He played 23:41 and had four takeaways, a block, two hits and two shots in a 4-2 win in Game 6 on April 21. Two nights later, he played 24:04 and was a plus-2 with four shots, three blocks and a takeaway in a 5-1 win in Game 7.
In Boston's series-clinching 3-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 6 of the second round, Carlo played 24:14, including 5:57 shorthanded, and was plus-2 with four shots and a block.
When Chara missed Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final because of an undisclosed injury, Carlo stepped up and played 23:28 with two blocks, two hits and a takeaway in a 4-0 win at PNC Arena that sent the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final.
"A guy like Brandon Carlo probably doesn't get enough credit because he's not on the scoresheet on the regular," Bruins forward David Backes said. "But he's 6-foot-5, he moves like a deer out there, he's tough to play against, he's got a long stick and he's relentless."
In many respects, Carlo is the Bruins' younger version of Chara.
Although he can only dream right now of having the same type of career as the future Hall of Famer, it's not a coincidence the Bruins paired Carlo with Chara when he was a rookie in the 2016-17 season.
It was an apprenticeship that gave Carlo hands-on research for how to play as a big man in the NHL.
"Who better, right?" Cassidy said. "One is 6-5 and the other 6-9."
Carlo learned how to have the mindset of being a shutdown defenseman from Chara.
"I know Zee had talked to me about that, about Carlo playing against top players every night, to relish that," Cassidy said. "So we're playing Tampa, you've got [Steven] Stamkos, [Nikita] Kucherov tonight. Here's how we're going to frustrate them, this is what they like to do. I think that was the first thing Zee taught Brandon, to have the mindset to relish and watch guys get frustrated if they don't get their offensive chances."
You do that with technique, battling in front of the net, boxing out, getting your stick under their stick instead of on top of it, Cassidy said. Chara showed Carlo all of it.