McAvoy Comes Through With Another Shootout Winner

BOSTON - As Charlie McAvoy watched Patrice Bergeron's third-round shootout attempt get denied by Connor Hellebuyck, he figured he could get comfortable.
The rookie blue liner entered the night with just one career attempt, a backhand dangle to secure a victory against the New Jersey Devils the night before Thanksgiving. But that one came in the 10th round, on a whim from head coach Bruce Cassidy.

On Thursday night, however, Cassidy went back to McAvoy with a purpose. Following his highly successful inaugural attempt, the former first-round pick capped his 20th birthday with another scintillating shootout winner to lift the Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden.
"We're not in a lot of them, so yes, he has moved up the charts," said Cassidy, whose team improved to 12-3-1 over its last 16 games. "I think last time he shot about tenth and it was just a hunch, so this time we were going to go with [Bergeron's] line and then Charlie or maybe a [Jake] DeBrusk, who has been shooting the puck well lately.
"Good for Charlie. He seems to rise up to these moments, and we battled hard for that extra point."

Another reason McAvoy was thrust up higher in the pecking order was the absence of some of Boston's top shootout performers. David Krejci missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury, while Riley Nash and Ryan Spooner sat out due to illness, leaving Cassidy to be a bit more creative after his top three of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Bergeron.
"When Bergy missed there, I was wondering what was happening. I had no idea I was going to be going that early," said McAvoy. "I figured we'd have to go like 10 rounds again to get a chance, but it's nice to see that they have some confidence in me. I mean that's pretty special, so I didn't want to disappoint.
"I wanted to help our team get the two points and to show that, 'Hey, you know, it's not a bad choice to put me out there.' Saw some net and I just wanted to put it in there. Very glad we got the two points and we feel real good in here."

McAvoy took a much different approach than his first career attempt in Jersey. On that winner, the former Boston University standout weaved in over the blue line, toe-dragged, and backhanded one by Cory Schneider in a display more typical of the league's elite goal scorers.
This time around, McAvoy went with a much more straightforward strategy. After once again weaving in from the red line, the defenseman paused slightly around the hash marks and ripped a wrister over the pad and under the blocker of Hellebuyck to wrap up Boston's victory.
"I know that the ice wasn't particularly great there at the end. I know it's a little bit more of a high percentage play for myself to try and shoot it versus a deke, especially when the ice is the way it is," said McAvoy. "I tried to change the angle right away, not come down on him. Just straight up kind of make him change his own angle a bit…I saw some room on the blocker side and I just wanted to shoot it there before he was able to recover."

For McAvoy and the Bruins, securing two points against one of the league's top offenses was an impressive feat given the team was playing its sixth game in nine days - with a flu bug running rampant through the dressing room.
"Cherry on top of a great effort by our team," McAvoy said of his winner. "No matter who's in the lineup we look at our chart and we say that's the winning lineup. Regardless of who's hurt or who's sick or what's happening in our room, we always feel like we can win if we play the right way. And tonight we did for 65 minutes and played good."

Rask Brings It

Tuukka Rask won for the seventh time in eight starts, stopping 37 of the 38 shots that came his way. Rask, who was also under the weather, was awarded the game's No. 1 star for his efforts.
"He knew that we were going to be - I don't want to say, offensively challenged, but some players out of the lineup, and some players in the lineup that generally give us a lot of offense were going to be fighting it a bit, so he stepped up," said Cassidy. "I think team defense has come a long way from the start of the year. We have helped the goalies along.
"It is almost like the guys are looking out for each other on the nights when they need to, and that is the sign of a good team. Those are the teams that end up getting the points and winning. We are in that mode right now, and we want to stay in it."

Cave Makes Debut

With Boston's forward group decimated by illness, the team recalled Colby Cave from Providence on an emergency basis. The 22-year-old, recalled for the first time in his career, was not sure if he was going to suit up until later in the day as the Bruins determined whether or not Marchand, Spooner, or Nash could play.
With Spooner and Nash unable to go, Cave slotted in between former Swift Current teammate Jake DeBrusk and Anders Bjork, winning three of five faceoffs and picking up an interference penalty in 11 minutes, 15 seconds of ice time.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't [nervous]. I think not having nerves, means that you don't care," said Cave, who joined DeBrusk and Bjork as the Bruins to make their debuts this season. "Obviously getting the win put the cherry on top of things - it's a dream come true, getting the first out of the way. And hopefully I can stick around here."

Wait, There's More

Torey Krug potted his sixth goal of the season with an unassisted wrister - though Noel Acciari provided a stellar screen in front - from the point at 8:16 of the third to put Boston ahead, 1-0. The lead lasted just 57 seconds as Patrick Laine struck to tie the game when he ripped one into a yawning net from the bottom of the left circle.