Three takeaways from the Bruins’ victory over the Coyotes

Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo lead the way

Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy anchor Boston’s top defense pairing, and Torey Krug runs the power play. Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk, however, were Boston’s most reliable defenseman.

Carlo built off his game in Dallas and played well against the Coyotes. He looked smooth out there all night alongside Krug.

Carlo made a great play on a 2 on 1 in the second period. He noticed a bouncing puck and immediately attacked to prevent a scoring chance. Clayton Keller couldn’t get off a shot to test Halak.

In the third, Carlo had a strong penalty kill to help keep Arizona scoreless. He had the puck behind the net early in the kill and didn’t panic. Instead, he calmly looked around, noticed an opening, and cleared the puck away.

Grzelcyk, like Carlo, looked confident from start to finish against Arizona. He finished the game with two shots on goal and two blocked shots. He also had a takeaway.

On a power play in the third period, Grzelcyk held the puck in at the blue line three times to continue the attack. These plays won’t make any highlight reels, but they help set up quality chances. Look for Grzelcyk to continue to get power play time on Boston’s second unit.

Carlo and Grzelcyk don’t usually make exciting plays, and they don’t often find themselves on the scoresheet. Nonetheless, they play important roles on Boston’s backend. Both showed against Arizona that they are reliable top four defensemen in the NHL.