Boston Bruins: Brandon Carlo thriving in his first play-off games
The Boston Bruins heading to the playoffs in the past two seasons, that was a synonym of injury bug hitting the team at the most unfortunate time. One player getting injured right before the post-season in both of those cases was defenseman Brandon Carlo.
In his very first season, Brandon Carlo was given the vote of the confidence by both Claude Julien, who started the 2016-2017 season as the Boston Bruins’ Head Coach and was fired, and then later saw the same confidence from Bruce Cassidy.
Unfortunately, a hit by Alex Ovechkin in the last game of the regular season, when the Bruins already had clinched the playoff berth, kept him out of play-off contention that season.
In his rookie campaign, Brandon Carlo was averaging 20:49 of the time on the ice, mostly paired with the captain Zdeno Chara. He logged six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. The Boston Bruins couldn’t use him, though, in the first round series against the Ottawa Senators and the Sens won in six games.
During his sophomore year, Carlo was trying to find his game at the beginning of the season. Bruce Cassidy always trusted the young defenseman and it paid its dividends. Carlo slowly improved his overall play, although he recorded just six assists in 76 starts.
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One week before the regular season finale, Brandon Carlo went hard to the boards in a game between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers and had to be carried off the ice on the stretcher. That time, he was at least happy to make it back to the lineup at the start of the following season.
Not only did Brandon Carlo start the current season on time, but he also made sure that this was going to be his best one out of those three. He has played in 72 games, which is his career-low, but in every aspect, it was his best season.
It might seem like Brandon Carlo has been poor offensively in the regular season, but he has scored two goals and eight assists for 10 points, which is not that bad compared to the stats of his previous two campaigns. His CF% is at 52.9, which is his career-best.
His average time on the ice is 20:55. He had 134 hits, which is by 45 more than in the prior season. Carlo had 43 takeaways, which was better by 17 compared to the past campaign. He was also +19 at the even-strength. In all of these areas, it has been Carlo´s best regular season.
His offensive display is not the best one for sure, but it´s not on him to record points. He has worked himself out to be a very reliable shutdown defenseman and that´s something the Boston Bruins hoped for from the 22-year-old blueliner.
And now, Brandon Carlo has finally played in the playoffs for the first time in three years and his career as well. The Bruins knew, why they were unhappy about not having Carlo in their lineup in those past two post-seasons. Carlo has been performing beyond expectations in the playoffs so far for the Boston Bruins, against both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He hasn’t collected a point yet in his 11 playoff games, but he has been solid defensively. His CF% is at 50.23 at even strength, while his xGF% is at 58.92, which is topped only by Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins defensive roster. His start was a little bit nervous, but in the closure of the first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carlo has been stellar.
In Game 6 on the road in an elimination game for the Bruins, Carlo played 20:13 of the ice time at even strength and had xGF% at 71.29, which was pretty remarkable. Almost nothing was getting through him. In Game 7 at TD Garden, Carlo was flying on the ice, his confidence was at the sky-high level. At even strength, Carlo has been on the ice for 215:40 in the playoffs for the Bruins and 250:31 overall. Just Charlie McAvoy has logged more minutes than Carlo so far for Boston.
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As for Bruce Cassidy, seeing these numbers and how reliable Carlo has been for his coaching staff, not having him in the past two playoffs and having him now makes a huge difference. With the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets notched at two apiece, the Boston Bruins hope to continue their adventure, with Brandon Carlo as one of the most key players.
Statistics courtesy of Dobber Sports.