Bruins' Charlie McAvoy channeling his new "Dad Strength" during recent offensive outburst
BOSTON -- Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has played with an extra burst the last few games. McAvoy got the scoring started for Boston in Tuesday night's 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden, tallying a goal for his second straight game.
You can thank his newfound "Dad Strength" for this recent offensive outburst. McAvoy and his wife, Kiley, welcomed their first child on Jan. 26, adding Rhys Michael McAvoy to the Bruins fandom.
Rhys arrived just before his dad was activated off injured reserve, and McAvoy has been on a tear with a new Bruins fan at home.
Charlie McAvoy channeling his "Dad Strength" for Bruins
McAvoy was a little sleepy in his first game back on Jan. 30, a 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. It was likely a mixture of rust after being sidelined for nearly three weeks and the exhaustion that comes with becoming a dad for the first time.
But that exhaustion can be flipped into a phenomena known as "Dad Strength" -- or "Dadrenaline" in some circles -- and McAvoy has found a way to harness that extra boost in each of his last two times on the ice. He's scored in each of his two games in February after going all of January without lighting the lamp.
"The 'Dad Strength' as they say," McAvoy joked after Tuesday's win. "It's been an amazing week and a couple days for me. Life is awesome right now. I'm just through the moon with me and Kiley and the baby. It's nice to have some wins on top of it."
McAvoy scored one of Boston's six goals in a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday, and brought the puck home for Rhys.
"I got home and he had a hockey onesie on," recalled McAvoy. "It was perfect."
McAvoy nets first-ever tip-in goal
With a newborn at home, things are about to get messy for McAvoy. He's going to find himself in plenty of situations he's never experienced before.
He got some nice practice on the ice Tuesday night, scoring his first-ever tip-in goal to give Boston a 1-0 lead early in the second period. McAvoy flew into the low slot as David Pastrnak floated a shot on net, and was there to re-direct the puck by Wild goalie Marc Andre-Fleury.
"I think that was my first tip-in. I was really excited after," said McAvoy. "I haven't scored a goal like that. So that was pretty cool."
McAvoy has now scored goals in two straight games for the first time since his first two games of the season. He's up to seven goals on the year, after scoring just five (including two in one game) over his first 46 contests.
Fellow Boston blue-liner Brandon Carlo has a game plan for McAvoy to keep this hot stretch going.
"I think he's got to have more babies," Carlo joke. "Rhys is definitely pushing him on the offensive side of the puck. We'll tell him to keep that chatter up."
