NEW YORK — Playing with Zdeno Chara for the Boston Bruins can be a double-edged sword. On one hand you’re facing the opponent’s top lines every night, a difficult challenge. On the other, you get to play with a 6-foot-9 security blanket who covers up a lot of mistakes and likely is headed to the Hall of Fame.

While Charlie McAvoy is being guided this year by Chara, Brandon Carlo played with Chara almost exclusively last season. But recently he’s been playing with Torey Krug, perhaps the exact opposite player from Chara in size and style. And the 20-year-old Carlo is doing well away from his mentor. At plus-6, Carlo is one of only five Bruins players with a positive rating after Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

He had a rough game Oct. 21 against the Buffalo Sabres but has been solid since, compiling a plus-6 rating in his past seven games. His plus-6 is second on the team to Chara’s plus-8.

“He should look at it as a compliment that he’s now on his own a little bit and bringing something to a different pair,” Coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He had his tutelage under (Chara) and they’ll still be paired up from time to time.

“In general it could seem like a demotion going from the first pair to the second, but I don’t think his minutes (19 per game) are that far off from where they were. His role certainly isn’t. He’s a big part of our (penalty kill), and he and (Krug) now have started to develop a chemistry, similar to (Chara) and (McAvoy), just on opposite sides. So that’s a good thing for us.”

Carlo has taken the move as a positive.

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“I think it’s been really good so far. The aspect of (Krug) being more of an offensive guy is a really good complement for my defensive game,” Carlo said. “It’s been really fun playing with him. He’s a good option for me on most of the breakouts to move the puck to. I know he’s always going to be in those right positions.”

THURSDAY’s GAMES

OILERS 3, DEVILS 2: Leon Draisaitl’s goal with 16.3 seconds left in overtime lifted Edmonton at Newark, New Jersey.

The Oilers (6-8-1) have now won consecutive games for the first time all season. Anton Slepyshev and Milan Lucic also scored for Edmonton, and Cam Talbot made 32 saves.

FLYERS 3, BLACKHAWKS 1: Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists to lead Philadelphia at home.

Brian Elliott made 38 saves and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers, who avenged last Wednesday’s 3-0 loss at Chicago while beating the Blackhawks for the 14th straight time in Philadelphia during the regular season.

WILD 3, CANADIENS 0: Jason Zucker scored three goals in the third period and Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves for a shutout as Minnesota won at Montreal to end a three-game losing streak.

It was the second multi-goal game in two nights for Zucker, who scored twice Wednesday night in a 4-2 loss at Toronto.


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