BOSTON — Goaltenders Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin certainly deserve their share of credit for the Bruins allowing the fewest goals in the NHL entering Tuesday night's game against the Devils.
Both have played very well this season.
But don’t forget about the contribution of Boston’s defensemen. The top six performed so well, veteran Adam McQuaid couldn’t find his way back into the lineup even after his broken leg healed. McQuaid had to wait until Kevan Miller got sick to finally return after missing 36 games.
Miller returned on Tuesday against New Jersey after missing the previous three games, just in time to replace standout rookie Charlie McAvoy, who is expected to sit out two weeks after undergoing a medical procedure on Monday at Mass. General Hospital to treat an abnormal heart rhythm.
“It’s tough,” fellow rookie defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said of McAvoy, before the Bruins defeated the Devils, 3-2.. “He’s obviously been a great part of our success this year. We’re all going to have to really step up, but we feel ready for the challenge.”
Grzelcyk paired up with Miller. McQuaid rejoined longtime partner Torey Krug. Brandon Carlo took McAvoy’s place alongside captain Zdeno Chara. The two skated together last season when Carlo was a rookie.
“For him,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Carlo, “I guess the message is just play your game. You’ve played with Z. You’re going to play against the good line tonight. Make a good first pass, defend well, play hard and live with the results. That’s what we expect of him.”
Entering Tuesday, the Bruins had allowed a league-low 110 goals in 45 games. Eight of those goals were scored into empty nets after the goaltenders were pulled late in the game. Only the Los Angeles Kings, who surrendered 114 goals in 47 games, had a lower goals against average (2.43) than Boston (2.44). The Kings have allowed five empty-net goals.
The Bruins had also allowed a league-low 68 goals in five-on-five situations this season.
The defense has been even more stifling during the Bruins’ 16-game point streak (12-0-4), allowing an average of only 1.88 goals. During the 12 victories, the Bruins allowed an incredible 1.08 goals per game.
In the first period on Tuesday, however, the defense wasn’t quite as strong in front of Rask as it’s been recently. Even though leading scorer Taylor Hall was out with a hand injury, New Jersey outshot Boston, 20-9, but Rask, 14-0-2 over his last 16 games, kept the puck out of the net and the period ended scoreless.
New Jersey lost, 3-0, at home on Monday night to Detroit while the Bruins hadn’t played since Saturday night when they won in Montreal, 4-1, to beat the Canadiens for the third time in eight days. Nevertheless, the Devils looked like the fresher team early on.
In the second period, the Bruins fell behind 1-0 and 2-1, but Riley Nash, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored to give them a 3-2 lead entering the third. Bergeron tied the score, 2-2, during a 5-on-3 after Miles Wood went after Miller after his hit on Nico Hischier and was penalized four minutes for cross checking and interference. A few seconds later, Marcus Johansson was whistled for tripping.
Carlo and Grzelcyk were both called for high sticking in the first period, Carlo just 1:44 into the game and Grzelcyk 12 seconds into a Bruins power play. Grzelcyk was called for high sticking again in the second period. The Devils didn’t capitalize.
Krug and McAvoy are by far the team’s most offensive-minded defensemen. Krug ranks fifth on the team in points (7-20 — 27) and McAvoy is sixth (5-20 — 25). The others are more stay-at-home defenders. McAvoy could afford to take risks while skating with the more defensive-minded Chara.
The defensive corps has a nice mix of experience and youth.
Chara, McQuaid, Krug and Miller have all been around for a while. Carlo is in his second NHL season and McAvoy and Grzelcyk are rookies. While McAvoy has received a lot of media attention this season and rightfully so, Grzelcyk has also played well. So well, in fact, he was the defenseman who kept McQuaid on the bench.
The 6-foot-9 Chara, 6-5 Carlo, 6-4 McQuaid and 6-2 Miller have size while the 6-foot McAvoy and Krug and Grzelcyk, both 5-9, provide speed.