Coyle made his return to action Wednesday night at TD Garden after using training camp to recover from his off-season knee surgery. While recognizing there is still work to be done, the eager center did not disappoint in his debut.
"He looks more fluid," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "There were nights last year where Charlie didn't look himself."
Coyle had the support of talented wingers Taylor Hall and Craig Smith, whose skills help the centerman improve his own game.
"Smitty's pretty quick and can stop on a dime and acceleration. Hallsy just takes off, he's got such a clean and powerful stride, so I try to take bits and pieces from both their strides and emulate it," said Coyle.
As for the line's chemistry, Coyle believes it is only up from here.
"I thought we had some decent plays and definitely some stuff to build on," Coyle said. "Like I said, it's a start, but we definitely have a ways to go with that and I think that's a good thing."
Coyle struck first, tipping in a rebound following a Brad Marchand rocket at 7:28 of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead. While scoring is something Coyle wants to continue to do, he was just happy to be back and feeling good.
"I just wanted to make sure I was just getting better, feeling better, said Coyle. Make sure everything was good and just play my game as best I can." Moving forward, Coyle hopes to make his presence more known and is looking forward to the regular season while recognizes that like everything, it takes time to get back up to speed.
"I obviously want to contribute more, but I want to be well-rounded as well in all three zones," said Coyle. "That's going to come with more time, more practice time, of course, once we start playing more meaningful games."