Carlo's Game Rounding Into Form

NASHVILLE - Brandon Carlo was the young sensation a year ago. The then 19-year-old blue liner burst onto the scene as Zdeno Chara's right-hand man and established himself as one of the league's best young defensemen.
Carlo was entrusted with playing heavy minutes in shutdown situations and on the penalty kill, while setting the tone for Boston's youth movement. This season, however, the Colorado native has taken a bit of a backseat to the Bruins' other young talent, as the likes of Charlie McAvoy, Anders Bjork, Jake DeBrusk, and Danton Heinen have had their own coming-out parties.

But Saturday's game against the Flyers was a strong reminder of the force the former second-round pick can be on the back end. Carlo played 25 minutes, 41 seconds - his highest ice time of the season - and, with McAvoy, Chara, and Kevan Miller all spending time in the box, was the rock behind the B's 6-for-6 afternoon on the penalty kill.
"That's something I pride myself on, the area of my game that I want to show that I'm growing and that they can trust me in," Carlo said after the team's optional practice at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday afternoon. "I had a lot of fun going out there…I love to block shots, I love to be in those lanes in those situations. It was good for me to be out in that situation. For myself, just gaining that experience is a great part as well."
Carlo is a plus-5 through 24 games this season and has continued to be a dependable presence for Cassidy and assistant coach Kevin Dean, ranking sixth on the team time in time on ice per game (19:09). It is his offensive game that Boston is hoping continues to develop.
The 6-foot-5, 208-pounder went six games without landing a shot on goal, before firing two on Brian Elliot against Philadelphia, and has has just four assists without a goal after a 6-goal, 10-assist campaign during his rookie season. Cassidy believes the dip in offense is more a result of the team's current approach with so many injuries up front, rather than any serious drop off in Carlo's play.
"I think when we have a full lineup we'll be able to make more plays off the rush," Cassidy explained. "That will allow all the D to get their numbers up a little bit. Some of that is the product of him being assertive and us pushing him a little bit more and some of it is we don't make as many clean entries so that the D can join…we're starting to see more of it.
"I would expect that that part of his game would go up in the second half because it's there, there's some of it there, I think. He's never going to be what you call a high-end offensive defenseman - he's not on our power play - that's not going to allow him the points, but I think there's some secondary offense that we can get out of him. All in all, we're pleased with his year."
Carlo has also had to adjust to playing with a new partner. While he saw some shutdown time with Chara on Saturday against Philadelphia, the 21-year-old has been paired with Torey Krug for much of the last six weeks with Adam McQuaid sidelined by a broken fibula.
"I feel like it's going well. I feel like we're starting to develop chemistry," said Carlo. "It's fun to play with him and have a guy who is offensive like that and makes good plays getting out of the zone. When he can jump up and I can stay back a little bit, I'll definitely do that for him.
"But he encourages me as well to go up…I hear him on the ice [telling me] to get up the ice. It's a good situation and I feel like as we breakout the puck and develop that chemistry a little more we'll have those opportunities up the ice."

DeBrusk Return Near

Jake DeBrusk was one of the players to take part in Boston's optional practice on Sunday, a strong sign that the rookie is close to a return after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury. Cassidy said the team will re-evaluate him Monday morning and has not ruled him in or out for the game with the Predators.
"Doing well, doing better, progressing well," said DeBrusk. "Just taking it day by day and taking all the steps to get back in action as fast as possible. It's frustrating being out - we're playing well as of late, so just want to get that opportunity to help the team."
Part of DeBrusk's motivation to get back into the lineup against Nashville is having his father, Louie, along with him on the Bruins dads trip.
"Pushing to get into some game action while he's here," said DeBrusk. "That's one of my other main focuses. It's always nice just to hang out with him at the rink and go through those experiences that he went through.
"It's been awesome. I don't get to see him too much…we've got lots of dads here, it's been really special. There's been lots of memories already. Nice that the guys got a win [in Philadelphia]."

Doby Back In

Anton Khudobin will be back between the pipes against the Predators after ceding the net to Tuukka Rask for the last three games. Khudobin, who is riding a four-game win streak and is 7-0-2 this season, last played the day after Thanksgiving against Pittsburgh.
"Just give us a chance to win. Hopefully he's still in form," said Cassidy. "That's the risk you take by not starting him is he's sat for a little while. As a guy that's used to that, you hope he finds his game and we play well in front of him. This is not an easy building to play in so it's going to be a challenge for him.
"He's been up to it so far, especially on the road [with a 4-0-1 record], so I assume he'll play a good game for us and we have to play well in front of him just like we did the other day for Tuukka."

Good to Go

Brad Marchand, who took an Ivan Provorov elbow to the head against the Flyers, reported no ill effects a day after the hit.
"I felt fine and I feel good today. I'm happy," said Marchand.