Jim Montgomery Praises Bruins Defenseman For Putting Out ‘Fires’

Brandon Carlo scored his first goal of the season in the Boston Bruins lopsided win over the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 14.

The Sabres were on a rush up the ice when Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark came out of his net to break up Casey Mittlestadt and Owen Power. Carlo collected the puck and broke up ice with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak on a 3-on-1.

Okay but this was insane though@1996_Carlo | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/jIdTIF4gpa

— NESN (@NESN) November 15, 2023

Pastrnak passed the puck back to Carlo for the easy goal with Sabres goalie Devon Levi committed to Pastrnak on his glove side.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery wasn't surprised Pastrnak passed the puck instead of taking the shot.

"I think if he knows Brando has an open net he'll pass it to him," Montgomery told reporters ahead of Boston's matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night, per team-provided video. "That's a combination of Brando doing the right things and how smart Pasta is to knowing the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates."

Montgomery added that Carlo has a lot of offensive confidence in his game, even if he's not always on the score sheet.

"(Hampus) Lindholm gets the assist on Zacha's goal last game," Montgomery said of the Bruins 5-2 over the Montreal Canadiens. "But (Carlo) is the one that initiates it. He drives the middle lane which opens up the whole top of the ice for us."

Montgomery also praised the 26-year-old defenseman's play on the blue line so far this season.

"He's been excellent," Montgomery said. "He's a steady rock back there."

Carlo has four assists to go along with his lone goal in 16 games for the Bruins. It puts him on pace to record 25-plus points, which would be a career-high for Carlo. His best season came in 2019-20 when the Colorado Springs native notched four goals and 15 assists for 19 points.

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Montgomery expanded on why Carlo, who is averaging 20:31 minutes of ice time per game, is such an important part of the Bruins' defensive core.

"He does a lot of things defensively. He puts out a lot of fires for a lot of mistakes that other teammates are making," Montgomery explained. "That is why he is so valuable to us and inside our locker room why he's so valuable and why his teammates love him."