McAvoy wants to pick up scoring pace after break
Charlie McAvoy, who played two seasons on the eastern side of Commonwealth Avenue, sported a Boston College knit cap on his head as he chatted with the media Monday afternoon following the Bruins’ workout in Brighton.
McAvoy, 26, is generally a sharp-dressed man, but this fashion statement was downright painful — a Terrier in Eagle clothing. Uneasy lies the head that wears a maroon-and-gold crown.
“It feels terrible,” bemoaned the former BU defenseman, forced to wear the BC colors after losing a recent bet to assistant coach John McLean, an exEagle. “This one hurts a little bit.”
Amid such good-natured ribbing, and healthy NCAA intracity tribalism, the Bruins returned full force to practice for the first time out of the weekend All-Star break, and Tuesday night will take on the Calgary Flames at TD Garden. It will be the club’s first game since Jan. 27 in Philadelphia, and the first of 33 left in the regular season.
When last seen in Philly, McAvoy potted his seventh goal of the season — tops among Bruins defensemen — in a 6-2 smackdown of the Flyers. Zipping down low from his customary spot at right D, McAvoy wheeled unfettered within stick-length of the right post and was left with the easiest of forehand putts when Pavel Zacha delivered a short diagonal feed from the slot.
“Yeah, I love tap-ins,” said a beaming McAvoy, crediting Zacha for the alert set-up. “And I’d love to get more.”
More goals, of all kinds and from all places and people, is always better.
“Charlie just picked the perfect opportunity to do it,” said coach Jim Montgomery.
His Bruins tied at No. 1 overall with Vancouver in the league standings, Montgomery has an open invite for his blueliners to activate down low when they spot the right opportunity. Typically, that’s when they are the “weakside” defenseman, on the wing opposite where the puck is being played. McAvoy’s goal was a classic backdoor strike by the weakside D.
“Any time I get a chance to roll down there,” mused McAvoy, “we roll into our offense . . . you do get excited as you get closer to the net, the danger zone. So, yeah, the more that I can do that . . . ”
Overall, the Bruins’ offensive methodology has changed this season. They aren’t scoring in the same volume, though they have picked up the pace considerably since the Christmas break. Thus far, Montgomery made a point of noting, they also have scored considerably less off the rush than they did last season, while increasing their ability to connect after working the puck in the zone.
The latter approach requires more of a puck control mindset, leading to goals, not coincidentally, like the one McAvoy scored in Philly.
“Our group this year has to be more workmanlike,” noted Montgomery, without retired centers David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. “Last year I would say we scored 60 percent off the rush and 40 percent off O-zone play and rebounds. This year I think it would be more 70 percent O-zone play and rebounds, and only 30 percent off the rush.”
It’s an inverted pyramid of puck power that Montogmery finds encouraging, particularly in light of how the Bruins’ offense fizzled in Round 1 of the playoffs last season.
“I think it [lends] itself more to a playoff team,” he said, referring to the 70/30 mix. “You don’t get as many opportunities off the rush in playoff hockey . . . I think it’s only beneficial. Because I think if you look at our series last year (vs. the Panthers), I think net front was our biggest issue — offensively and defensively.”
The same bugaboo existed come playoff time for much of Bruce Cassidy’s tenure behind the bench. The Bruins too often exited in the early rounds because they couldn’t establish “inside ice”, successfully penetrating the danger areas.
Last year, meanwhile, Panthers forwards such as Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett repeatedly found their way to the blue paint around either Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman.
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Jake DeBrusk, Derek Forbort and Matthew Poitras, who were on the injured list in Philadelphia, all participated in Monday’s 40-minute workout at Warrior Ice Arena.The threehave made progress, said Montgomery, whose assessment sounded like DeBrusk and Forbort will be in the lineup Tuesday unless they report morning-after-workout aches and pains. The coach sounded less optimistic about Poitras, but was generally pleased with the rookie center’s recovery . . . The game Tuesday will be first of seven straight on home ice. Three of the seven will be matinees, including Saturday’s visit (3:30 p.m.) by the Capitals.