Bruins' Lindholm has a unique style of defending 2-on-1s
The Boston Bruins got a big boost on the backend when Hampus Lindholm returned to the lineup for game six. The defenseman had been out with an upper-body injury since taking a big hit from Hurricanes' forward Andrei Svechnikov in game two of the series.
Lindholm's defensive impact was immediate. He perfectly defended a two-on-one against two of Carolina's most dangerous offensive threats, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis. He made an amicable breakup of Aho's cross-ice pass, which directly led to this massive hit by his defensive partner Charlie McAvoy:
What you can't see in the video is Lindholm's strategy on the two-on-one, but apparently, it's something he's done for a while now. Especially when defending the more dangerous opposing players. It sounds silly, but he waves his stick around to try and make the attacking player force a pass and clearly, it worked there.
Lindholm was asked about the play after the game:
The defensive impact some players bring is definitely something that fans don't always think about. What Lindholm forced an All-Star like Sebastian Aho to do on that odd-man rush is a lot more easier said than done.
When asked about the hit by McAvoy that happened right after Lindholm just said, "That's playoff hockey."
Watch his full post-game media coverage here:
