Bruins Notes: Joe Sacco’s Message To Charlie Coyle Leads To Offensive Eruption

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins picked up an important win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday afternoon.

After squandering a two-goal lead against the Senators on Saturday, Boston fell out of a playoff spot. Ottawa, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Montreal Canadiens were all ahead of them in the standings entering their matinee contest against the Sharks.

The Black and Gold needed a response, and Charlie Coyle stole the spotlight from fellow Boston University product Macklin Celebrini and Boston College standout Will Smith in their first game back at TD Garden as NHLers.

Coyle scored twice in the third period — the equalizer and winning goals — to secure the come-from-behind win. The Weymouth, Mass. native hadn’t lit the lamp in his previous 10 games. Interim head coach Joe Sacco said the message to Coyle was pretty simple while the forward was snakebitten.

“To shoot more,” Sacco said. “I tell him that all the time. Charlie has a tendency to overpass at times, and he’s the first one to tell you. We have to remind him to keep putting the pucks toward the net. He has a good shot. He has to utilize it more. Stop deferring at times.

“We’ve talked about that as a group this year. We want to play off the shot more, and that’s a big part of it, right? We want to get two for one. We want rebound opportunities when they’re there. So, good on him for at least putting the puck toward the net. You never know what happens.”

In the first 40 minutes of the contest, Coyle, Brad Marchand and Matthew Poitras struggled to get going offensively, but defensively, the trio were effective as they skated on the same line together for the first time.

“I think early on they were working. They were definitely working hard. They were competing,” Sacco said. “… I think in the third period, you saw playing behind the forecheck, talking about stopping up pucks in the offensive zone; they did a much better job of cycling the puck, hanging onto pucks.

“That’s where Charlie’s very effective. He uses his size and strength. … I could see even in Matty’s game, as the game started to progress, he was playing better as well. … I think with Matty we were looking for someone to help transport the puck through the neutral zone with some speed. He held onto it, he kicked it over to Charlie, and Charlie ended up scoring. Somebody to help carry the puck through the neutral zone with some speed and some pace. I think helps his flanks a lot. That’s what we’re really looking for. And defensively, Matty was good tonight. He did a good job in his own zone.”

Along with Coyle’s two tallies in the third, the Bruins added two empty-net goals from Marchand and Elias Lindholm.

Here are more notes from Monday’s Bruins-Sharks game:

— Vinni Lettieri opened the scoring for the Black and Gold at 9:21 of the first period. He has two goals in three games since being recalled from Providence.

“Just trying to play with some pace,” Lettieri said. “Trying to do the little details and then especially in this league, just trying to get around the dirty areas and just stay around the net and hopefully find a rebound or two.”

— Five Bruins recorded multi-point games in the win over the Sharks. Coyle added an assist on Lindholm’s empty-net goal for his third multi-point game of the season. Lindholm, Poitras, Marchand and David Pastrnak all recorded two points in the contest.

— Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves in his eighth win of the season. Korpisalo getting the nod ended Jeremy Swayman’s season-high run of five consecutive starts.

— The Bruins had been outshot in six straight games before having a 33-28 edge over the Sharks.

— It was just the fourth time Boston earned a come-from-behind win when trailing after two periods. The Bruins improved to 4-17-1 overall when their opponents held a lead heading into the final period of regulation.

— With the win, the Bruins moved ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens in the tight Eastern Conference playoff picture.

— The Bruins head out to New Jersey to take on the Devils on Wednesday night. Puck drop from Prudential Center is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.