Charlie McAvoy Sends Message To Bruins After Game 5 Triumph

It hasn't necessarily been an easy Stanley Cup playoffs so far for Charlie McAvoy, but the Bruins defenseman picked a perfect time for his best game of the spring.

With Boston on the verge of elimination and captain Brad Marchand missing another game due to injury, the B's needed McAvoy to step up. He did just that both in terms of veteran leadership and on-ice contributions. The D-man chipped in with an assist and scored his first goal of the playoffs, the eventual game-winner, as the Black and Gold beat the Panthers 2-1 in Game 5 to stave off elimination.

The series now shifts back to Boston where the Bruins will once again look to extend their run in front of their home fans. They'll be looking to build off any momentum they might have taken from the win Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena, and as McAvoy told his teammates after the game, they are right back in the series.

"Boys, belief and confidence are two (expletive) really strong things, eh?" McAvoy told his teammates after the game, as seen in a video shared by the Bruins. "We got it; we got a lot of 'em."

Not only did McAvoy contribute to both goals, but he played a key role in his own end, especially in the third period when Boston was fending off a charging Panthers team. McAvoy logged two shifts of at least 55 seconds in the final minutes, and he made a tremendous defensive play to slow down Florida's attack along the way before diving on the ice to clear a puck.

"He's extremely competitive," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said in his postgame press conference. "He's kind of quiet, like he doesn't say much, but you could see him talking a lot tonight on the bench. His play was instrumental in our victory. I think the goal for him is huge."