Jim Montgomery Gives Honest Assessment Of Charlie McAvoy’s Play

Charlie McAvoy certainly didn’t look like himself on the ice in a Game 2 loss for the Boston Bruins against the Florida Panthers.

But that’s been a refrain uttered too often this postseason about the Bruins star defenseman.

McAvoy’s uncharacteristic play reached a new low, though, in the 6-1 drubbing at Amerant Bank Arena. McAvoy compiled a game-high three giveaways and was on the ice for three Panthers goal. He was right in the middle of the action for two of those tallies.

Florida took full advantage of McAvoy losing his stick to take the lead in the second period. The 26-year-old couldn’t defend properly with his piece of lumber on the ice, which allowed Aleksander Barkov to swoop past him and put in a rebound. McAvoy also got in the way on Florida’s back-breaking goal with 0.3 seconds left in the second period as he screened the view of Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery knows McAvoy wasn’t at his sharpest in Game 2, but he doesn’t expect McAvoy’s play to continue to trend that way.

“I think McAvoy’s been a horse for us in the playoffs,” Montgomery told reporters Thursday, per team-provided video. “Did he have his best game (Wednesday) night? No. I don’t think there was a Bruin — except for maybe Swayman — that had his best night last night. The fatigue factors in. He’s our biggest minute-cruncher. He’ll be ready tomorrow night.”

McAvoy is Boston’s clear leader of time on ice in the playoffs, averaging 25:40 per game, which is over three minutes more than the second-ranked Bruin in Hampus Lindholm at 22:16.

Perhaps playing mostly every other night in a grueling seven-game series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and then jumping right into the series against the Panthers took its toll on McAvoy. There’s also the possibility he’s dealing with an injury — he did head down the tunnel on a couple of occasions in Game 2.

Whatever it is, McAvoy’s play as of late just hasn’t measured up to being Boston’s No. 1 defenseman. He owns a minus-5 rating over the last five games and hasn’t registered a point since Game 5 against the Maple Leafs.

The Bruins definitely need more out of McAvoy and it feels like Montgomery doesn’t plan to hold back any ice time from him, letting McAvoy work through his struggles.