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Charlie Coyle plays the role of hero in Game 1 |
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When Charlie Coyle attempted to feed Charlie McAvoy with a pass to begin transition out of the Bruins zone in the third period of what was then a 1-0 Bruins Game 1 lead, his pass was off the mark and ended up on the stick of Boone Jenner.
Seconds later the puck was in the Bruins net, and the game was tied at one.
13 seconds after Brandon Dubinsky ‘s game-tying tally, Pierre-Luc Dobois gave the Blue Jackets their first lead of the game.
For Coyle, on his mind was how costly his turnover was, and how if the Bruins are unable to turn this into a win, it was his turnover that started it all.
But from there, Coyle took matters into his own hands, tying the game later in the period, and then winning Game 1 in overtime.
“Well I had a costly turnover in the third period, you can’t have that during the game,” said Coyle. “I’m glad our line kept playing and kept going out there to redeem ourselves, just happy to get the win after that to be honest.”
While players like Patrice Bergeron, Jake DeBrusk and David Pastrnak have not produced the type of offensive results that they normally do, Coyle has been one of the Bruins most consistent playoff performers through eight games.
His six points is good enough for second on the team in playoff points.
In exchange for Ryan Donato, the Bruins from the Minnesota Wild acquired Coyle at the trade deadline. With six points in 21 games, Coyle struggled adapting to life as a Bruin. Part of Coyle’s troubles was due to a rotating cast of line mates.
But once fellow trade deadline addition Marcus Johansson returned from injury, the two started to see more time together. The duo did not exactly light up the score sheet night in and night out, but the two getting familiar with each other ended up being the most important component of their pairing.
Their ever-growing chemistry was on full display in Game 1.
“I feel like we’ve played well together pretty much the whole time,” said Johansson, who has three points in six playoff games. “You know, the puck just hasn’t gone in for us and like I said last game I feel like we earned a couple. So you know it was fun to see those go in.”
Johansson picked up the primary assist on both of Coyle’s goals, with both coming off beautiful passes to Coyle’s tape.
“Well, it’s starting to develop, obviously,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said about the chemistry between the two. “We’ve talked about Marcus, right? He had some, an injury here early with us, then he got sick, so he hasn’t had time to really develop a lot of that. Practice time is limited down at the end of the year, so he’s got to do it on the fly.”
On the fly is exactly how Johansson and Coyle connected for the game-tying and game-winning goals. Coyle’s overtime goal was the full circle picture of how far Johansson and Coyle have come on the ice.
“You know what, I just saw Heinen take off and flip one up and knew it would get to him and I think it was a great play by him staying onside,” added Johansson. “Once that happened, I felt like everything opened up and before I got the puck I already saw Charlie going back door so it was just kind of a quick play.” One of those you don’t really think, you just do it, and that was fun to see it go in.”
Without the benefit of growing chemistry, maybe Johansson is thinking instead of doing, maybe he doesn’t hit Coyle for the game-winning goal, and maybe we are sitting here talking about a Bruins loss.
Instead, Coyle and Johansson have leaned on each other as they learn a new system.
“He’s such a good, strong two-way centerman. You know, someone you can always rely on and he makes the right decisions out there,” Johansson said of Coyle. “And that’s always something that helps. Yeah, so far it’s been nothing but good.”
In 52:25 of five-on-five ice time together in the playoffs, Johansson and Coyle have been on the ice together for three goals scored, a Corsi For percentage of 54.44% and have a plus-eight shot differential.
When you look at what Coyle and Johansson did together in the regular season, and compare that to the above playoff numbers, you will see that their improvement in chemistry is making a major difference.
In 54:24 of five-on-five ice time in 10 regular season games, the two were on the ice together for just one goal scored, a Corsi For percentage of 44.55% and a minus-nine shot differential.
Scoring a game-winning overtime goal in a Stanley Cup playoff game is always special, but whether he would admit it or not, this one had a little more meaning for Coyle.
Growing up just about a half hour away from TD Garden, Coyle had many friends, family and fellow Weymouth residents in attendance. But with the added pressure of growing up in the area, Coyle is trying his best to block out the noise and focus on the task at hand.
“Yeah, you just try to stay in the moment, really, you know, especially playoff time. We always say, 'You can't get too high, can't get too low,' even if you really want to, and it's hard to contain yourself sometimes,” said Coyle. “A lot of outside noise can kind of sway that too, so you just keep a level head.”
Coyle and Johansson help make up a group of bottom-six forwards that have been coming up with key goals in their last few playoff games. Seven of the Bruins last eight goals have come from their bottom-six forwards.
“That’s why their secondary scorers, right? Because they’re not guys that do it every night. So far, they have the last few,” added Cassidy. “We talked about it here. I think any good Stanley Cup caliber team has to have it at some point. We’re getting it. We need it.”
The Bruins are not going to win a series on their bottom-six being the only ones to produce goals. But it’s only a matter of time before the top-six starts to get going. Once that happens and if the secondary scoring continues to be there, the Bruins will be much more dangerous, especially in an Eastern Conference that is there for the taking.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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