Carlo’s game takes shape
Young defenseman bounces back from hiccup
Brandon Carlo mightone day be a force in all three zones. Then again, those offensive gifts might continue to elude him.
But as a defenseman, the 21-year-old’s job, first and foremost, is to defend. And on the Bruins’ just-completed road trip, the Colorado native’s emerging skills as a shutdown blueliner became more evident.
A rough shift in overtime in Vancouver last Saturday spoiled what had been one of his finest performances in a long time, and he was even better in the B’s 4-1 victory against the Senators. He prevented two sure goals from from crossing the line, the second one of which came in the third period, picking it out of mid-air with his stick blade.
“He was unbelievable with his stick. Great job,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “A real good bounce-back game for him. He had the little boo-boo there in Vancouver, and it didn’t affect him at all. He came back and played hard, played strong with the puck. We like Brandon a lot, and he’s showing a little maturity.”
Goalie Tuukka Rask, who also had a nice rebound game with 38 saves, was appreciative of Carlo’s effort.
“I’m happy for him,” Rask said. “I just told him, ‘Now you’re going to be in the highlight of the day instead of the not-so highlight of the day,’ like a couple of days ago when he missed the empty net. Those plays come and go, but it was great to see. Sometimes you need help from a post or somebody else. I owe him a dinner, for sure.”
Carlo has been paired the past two games with Zdeno Chara after Charlie McAvoy was returned home because of an undisclosed injury. Playing with the captain can help any player’s game. But in Ottawa, Chara took a couple of penalties, and the B’s lost Urho Vaakanainen after the first period because of a concussion. That forced Carlo to play 28:28, a career high in ice time, and he only got better as the game went on.
Carlo, who had a rough sophomore season before straightening out his game in the final months, has been trying to move past the occasional hiccups every player experiences.
“I’m not going to dwell on the negative,” Carlo said. “That’s something I’ve been working on this year. I just want to continue to stay positive. I think you can see it within my game that I’m building more confidence within myself. I’m just going out there and having fun. It’s a great group of guys to play with.”
Who knows what will happen with the defense pairs when everyone is healthy, but it seems Chara brings the best out in Carlo.
“We have a really good dynamic,” Carlo said. “We talk a lot to each other on the ice. I feel like I can recognize his voice on the ice so well, so that helps me a lot. He has so much experience in the league. I’ll come back to the bench and he’ll spitball different things at me. I’m very open to listening to him.”
Pasta lets it fly
When things are clicking for him, David Pastrnak seems loath to analyze his game too much. But he’s shooting the puck more this season. Through nine games, he has 10 goals on 38 shots, as opposed to six on 26 at this point last year. While some of it is circumstance — he didn’t start last season playing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand — he has been encouraged to the pound he puck when the opportunity presents itself.
“We’ve asked him to be selfish. If that’s what you have to do to finish on that line, be the shooter, so be it. And he has been,” Cassidy said.
Time for toughness
This is not an ideal time for the Flyers to be coming to town. With Adam McQuaid shipped off to Manhattan and Kevan Miler and David Backes on the shelf, the B’s are a little light in the nasty department.
High marks to Brad Marchand for going after Zack Smith after the Senators forward took a run at Matt Grzelcyk, and the leadership he showed was not overlooked by his teammates.
But the Bruins surely don’t want their 30-goal scorer throwing shots with someone like Smith on a regular basis.