BOSTON — The Bruins showed a ton of fight in Saturday’s victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Trent Frederic got back on the board with a pair of goals, ending his long drought. David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha continued to display their poise in the clutch. Jeremy Swayman made timely saves, including one game-saving beauty.
It’s safe to say one guy stood out above the rest, however.
Charlie McAvoy was a man possessed, making his presence felt in a big way after a pair of run-ins with Flyers forward Matvei Michkov — who used his stick to create separation one too many times for the 26-year-old’s liking.
“I didn’t like that,” McAvoy said postgame. “I was seeing red a little bit. I’d say the game got physical after that, because there was emotion — between me and him, between a lot of guys. It’s just hockey, you know?”
McAvoy was (somewhat impressively) involved in five total penalties, committing three of his own that led to a decent chunk of time spent in the penalty box. Boston did a decent enough job bleeding that time, but no one had a better response than the man himself, who drew a pair of penalties on his own.
The Bruins weren’t able to get much going offensively prior to McAvoy’s two roughing penalties, but scored three goals in the period-plus that followed.
Did he turn things around single-handedly? No, but he sure provided the spark needed to keep Boston in the win column.
