BOSTON — The Boston Bruins are trying to kick off the Eastern Conference Final with a win, but they’ll have to do it without their best defenseman.
Charlie McAvoy is out for Game 1 of the B’s series with the Carolina Hurricanes as a result of his one-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson.
With McAvoy out, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy will slot in Steven Kampfer, who has not played since Game 3 of Boston’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kampfer gets the nod over John Moore, who missed the entire second round with an upper-body injury, but is considered available. Moore also is a left shot while Kampfer is a right, so Moore skating would have given Boston four right-shot defensemen.
Kampfer has played sparingly this season, but Cassidy on Thursday lauded the 30-year-old’s ability to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.
“Well, just staying sharp is hard,” Cassidy said Thursday morning, via a team-provided transcript. “Especially playoff time, the intensity ramps up, but I think, to counter that part, I think he knows the value of being ready as opposed to a game in the middle of January. The stakes are just so much higher. He’s a veteran guy, so he gets it, wants to be a part of it, a good thing and a good game. So, I think your focus is more sharp this time of year, so that kind of balances the two things, but it’s not easy.
“It’s a tough spot, but every team gets dealt that hand with certain players throughout the series, and teams that respond the best usually advance. They had to do it with their backup goalie, Carolina, in the middle of the last series, so you have to be ready. The guys that are good pros, you hope they’ve taken care of themselves; I think Stevie has, and I believe he’ll do fine.”
With McAvoy out, it is expected that Connor Clifton will skate on the top pairing with Zdeno Chara, judging by Wednesday’s practice pairings. Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo will continue to serve as the second duo, while Kampfer will join Matt Grzelcyk on the third pairing. Knowing the way Cassidy operates, though, those pairings almost certainly will change at some point in-game.
McAvoy plays an important role on special teams — another thing Cassidy will have to account for.
“Zee and Carlo, clearly, may be asked to extend a little,” Cassidy said of the penalty kill. “We’ve got to be careful there. Grizz has been doing it, and Clifton would probably take some of that on, because Kampfer will be more of a power-play guy for Charlie’s minutes. Clifton will probably take more of Charlie’s PK minutes.”
No timing is good timing for a top-pairing defenseman to get suspended, but the Bruins are lucky that Game 2 won’t be played until Sunday, giving them an extra day off than is customary when travel isn’t involved. That’ll allow Cassidy to stress a little less about stretching guys like Chara and Carlo out.
“Yeah, you get an extra day,” Cassidy said. “Especially on the back end, we have to lean on … penalty kill is a good example. Zee and Carlo a little more if we get into trouble more. And yes, up front, if you want to shorten your bench, we have an extra day in between. It’s always … I think you’re going to do it no matter what, and in the heat of the moment, you’re trying to win.
“At this time of the year, you’re not worried about, so much, the next game, but yes, having that extra day makes it that much easier.”
It’ll be a big test for the Bruins to play without McAvoy, but it sounds like one they believe they’re prepared for.
