McAvoy's Late Goal, Coyle's Shootout Tally Lift B's Over Florida

BOSTON - The Bruins took the ice early on Saturday morning ahead of their pregame skate. With the power play struggling mightily to begin the season - checking in at just 2 for 16 through six games - Boston felt it needed to put in some extra time on the man advantage.
So, roughly 15 minutes before the scheduled start of their morning twirl, the Bruins' power-play units hit the sheet at Warrior Ice Arena and zipped the puck around without any penalty killers standing in their way.

Then, at the end of the skate - as they traditionally do - the Bruins ran through their special teams again, this time with the PK there to disrupt.
Some 10 hours later, that added work appeared to pay off.
Despite starting the contest 0 for 2 on the power play, the Bruins struck when they needed it most as Charlie McAvoy sneaked down from the point and buried Brad Marchand's backdoor feed to tie the game with just over six minutes to play in regulation.
The power-play marker sent things to extra time and, eventually, the Bruins prevailed behind three shootout saves from Linus Ullmark and a second-round tally from Charlie Coyle for a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
"It's a crunch-time goal. That's what you look for out of your power play," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We stuck with it and eventually got rewarded. Our power play typically has been a weapon - not so this year, but maybe that will give it a little juice."

McAvoy, whose thunderous neutral-zone hit on Florida's Eetu Luostarinen helped turn the momentum earlier in the third period, admitted that the power-play marker - his first goal of the season - wasn't quite how the Bruins drew it up.
"You know, it was funny, cause that's not really how we script it," said McAvoy, who led the Bruins in ice time with 24:51. "I said it right after. A lot of the things Butchy talks about is just possession over position, so we get the puck and we're trying to make plays and that's kind of where skill takes over. I don't really know what I'm doing there backdoor. But that's kinda where I ended up.
"Marchy's on that side. I'm on this side. [David Pastrnak's] on the top. But that's kind of where we just trust each other, and I guess you want to let the skill take over. It was really nice to see that one go in.
"We've been working really hard. I don't really think we've been getting rewarded too much so that was nice our resilience came through tonight."
Cassidy had been displeased with the pace of Boston's power play, noting earlier on Saturday that the B's were moving too slowly, thus becoming too predictable to the opponent. That changed on Boston's tying tally as they moved the puck quickly and struck just 18 seconds after Carter Verhaeghe went to the box for hooking Craig Smith.
"One of the things [Cassidy] said was trying to just get moving when they're pressuring like that versus the stationary look," McAvoy explained. "I think what kinda happens there is Marchy gets it, he starts attacking, he's just moving, we're trying to move, a lane opens up, and then it's in the back of the net.
"But I think I tend to make better plays when I'm moving, when I'm sort of just feeling the flow. I have my head up. I think a lot of people feel that way and I was kind of proud of what happened there."

A Shot Mentality

While Smith and Pastrnak - both of whom saw time with the second line on Saturday night - are volume shooters, Coyle and Hall are possession players, who often look to make play or pass before they fire one on net. That is a mindset they are trying to adjust, according to Coyle, who heeded his own advice when he ripped a rocket of a wrist shot by Florida goalie Spencer Knight off a feed from Hall to open the scoring with 42 seconds to go in the first period.
"We kind of tell each other to shoot first," said Coyle. "We talk a lot during the game, and sometimes you go into your natural habits; when you should have shot, you pass it. I think when the play is there and the pass is there, you're going to see it. So just to have a shot mentality.
"But [Hall's] a great player in this league. He always has been. He's great to play with. Great to learn from…it's a work in progress. It always is. We've had some chances the last couple [games]. We can start to feel it build, and that's a good sign. We get rewarded here and there.
"There could be a lot more on the way. We've just got to stick with it."
Coyle cashed in again during the second round of the shootout when he deked around Knight and held on to the puck just long enough to sneak it by the netminder.
"Sometimes you have some things in mind, and sometimes you tell yourself not to do certain things, and then you end up doing them - and sometimes you make a last second move or shot," Coyle said of the move. "Sometimes you have something planned and sometimes you don't. I just like it when it goes in after, and luckily it did."

Snapping the Streaks

After falling to the Panthers on Wednesday night in Sunrise, the Bruins were pleased to get a little payback and snap Florida's season-opening, eight-game winning streak.
"We needed that," said Coyle. "They're a good team. We saw them a few nights ago. The record speaks for itself. And you don't want to, especially early in the season, facing the team a couple of times, you don't want to lose twice. Its good on us to fight back here and grab the two points. It's not always pretty."
Cassidy felt that it was particularly important for the Bruins to snap their two-game skid ahead of another lengthy break in the schedule, as Boston has four days off before taking the ice again on Thursday night against Detroit.
"I think it's important. You don't want to get those losing streaks that start to pile up," said Cassidy. "Good opponents this week. If you want to be considered a good team, you've got to beat good teams. I thought these games were close this week - didn't go our way.
"You don't want the game to get away from you. All of a sudden, we have a long week of practice and guys are squeezing their sticks Thursday. At least this allows you to loosen up a little bit and take the good and keep working on our offense."

Wait, There's More