Despite McAvoy being 19 years old and seemingly more equipped to take on a heavy workload, Cassidy is mindful of the taxing nature of playing that many minutes on a regular basis. But with two days off before the B's next game, Cassidy felt it was an appropriate game to extend the defenseman a bit further.
"I think that's something you have to be mindful of," Cassidy said after the game. "Now, we don't play until Saturday so if you're going to do it, today's the day. But, you're playing against one of the best offensive teams in the league, so you've got to be a little more mindful of your matchups
"Charlie got a lot of work. And he's an efficient player, he can handle it, but 28 is a lot. So we'll have to take a look at that and try to get it to a more reasonable number, for sure."
Part of the reason for McAvoy playing that much was the need to defend Tampa Bay's high-octane offense. The Lightning split up Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov after the first period, which required the services of McAvoy and Zdeno Chara more than Boston expected. Kucherov and Stamkos connected for a power-play goal early in the third, but other than that were held relatively in check.
"Playing against Stamkos and Kucherov in that line was something that me and Zee were matched up against, and they ended up splitting those guys up a bit in the third, so kind of trying to pair with both of them and play with both of those guys, along with any other line," said McAvoy. "So it gets late in the game there, to see that [Cassidy's] calling me back out there, that's something I'm real appreciative of."