process. The game moves so fast and I just wanted to deliver a clean check and just do my job.”
It’s undoubtedly been a tough series for DeBrusk who has missed his fair share of open nets and has hit post after post in the series. For a player as streaky as DeBrusk, you could see a game like Monday’s coming his way.
The line of DeBrusk, David Krejci and Ondrej Kase have by far been the Bruins best in the series. If a scoring streak is what’s on deck for DeBrusk, that should only continue for a Bruins team that has so desperately needed production from their second line.
In the 45:46 of five-on-five ice time the Krejci line has been out against the Hurricanes in the series, the Bruins have a Corsi advantage of 49-35, shots advantage of 23-15 and an expected Goals For percentage of 1.41%.
“Obviously he's [DeBrusk] a guy that measures himself probably too much about just with his goal scoring. He can bring other things and hound pucks and make plays and be a net-front presence on the power play, we've changed that up a little bit, but there's other ways you can contribute, especially in the playoffs,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.
“But we need some goals, let's face it, we’re having a tough time, missed some open nets early on and five on five scoring had been a few games. So good for him, happy for him. Sometimes he gets streaky, so hopefully this sets him off.”
The Bruins will look to finish the series off in Game 5 Wednesday afternoon.
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