Leading the Vegas Golden Knights 2-0 in the second period on Monday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins seemed to be in control of the game. However, you can never take your foot off the gas in the NHL on any night. Anybody can beat anybody.
With 5:10 remaining in the middle period, defenseman Charlie McAvoy was whistled for a holding penalty that he wasn't happy about. It was his second minor penalty in the game after he was called for an interference penalty in the first period.
Vegas captain Mark Stone scored eight seconds into the power play to cut the deficit to 2-1 when he knocked home a loose puck past Jeremy Swayman. When he was coming out of the penalty box, he had something to say to referee Jon McIsaac and was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty, gifting the talented Golden Knights a second straight power play.
Fortunately for McAvoy, his teammates killed the second penalty and kept the score 2-1, but Trevor Connelly tied the game in the third period before David Pastrnak won the game, 3-2, in a shootout for the Black and Gold. After the game, Boston head coach Marco Sturm was less than thrilled with his top blueliner and had a rather blunt message for him.
“I didn't like the first, his first penalty at all,'' said Sturm. "I was trying to get an answer from the refs that I didn't get. I didn't ask Charlie yet what happened on the second one, but that's something he needs to control, right? So that's on him then.''
Bruins coach Marco Sturm calls out defenseman Charlie McAvoy after win over the Golden Knights
Sturm is right; McAvoy has to control his emotions. He failed to do that and paid the price. However, let's also point out that McIsaac needs to be a little tougher about getting complaints from players if what McAvoy said wasn't over the top. We'll never know. It's not likely the first, and won't be the last time that a player will disagree with a penalty call and voice their frustration.
McAvoy was the victim of a terrible holding call in Saturday afternoon's 5-4 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, and his penalty in the first period was not called until Connelly was down on the ice, injured. They called a major penalty on McAvoy based on Connelly being injured and reviewed it, calling a minor for interference.
McAvoy finished the game with all three minor penalties called on the Bruins, and the last time that happened in a game to a Boston defenseman, we know what happened against the Los Angeles Kings and Nikita Zadorov. That unlikely won't happen with McAvoy when the Bruins visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, but Sturm's message was loud and clear after the sixth straight Boston home win.
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