BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 04: Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins skates against Matt Duchene #95 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 04, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
A series-swinging Game 5 victory at TD Garden appeared to come with a huge price for the Bruins on Saturday night, as Charlie McAvoy crumpled down to the ice and on top of an Artemi Panarin one-time shot McAvoy blocked.
What a shot block by Charlie McAvoy in the dying seconds to secure the victory for the Bruins pic.twitter.com/ukADQUoI66
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 5, 2019
Helped off the ice by teammates and B’s trainer Donny Del Negro, McAvoy’s block seemed like it would be enough to put a damper on a Black and Gold victory. But upright and speaking with reporters after the win, McAvoy said he was “fine,” and recalled the play as what it takes to win this time of year.
“You want to leave your imprint on the game in any way possible, and like I said, I got lucky,” McAvoy, who finished with a team-leading 24:31 of action in Game 5, said. “I threw my body out there, and I was fortunate enough that it hit me.
“Whatever it takes, right? I think you put any person on our bench, I have complete faith that whoever it was out there is going to do that, is going to jump in the lane. That’s what it takes, and Butchy has been preaching that, and we all know that. So, tonight it just happened to be me, but it’s been other guys.”
There’s been other guys, sure, but McAvoy’s game-saving sacrifice did not go unnoticed by his teammates.
“That was a great block,” said Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask. “We kind of turned the puck over a couple of times there. Definitely didn’t want to do that, but he sacrificed and made a great block. [Panarin]’s one of the best players shooting there one-timer, so who knows what would have happened.”
“Unbelievable,” said Torey Krug. “What Chuck did there– it hurts to win, sacrificing the body, blocking a big shot.”
And the blocks won’t stop.
“We need to do that,” McAvoy said. “That’s winning hockey.”
The Bruins will go for the closeout victory on Monday night.