SUNRISE, Fla. — Mason Lohrei was not in a great spot. As the Boston Bruins defenseman went back for a puck behind his goal line in the second period of Game 5 Tuesday, he saw Sam Bennett to his left. He could feel Matthew Tkachuk bearing down on his right. He was about to get sandwiched.
But as Lohrei stretched out his stick for the puck, he heard Charlie Coyle behind him calling for the puck. Coyle was in the middle of the defensive zone.
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It is the last place a defenseman wants to put the puck. But hearing Coyle gave Lohrei the green light to send a backhand pass toward the front of his net before Tkachuk came calling.
It was a good thing Lohrei had faith in his teammate. The play set up the Charlie McAvoy goal that saved the Bruins’ season. With help from Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins took a 2-1 win to force Game 6.
“I didn’t see him score,” said Lohrei, who had gone off for a change. “But I heard it.”
Communication matters
Lohrei had a feeling the middle was clear. He saw Carter Verhaeghe finishing Andrew Peeke to his left. He knew Bennett and Tkachuk were nearby. But Coyle’s call for the puck gave Lohrei the certainty to make a high-risk play a safe bet.
“Good talk by him,” Lohrei said. “I’ve just got to trust him and make that play to the middle. We’ve been talking about trying to use the middle. Use whatever’s open, right? You’ve got to be vocal out there.”
The middle was indeed open. But Coyle had to make his move quickly. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was surfing deep into the Bruins’ zone. So once he received Lohrei’s pass, Coyle protected the puck from Ekman-Larsson and hit Trent Frederic in stride.
Frederic thought he would have more space. But Dmitry Kulikov had a good angle. Kulikov steered Frederic to the outside and contained the wing once he gained the Florida zone. The Florida Panthers were in good shape.
But Frederic stalled for time. He applied the brakes and waited for reinforcements. This gave Coyle time to join the rush. It also allowed Danton Heinen to do his job: provide middle drive, negate Ekman-Larsson’s stick and cause net-front mayhem. Frederic’s pause also forced Verhaege, who was backchecking on Coyle, to sprint past his man.
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“It was great poise by him to pull up,” Coyle said of Frederic. “He lets Heinen go to the net. Sometimes they over-backcheck. I think the guy covering me over-backchecked and just gave me that split moment to get it. It also gives another split moment for Charlie to come off and be open.”
‘Came off like an animal’
From his seat on the bench, McAvoy saw the play developing. It looked promising. He could barely wait for Peeke to get off the ice so he could hop over the boards.
“I saw we had numbers,” McAvoy said. “And I saw Peeker was coming for a change. Second period, sometimes you can win the change battle and get a chance. I started yelling right away.”
By the time McAvoy jumped onto the ice, Frederic was about to pass to Coyle. Once Coyle received the puck, he didn’t see McAvoy at first. Coyle thought about shooting or giving it back to Frederic.
But then Coyle noticed a flash coming off the bench. Coyle knew where he was going.
“Chucky came off like an animal,” Coyle said. “Heinen draws a guy to him too and crashes the net. I don’t think we score without that either. I don’t think he gets a point on it. But that’s a huge play by Heinen.”
Once McAvoy received Coyle’s pass, Heinen was in the thick of the action. He was engaged with Ekman-Larsson. Sergei Bobrovsky had skated to the top of his crease to challenge McAvoy. The Florida goalie was dealing with many distractions because of Heinen’s arrival.
“Middle-lane drive,” Heinen said of his job on the play. “Try to occupy a D-man and get traffic at the net.”
As Heinen did his thing, McAvoy approached and skated below the tops of the circles in the middle of the slot. The NHL measured McAvoy’s position as 26 feet from the net when he let a wrister fly. It was his first goal of the playoffs. McAvoy had gone without a single shot on goal during the first four games of Round 2.
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“I’ve been trying, certainly, taking shots. Just haven’t been able to see them get to the net,” McAvoy said. “You never lose confidence. It’s the playoffs. It’s up and down. It’s emotional. Every day’s a new day. That’s all we’re given. I’m just been trying to keep the same mindset. I’m grateful for these opportunities and the guys I get to go to war with. I want to be my best to do the best I can. Tonight was just good to see them get on net and see them create some opportunities for our team.”
The goal was not a sure thing. Of course, it went to review.
A long wait
The Bruins were on the wrong end of an unsuccessful goaltender interference challenge in Game 4. This time, it was the Panthers’ turn to send the goal to Toronto for review. Heinen appeared to catch Bobrovsky’s right skate when he drove to the net. Bobrovsky also dropped his stick before McAvoy’s shot went in.
Paul Maurice and the Panthers staff challenge for goalie interference. The original call 'goal' stands after review.
That's Maurice's first challenge loss of the playoffs (2-1 overall, 1-1 for INT).
Coaches have won 20% of their interference challenges overall this postseason pic.twitter.com/wD5J28FCx3
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 15, 2024
“Not good things,” Coyle said with a laugh when asked what he was thinking when Florida issued the challenge. “Honestly, you never know what’s going to happen. You just try, on the bench, to say, ‘Hey, whatever happens here, we’re coming again. We’re coming again. We’re doing it the right way.’ You can’t dwell on anything. Sometimes you don’t know. You’ve just got to have the right mindset. If it goes your way, great. If not, we’re still coming. We have that mindset of, ‘We’re relentless. And nothing’s going to stop us.’”
Heinen knew he had made contact with Bobrovsky. In his mind, the bump was early, well before McAvoy’s shot.
“I felt like I was pretty far out,” Heinen said. “I tried to get out of there as quick as I could. I felt like I gave him time to reset. Charlie made a good shot.”
Referees Kyle Rehman and Steve Kozari took their time on their headsets. McAvoy was anxious.
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“Oh, he was freaking out,” David Pastrnak cracked about McAvoy.
“I’m like, ‘This one has to go our way,’” McAvoy followed up with a smile. “Just hoping. On the play, when I collected the puck, I got my head up and he seemed square to me — that he was able to square up. It was just one-on-one. It didn’t look like he was interfered with. I just kept thinking it was a fair play. It was one-on-one and he had a chance. Happy that one went our way. You just never know with these things. We needed that.”
(Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / Getty Images)
