Boston Bruins: Brandon Carlo Exceeding Expectations
The Boston Bruins knew they would be moving forward with a youth movement this season. Brandon Carlo has been one of the leaders among the young players.
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The Boston Bruins knew they were going to need help from their young players this season. The B’s chose to put 19-year old Brandon Carlo with Zdeno Chara in the hopes of advancing the young defenseman’s education. So far, Carlo has been meeting or exceeding expectations as a rookie defenseman in the NHL.
Brandon Carlo has been one of the big positives in the Bruins current youth movement. Carlo was crucial to the B’s victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. He earned his second NHL goal early in the first period when he got a goal past Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“I saw a little spot there on the strong side, so I just put it there and it went in for me,” offered Carlo postgame. “It was right by his pad, actually, right by his glove and I just put it there and luckily it sneaked right in by his pad and saw it go in the net and pretty excited.”
Carlo also helped save the game for the Bruins by blocking the open side of the net, taking a shot on the jaw for his effort.
Stamkos was walking right into the slot there and there was a guy on the backdoor, so that’s my responsibility there on the backdoor,” said Carlo of his block. “Because obviously I trust Tuukks to stop that puck there, so I’m glad I got it.”
Carlo has put in ten games for the Black and Gold. With tonight’s tenth game, the Bruins organization have burned a year off his entry level contract. So far, it seems to have been a good risk for the team.
Carlo was one of the bright spots for the team when it was going through its darker patches. He was asked to serve top-pair minutes, and has done a reasonably good job. He works well with Chara. He’s even currently the only Bruins blueliner with two goals, and is tied with Chara for the most points by a defenseman. He’s also a +9 with 12 shots on goal.
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The Boston Bruins were hoping one of their defenseman would step up and play top-four minutes. They were hoping it was going to be Adam McQuaid. While Carlo wasn’t the player they were expecting to rise, they’re happy with the results so far.