Browns

“I thought his control skills, his stick, escaping and then straight into Marchy? Great game.’

It wasn’t Elias Lindholm who rammed a rebound past Dustin Wolf with 20 seconds left in overtime.

The Bruins’ top free-agent pick wasn’t one of the three stars honored on the ice after the Bruins’ 4-3 win over the Flames.

All things being equal, the 29-year-old center’s final stat line didn’t jump off the page: 18:13 of ice time, one assist and a 44 percent faceoff shooting rate.

But that one helper in the extra frame — and the series of plays that led to that assist — showed exactly why the Bruins handed Lindholm a $54.25 million contract this summer.

With just 26.2 seconds left in overtime, Lindholm lined up for an offensive zone showdown against Mikael Backlund. Backlund knocked the puck behind him, allowing Calgary blueliner Rasmus Andersson to shield the cookie behind the net.

A stout D-man like Andersson had several options at his disposal as he collected the offerings along the end boards. As Nazem Kadri slid toward the blue line, he could have fed the puck downtown in hopes of one last scoring bid against Joonas Korpisalo before time expired.

Or Andersson could have simply let the clock run out, allowing both teams to catch their breath and roll the dice in a shootout.

Neither scenario played out, not when Lindholm approached the Calgary puck carrier.

Despite losing the face-off, Lindholm immediately skated forward toward Andersson, lifting his stick as he pressed it against the boards. By the time Andersson separated in an attempt to regain control of the puck, Lindholm had already shot it to a lurking Marchand at the crease.

“And the rest is history,” Marchand noted.

Lindholm’s efforts were welcomed, especially in the midst of a season where both he and the Bruins have struggled to consistently generate offense.

While it may have been asking a lot from Lindholm to replicate the 42-goal, 82-point campaign he turned in with the Flames in 2021-22, his playmaking ability and hockey IQ painted the picture of a player capable of making plays encourage and score 60 goals. + points.

After starting the year with two goals and five points in his first three games, Lindholm was mired in a seven-game scoring drought from October 14 to 29. An inconsistent relationship between him and David Pastrnak has further complicated matters in his career. first season with Boston.

But things have picked up again of late for Lindholm, who has now registered four assists in his last five appearances. While his offensive ceiling may get lower the longer he skates on a line without Pastrnak, Lindholm is starting to develop a strong bond with a similar two-way, hard-nosed skater in Marchand.

“He’s a very, very smart player. Reads the ice very well, makes a lot of good plays,” Marchand said about skating with Lindholm. “I definitely think we’re starting to understand where each other is going. Always room for improvement.

“So the more practice you get and the more reps you get, the more we’ll build it. But again, the way (Jim Montgomery) coaches changes the line a lot. So he can change it at any time, but you always try to find chemistry with your linemates as quickly as possible.

For now, Montgomery and Boston’s coaching staffs may want to keep this current top six group.

In addition to the burgeoning chemistry between Marchand and Lindholm, moving Pavel Zacha back to center led to results in a forward partnership with David Pastrnak and Tyler Johnson.

Zacha scored his first 5-on-5 goal of the season, while Pastrnak added a pair of assists as Boston’s top forward continues to try to find some traction in the offensive zone.

The Bruins’ offense remains a work in progress. Even with three 5-on-5 games against Calgary, Boston is still 25th in the league in 5-on-5 goals (22 over 15 games), while their power play is now 30th overall with a 12.9 success rate percent.

But Montgomery believes Lindholm’s puck-pursuit habits and motor skills provide a template Boston should follow when it comes to generating dangerous looks.

“We always talk about … our puck pressure really determines whether we get opportunities to score, and that was a great example of that,” Montgomery said of Lindholm’s overtime. “I thought his control skills, his stick, escaping and then straight into Marchy? Great game.”

The Bruins still have a lot of work to do when it comes to getting back on track and pulling themselves out of a months-long slump. A confident and committed Lindholm should help them in these efforts.

“Just instinct, being hard on the puck. … And that’s huge, breaks up a play, pins the guy on the boards, gives it to Brad for a chance and then the rebound,” Charlie Coyle said of Lindholm. “Just a great play. That’s why he’s a pretty good player.”

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Conor Ryan is a staff writer for the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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