The Bruins were mired in a concerning three-game losing streak ago when a milestone for Brandon Carlo came and went without much notice last week, lost in the teeth-gnashing. Carlo played in his 500th NHL game when the B’s got back on the winning track against the San Jose Sharks last Thursday.
For Carlo, it meant a little more than just reaching the halfway mark. While he’s still pushing the edges of the game, Carlo felt the 500-game mark signified that, in a way, he had arrived as an NHL defenseman. And it’s probably no coincidence that he hit the marker in what is shaping up to be the 27-year-old Carlo’s finest season.
While his offensive numbers are typically modest (1-5-6 totals), he’s been a foundational piece on the back end, posting a team-best plus-13 while starting in the offensive zone just 26.6% percent. He’s averaging 20:14 of icetime a game. Carlo’s also been a key cog in the B’s league-leading penalty-killing unit, not a small thing when you consider the B’s have taken the fourth most minors in the league (101).
For Carlo, who battled with his confidence earlier in his career, it is more than a pat cliché’ when he says he’s taking things one day at a time.
“That’s something I’ve tried to change a little bit, being as present as possible in each day,” said Carlo earlier this week. “I think that’s helped me to not overthink either what’s coming or the past with the games, like when we had a couple of down games with that three-game skid, just recognizing that life is a lot bigger than that, and just recognizing and just enjoying my life in all aspects. But through hockey, I feel like I’m starting to recognize that you just have to enjoy it. I’m at the point now with having played 500 games, that’s a big milestone of mine. I feel like at this point, I look back at that and it was a proud accomplishment of mine. I feel at that point, you should know that you have the experience in this league to be able to handle certain things. At this point, I’m just enjoying it, really. The biggest thing for me is being present and enjoying it.”
The season Carlo has been having has been huge for coach Jim Montgomery. With the loss of three of the team’s four centers from last year, the B’s team defense remains a work in progress. The B’s lost Charlie McAvoy to a four-game suspension. Matt Grzelcyk missed almost a month with an upper body injury. His PK parnter Derek Forbort had also missed four games with a nagging injury.
The fact that there’s been little fluctuation in Carlo’s game has unquestionably helped the B’s (17-4-3) overcome some of the team’s overall defensive deficiencies that are still being ironed out.
“He’s a rock that way,” said Montgomery. “Not only him, but he’s one of the players that we know what we’re going to get out of him, effort-wise, execution-wise and obviously shutting plays down and killing plays defensively.”
Earlier in his career, Carlo talked a lot about the battle between the blue-brain moments and the red-brain moments, blue signifying the calm moments, red being when thing are going haywire and a state of mind that can lead to mistakes. He’s been living life in the blue much more consistently.
“I’m definitely getting there, for sure,” said Carlo. “I’d say the last two or three years just gaining confidence within myself, I feel like the chatter that’s been going on mentally within myself, the internal chatter has gotten a lot more positive and I’m starting to recognize within myself as I make plays and show a little more poise with the puck that I am capable of doing those things. Overall, I think just a little bit of confidence has just helped me and I’d say is the biggest attribute with how I’ve been playing lately.”
His performance hasn’t changed no matter who he’s paired with, whether it’s Hampus Lindholm (his partner in Wednesday’ practice), Grzelcyk or even rookie Mason Lohrei.
“It was a fun opportunity for me (working with Lohrei) and I feel like I’m trying to embrace that rather than be putting too much pressure on myself with it all, having fun, enjoying it and letting that rub off on my partner as well,” said Carlo.
Carlo will never be the carry-the-mail type of offensive player like McAvoy, but he continues to work on the little nuances of his game that can help the team’s production.
“I’m not stressing too much when the puck does come to me, recognizing that these guys have to skate all the way out to you to get the puck from you,” said Carlo. “I’m recognizing that I do have a little bit more space along the blue line at times and don’t need to rush plays back down the wall. I still make plenty of those plays where I put it back down the wall. I like to make the safe play. But I’m taking an extra second to recognize there may be another option to find rather than just throwing it behind the goal line.”
Carlo may still be trying to grow his game, but he’s secure in who he is. And it’s paying off for the Bruins…
Brad Marchand, not at Wednesday’s practice, returned home to attend services for his grandmother, Frances O’Leary, who died last Friday. He’s expected back for Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Garden.