Talking Points: Carlo, Pasta Lead Bruins Comeback

Here are Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 5-3 comeback win over the Washington Capitals where they scored four unanswered goals en route to victory at Capital One Arena after a rough opening 20-30 minutes of the game.

GOLD STAR: Brandon Carlo gets the honors with his first career game-winning goal in the NHL to cap off a comeback from a three-goal deficit against the Washington Capitals. Carlo was able to step into a perfect Sean Kuraly dish and hammer a puck to the top corner past Vitek Vanecek’s glove hand with just a couple minutes left in the game. Carlo finished with a goal and two points along with a plus-2 rating in 19:23 of ice time and had five shot attempts and a blocked shot in an impressive all-around performance against Washington. Certainly, Carlo is showing a willingness to step up and evolve into a bigger role offensively even if he’s never going to be a 50-point guy on the back end. The game-winner against Washington was a good example of that to go along with Carlo’s usual shutdown duties for the Black and Gold.

BLACK EYE: TJ Oshie had some pretty awesome dance routines worked out with Zdeno Chara prior to Monday night’s game, but really didn’t do much of anything once the puck dropped. Oshie finished with a team-worst minus-3 rating, didn’t have a single shot on net and missed with three of the shot attempts he did have throughout the game. Oshie also took a holding call in the second period to add to a forgettable all-around performance for the Great American Hero. But Oshie will always have whatever this was between him and Chara prior to the game, so he has that going for him.

Still weird https://t.co/ZFkEBYpExa

— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) February 1, 2021

It was stunning to watch all of the Capitals players, including Oshie, turn into pumpkins in the second half of the game once Boston started their comeback.

TURNING POINT: The Bruins had closed the score to 3-2 in the third period on the strength of David Pastrnak’s second goal of the game, but they needed more energy and emotional oomph to get them over the top. Trent Frederic obliged and challenged Tom Wilson to a fight off a face-off in front of the benches to keep the momentum going, and the Bruins rookie did exactly that by holding his own against one of the biggest, toughest guys in the league in Wilson. Frederic then got a great view in the penalty box for the game-tying Craig Smith goal and the game-winner for Brandon Carlo while serving out his fighting major. Frederic played a big role in helping turn the tide in the third period.

Trent Frederic drops the gloves with Tom Wilson. pic.twitter.com/8CnbGI3cPX

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 2, 2021

HONORABLE MENTION: David Pastrnak was a bit off the radar with his shooting in his first game back from injury, but the Bruins right winger found the range in his second game on Monday night. Pastrnak scored in the second period to get the Bruins on the board and give them some life, and then he scored on a nifty little curl-and-drag shot in the third period to get the Bruins within a goal. The rest of the Bruins took over from there, but it was Pastrnak and his first two goals of the season that really gave the Bruins life while they were trying to find their legs early in the game. Pastrnak finished with a game-high seven shots on net, 12 shot attempts overall and two goals along with a plus-1 rating in 20 minutes of highly effective ice time.

BY THE NUMBERS: +4 – I didn’t particularly love parts of Charlie McAvoy’s game on Monday night, but he ended up a game-high plus-4 in 21:43 of ice time while on the ice for four of Boston’s five goals scored in the comeback. It’s tough to argue with that.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “He’s a young kid that wants to get in there and be physical. That’s a tough job to do. That fires our bench up. He plays with no fear.” –Craig Smith on rookie Trent Frederic throwing down with Tom Wilson during the third period of the comeback win.