Bruins need Charlie McAvoy to play drastically better to beat Panthers originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Charlie McAvoy has been one of the NHL’s top 10 defensemen for the last couple years, but he hasn’t played anywhere near that level for the Boston Bruins in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far.
And if the Bruins are going to eliminate the Panthers and reach the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2019, they need their No. 1 defenseman to play like a $9.5 million player almost every game.
McAvoy is a workhorse for the Bruins. He plays in all situations and leads the team with 25:40 of ice time per game (3:23 more than any teammate), which also ranks No. 6 among all players in the 2024 playoffs. The Bruins rely on McAvoy to make a hugely positive impact in all three zones, but we have yet to see him do that on a consistent basis over the last couple weeks.
In fact, the Bruins have largely been outplayed during McAvoy’s 191:29 of even-strength minutes through nine playoff games.
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McAvoy was less than stellar, to say the least, during the Bruins’ 6-1 loss in Game 2 of their second-round series versus the Panthers on Wednesday night.
He played 13:52 at 5-on-5, and the Panthers had a 16-4 edge in shot attempts, a 6-2 edge in shots on net, a 7-1 advantage in scoring chances and a 2-1 goal differential in those minutes. The opponent is not supposed to dominate to that level when your best defenseman is on the ice.
McAvoy wasn’t able to clear the puck along the boards in the defensive zone before the Panthers’ second goal. He lost his stick in the process, which made it difficult to stop Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov from scoring the goal in front of the net
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman wasn’t able to locate the puck on the Panthers’ third goal with 0.3 seconds remaining in the second period because McAvoy (and Brad Marchand) screened him. If McAvoy is going to occupy that ice right in front of his goalie, he needs to block the shot.
The Bruins were sloppy to begin the third period, too. The Panthers’ first shot of the frame came off a McAvoy turnover. He flipped the puck to the middle of the ice and Anton Lundell…