Carlo: Long rides, memories
DENVER — The round trips on Route 25 were countless, between here and Colorado Springs, loops upward of 150 miles in total, Angie Carlo at the steering wheel of the lumbering family Suburban.
Winters often made those loops “dicey,” recalled Brandon Carlo, thinking back to the three years when he was a mid-teen playing here for the AAA Colorado Thunderbirds. Back and forth, about 90 minutes each way, sometimes amid howling winds and driving snow, mom and son never veering off course.
“We still have the big gold Suburban that my mom drives around,” a smiling Carlo said here Wednesday morning, prior to the Bruins facing the Avalanche in what was his 424th NHL game. “Old Trusty got us from A to B, and those are some of my best memories, spending time in the car then with my mom.”
“Funny,” added Carlo, “when I was in it, I just wanted to get home or get to the rink.
But now that I reflect on it, it was something very special, that I got to be with my mom.”
The topics varied, he recalled, and in many instances he was the listener. He still calls her his best friend.
“She’s definitely a talker, as well,” said the Bruins’ 26-year-old defenseman. “So there were a lot of times I was just listening.”
Not that he always wanted to hear what mom was telling him.
“Like me getting in trouble for not keeping my grades up to the point where they needed to be,” he said, thinking back on the topics of days gone by. “But, no, just everything in life . . . hockey sometimes . . . but whatever was needed at the time between the both of us. A special time for sure.”
Smith back in lineup
Craig Smith, back in playing shape after missing the previous three games with an upper-body injury, returned to active duty here, subbing in for ex-Avalanche draft pick A.J. Greer at the No. 4 RW spot.
It has been a challenging year for Smith, who generated a modest 1-2—3 line in his 12 games prior to suiting up against the defending Cup champs.
Known much of his career as a volume shooter, he is now decidedly bottom-six material in a deep Boston lineup, and it can be a challenge to generate much offense on thirdand fourth-line duty.
“He’s played well, when he’s played,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “Unfortuntately he got hurt. Now he’s back and I expect him just to add to the depth that we have. We’re able to roll four lines because we have four good lines.”
Montgomery’s checklist for the 33-year-old Smith: 1. Drive, skate a lot; 2. Take pucks wide. 3. Take pucks to the net. 4. Hold on to pucks, offensively.
“Defensively,” added Montgomery, “I expect everyone to look the same.
“Everybody’s reloading. Everybody’s pressuring. That’s our game.”
Ullmark stays hot
Linus Ullmark, who turned aside 24 shots in Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Avalanche on Causeway Street, was back in net for the 4-0 shutout Wednesday, his second this season. He has been the league’s hottest tender in the first third of the season, entering here with a 14-1-0/1.93/.936 slash line.
Ullmark’s lone loss (2-1) came Nov. 5 in Toronto, on a night when his only run support was Brad Marchand’s penalty-shot tally.
Jeremy Swayman, who took the “L” in Monday’s 4-3 OT loss to Vegas, most likely will draw the start Friday night in Tempe, Ariz., vs. the Coyotes, setting the stage for Ullmark to handle Sunday’s trip wrap in Vegas.
Lysell to play WJC?
The Bruins have not made it official, but based on Team Sweden’s plans made public on Wednesday, it appears right winger Fabian Lysell will suit up for the Three Crowns later this month for the IIHF’s World Junior Championship. The 21st pick in the 2021 draft, the speedy Lysell played in the WJC over the summer in Edmonton, the completion of a tournament that was suspended a year ago because of COVID concerns. He played for WHL Vancouver last season, leading the Giants in scoring, and has posted a 5-9—14 line in his first season with AHL Providence.
The WJC, set to begin Dec. 26, will be split between Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, best known as Brad Marchand’s hometown and the city that every year gifts Boston a giant Christmas tree.
Per standard protocol, Bruins GM Don Sweeney first must grant Lysell permission to play in the WJC.
Time to kill
The Bruins penalty killing, stabilized the last three games ( seven kills on eight chances) with Derek Forbort back in the mix after injury, began the night still ranked No. 2 overall in the league with an 84.6 percentage kill rate. The power play (29.4 pct) also ranked No. 2 . . . The Bruins will not work out Thursday (scheduled day off ), prior to facing the dinky rink Coyotes on Friday. The Coyotes this season (and likely at least two more) are doing business out of the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Arizona State campus.