BOSTON — The Bruins are never going to ask Brandon Carlo to do much on the offensive end. If they did, we wouldn’t be watching a team staring down the NHL’s single-season wins record.
That doesn’t mean he can’t chip in every once in a while, though.
Carlo, who entered Thursday’s overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs with 15 points despite appearing in 70 games, came through with a tremendous assist on Charlie Coyle’s game-tying goal late in the third period.
Carlo, who stands at 6-foot-6, leapt into the air to keep the puck in Boston’s offensive zone before firing a centering pass toward Coyle. It was an impressive play to be made so quickly. In fact, it might be a play that only Carlo can make on the Bruins’ roster.
“I can’t remember if he jumped for it,” Coyle said postgame. “(He did?) Yeah, he’s got a pretty good vert that guy. He kept it in, and then two-touch soccer kicked in. He kicked it right on my stick. I had a bunch of room to work with, and I think (Trent Frederic and Oskar Steen) were both driving the net so that gave me some time. I was lucky it found a way in.”
It wasn’t just the beneficiary of the assist who noticed, however, as Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery shared praise for everyone on that shift.
“It was awesome,” Montgomery said. “I though that whole shift — Coyle was still out there while Frederic and Steen went out with him. Freddie got in deep, we got to the goal line and forechecked hard, and then Carlo being able to keep that puck in was monumental for us getting that goal.”
On a night where the Bruins struggled to get things going offensively, it was only appropriate that Carlo stepped in to contribute. In helping tie the game, the 26-year-old sparked a Boston surge that ultimately ended in David Pastrnak’s game-winning goal in overtime. Not a bad night at the office.
