Bruins Offense Fueled By Unlikely Sources In Matt Grzelcyk, Connor Clifton
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- When you're preparing for a game against the Boston Bruins, you know which lethal scoring threats you need to focus on stopping. There's the top trio of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron. There's the second line connection between David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. There's a dangerous power play. Torey Krug is always prepared to cause trouble from the blue line.
And then, a few spots down the list, and then a few spots more, there's Matt Grzelcyk and Connor Clifton.
While that defensive duo may not have been brought up too often as impactful offensive players prior to the series starting, they certainly played an important part of the Bruins' blowout win over the Hurricanes in Game 2.
Though the final score of 6-2 represented a total blowout, the game was locked in a scoreless tie deep into the opening period. It was Grzelcyk who broke that tie with a wrister from the bottom of the left faceoff circle. The shot managed to find its way through Petr Mrazek's six-hole, inching over the goal like to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
The Bruins ended up carrying a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after a Jake DeBrusk power-play goal, and just minutes into the second period, Connor Clifton put the game out of reach for the visitors.
Clifton pounced on a loose puck in the neutral zone and carried it with speed into the Caroline end of the ice. As he whirled his way around the Carolina net, he dished to Danton Heinen. The puck ended up on Marcus Johansson's stick, just as Clifton broke himself free from Carolina D-man Haydn Fleury.
Clifton skated to the front of the net and made himself available for Johansson. Though Johansson's pass to Clifton didn't arrive cleanly, Clifton had more than enough time and space to rip one into an empty net.
It was the first goal of Clifton's young career, and it was a mighty big one.
Offense from such sources certainly wasn't expected prior to the series, and that's likely true for both the Bruins and the Hurriances. Grzelcyk scored just three goals in 66 regular-season games this year, one season after scoring three goals in 61 games. He scored against Columbus in the previous series but entered Sunday with just that lone goal in his 25 career playoff games.
Clifton's goal was the first of his career, after he skated in 19 regular-season games and nine playoff games prior to Sunday's Game 2. Clifton did score six goals in the AHL this season and four a year ago, but even he wasn't quite sure how he ended up in a position so deep in Carolina's end of the ice to score this one.
"You know, I'm not too sure," Clifton said when asked how he ended up behind the Hurricanes' net. "But I remember neutral zone, I got the puck, I was rushing up the ice. I think I took it wide and I ended up throwing it to Heinen, who was high slot, came around the net, I think took a hit or kind of rubbed off a hit. And then it was me and the net, without the goalie in it. So that was nice."
Clifton admitted that when he was making his baby steps in the NHL late in the season, he might not have felt quite so emboldened to skate so deep in an opponent's end.
"Yeah, I'd say. Obviously you don't want to give up anything, especially your first run up here," he said. "So I've been focusing defensively first and picking my spots. Feeling it out."
Grzelcyk would later cap off the second-period scoring, confidently skating into the slot and sending a backhand past Mrazek to turn the game into a full-fledged blowout.
Of course, in a 6-2 victory, highlighting one individual goal as the critical moment in a game may be an overstatement. But considering the Hurricanes did hit the ice with a visible display of aggression and energy, that first goal by Grzelcyk was rather significant in seizing control of the game for the Bruins.
"It's always big to get the first goal. I think after that we really got to our game," said Johansson, who picked up the primary assist on Grzelcyk's goal. "The first goal is always a big goal. It might have been a different game if they got the first one. But we played the right way, and when we do that, I think we're really tough to stop. And tonight we had four lines going, so it was good."
The offensive impact from unlikely sources is nothing new for the Bruins. Joakim Nordstrom scored an important goal to give Boston a 1-0 lead in Game 7 vs. Toronto, with Sean Kuraly scoring the goal to give Boston a two-goal lead in the third period of that game. Charlie Coyle scored the game-tying goal and the OT winner in Game 1 vs. Columbus. Kuraly scored a goal to give Boston a two-goal cushion midway through the third period of a crucial Game 4 in Columbus. And in Game 1 of this series, Steven Kampfer opened the scoring.
It's been a major part of what the Bruins are doing, and the secondary scoring is as big of a reason as any that the Bruins now need to win just two out of the next five games to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
It's been big for the team, and it's been big for the individuals -- especially Clifton, who shared where the puck from his first NHL goal will be going.
"I guess, to my mom, right?" Clifton said of the recipient for his Mother's Day tally. "She's here, too, so that's something special."
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
