Why Bruins Put Jakub Zboril With Charlie McAvoy Late In Loss To Flames

As the Boston Bruins played from behind Sunday night and began chasing the game, it was hard not to notice that hopping over the boards with Charlie McAvoy was not Derek Forbort, nor Matt Grelcyk.

It was Jakub Zboril.

The 24-year-old blueliner has been playing well during the latest stretch of games, and as Boston struggled to cleanly break the puck out of its own end in the eventual 4-0 loss to the Flames, Bruce Cassidy decided to try Zboril and McAvoy (an idea we actually advocated for last week).

It was a brief experiment, one that only last less than two minutes, but it was a new look, nonetheless.

“Listen, I don’t think our top pair had a great night, I’d be the first to tell you,” Cassidy said of Forbort and McAvoy. “They weren’t on, so sometimes you put an offensive guy with Charlie to help him out in that area. Different look for Forbort. … With Jakub coming into the lineup, you get a look at him when you’re behind. (Breaking out the puck) is one of the things he does well, so you see if he can bring a little bit there in those situations and excel when we’re playing from behind.”

The Bruins likely will have a full practice Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Who McAvoy is paired up with then will be telling.