Acciari steps up in B’s stature
Playoff effort opens eyes
Perceptions are frequently changed in the playoffs, sometimes dramatically, often for the worse. Teams and players may be exposed, revealed to be inferior to what they appeared to be during the regular season.
Would Bruins fans say that the 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks, morphing in a week or two from mighty and “unbeatable” to soft and flawed, fit the bill in that regard?
Likewise, though, teams and players can raise their profiles when the stakes are the highest in April, May and June.
Where young Bruins forward Noel Acciari was concerned, the team’s playoff stint, brief though it was, was an eye-opener and in a good way — a peak at a future as a far more substantial player than folks might have predicted a few weeks earlier.
After spending most of the regular season either injured or in AHL Providence, Acciari got a call-up in March and became a vital contributor to the B’s cause in their first-round series against Ottawa.
“It was a good feeling,” said the 25-year-old from Johnston, R.I. “It was an unfortunate and disappointing ending for the team. It was a nice step in the right direction, but obviously we wanted to go farther than we did. But for myself, it was good to see that I gained some confidence in the last games I played. I felt a lot more comfortable out there and realized that I can play up here.”
The former Providence College star entered the playoffs with only 2-4-6 totals in 48 career games. In his 29 regular season games, he was a spare part, averaging just 10:22 of ice time. In the 2015-16 season, his first, he played just 9:54 per game.
But in the six-game series against the Senators (four going to overtime), Acciari averaged 19:03 in ice time, the eighth highest on the team and a number exceeded by only three forwards, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Playing on the wing with Dominic Moore and Riley Nash, he was a central player in many ways.
Acciari scored his first postseason goal in the 4-3 Game 3 win, tipping in a John Michael Liles shot. He appeared to give the B’s a 1-0 lead midway through the second period of Game 4 when he tipped in a Charlie McAvoy shot but had the score disallowed by his own offside in what would be a 1-0 loss. He had another score taken off the board in overtime of the next game on a goalie interference call.
Acciari also averaged 5.5 hits per game, trailing only Zdeno Chara. And he made 1.5 blocks per game, a number topped by only Kevan Miller and (in one game) Tommy Cross.
Add it all up, and the Bruins had to reevaluate a player who appeared to be a hitter/energy guy and not much more but suddenly looked like someone who can be a valuable fourth-line contributor for a years to come.
“When I came back (from the AHL) I felt a lot more confident,” said Acciari. “I felt that I could play my game and contribute in more ways than one. I think the more I play somewhere I get more comfortable and my game starts to come out. It was that way in college. I started off slow but I grew as a player in school and ended up progressing pretty well. I’m hoping it’s going to be the same thing here.”
Acciari’s fast and ultra-aggressive play was well suited to the playoffs, when refs tend to let a lot go, well, not always; sorry, Riley Nash.
“It’s just a different time,” said Acciari. “I mean, playing in the regular season is tough, but there’s just another level in the playoffs, another step up. Every team and every guy brings it every night. It’s just unbelievable hockey to watch and play.
“We had a lot of guys in their first NHL playoffs. I thought we responded well.”
And changed a lot of perceptions in a good way.