Charlie McAvoy's hero ball mindset is bad news for the Bruins

Boston Bruins fans are wondering why Charlie McAvoy can look so good for Team USA at the Olympics and then look like a shell of himself with his NHL club. Some might blame it on fatigue, and others might blame it on the letdown of playing regular-season hockey after winning a gold medal. However, the problem with McAvoy has been true since the start of the year, when he was on a pair with Mason Lohrei.

There are certain nights when McAvoy feels that he has to carry a pairing, and he starts to become a bit of a hero. He tries to force plays up ice, holds on to the puck for too long, turns the puck over, and tries to create offense all by himself. All three tendencies were on display on Saturday afternoon, and it led to a Bruins loss.

Once Connor Dewar cut the lead to 3-2, McAvoy went out for the next shift, and instead of being responsible defensively, he attempted to join the rush up ice when the situation didn't really call for it. Once Tanner Jeannot lost possession at the attacking blueline, McAvoy was caught too far up the ice, and Anthony Mantha found the open space once occupied by the defender to go in alone on Joonas Korpisalo and tie the game.

Luckily for McAvoy, Pavel Zacha bailed him out by putting the Bruins back up 4-3 with his hat-trick goal. However, McAvoy was caught in no-man's land again less than three minutes later, which led to a wide-open Mantha tapping in his second goal at the side of the net and tying the game again.

Any normal defender might've decided to simplify his game after two of those atrocious goals against. However, McAvoy started the overtime period, and instead of making a simple play after Zacha's faceoff win, he held the puck for way too long, retreated into his own zone, and then handcuffed David Pastrnak with a brutal pass that ended up on a Penguins stick and then in the back of the net for a 5-4 overtime loss.

The reason McAvoy played well in Milano-Cortina is that he was on a pair with Quinn Hughes. He didn't think he had to play the hero on that pairing, so he played a simple, physical game that was a big reason why the USA was successful. For some reason, McAvoy thinks he has to change his game when he's with the Bruins, but the truth is they'd be much better off with the Team USA version.

There are going to be nights where McAvoy looks great and is the reason the Bruins win. However, when he has his bad nights, they are a massive problem for this team. The worry down the stretch has to be whether the defenseman starts to play hero ball more consistently, with the team desperate for points to make the playoffs.