Brandon Carlo’s playoff career got off to a shaky start in Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That, as head coach Bruce Cassidy pointed out after the series opener, was to be expected of the 22-year-old making his playoff debut.
But Carlo has come around nicely in the series, and was an absolute workhorse in a crucial Game 6 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, helping the B’s stave off elimination. The blueliner was second on the team in time on ice, logging 23:40, his second largest haul of the series (behind only 24:09 in Game 4).
He led all Bruins defensemen with 3:27 logged on the penalty kill, which went 3-for-3 on Sunday.
“(Bruins assistant coach) Kevin Dineen was pointing out it’s as hard a game as he has played in a long time. … And I agree with him,” Cassidy said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s a good young player that does a lot of the little things, so you’re not going to notice him on the scoresheet. But he is a guy that we value a lot with his ability to defend and if he gets that hardness going, then he gets a little confidence with the puck and he’s skating, if he’s moving it and then you’ve got something. He was on tonight.”
The Bruins are not exactly loaded with defensive defensemen, so Carlo’s performance has become all-the-more important against an offense-loaded lineup like the Leafs’. And with the Bruins set to play Game 7 on home ice, Cassidy can favorably match Carlo up in defensive situations.
