McAvoy, Bruins keep rolling

Long Beach native Charlie McAvoy and the Boston Bruins continued their torrid stretch at the expense of the New York Islanders on Jan. 18.

McAvoy, playing in front of family and friends in Brooklyn for the second time this month, assisted on Patrice Bergeron’s third goal, the rookie defenseman’s 20th helper of the season, and the Bruins extended their point streak to 15 consecutive games with a 5-2 victory at Barclays Center. McAvoy also had an assist in Boston’s 5-1 win over the Isles on Jan. 2.

“We’re playing great hockey right now,” said McAvoy, who is widely considered one of the top three rookies in the NHL along with the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal and Vancouver’s Brock Boeser. “We’re all bonded to the brand we want to play and trust each other,” he added. “We’re seeing results and we want to keep it going as long as we can.”

The Bruins skated away from Barclays with a record of 26-10-8 for 60 points, ranking them in a three-way tie for third in the league and second in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay. McAvoy, who got a taste of the NHL on its biggest stage and had three assists in the opening round playoff series against Ottawa, scored in his first-ever regular-season game Oct. 5 and has 5 goals and a plus-18 rating while logging 22 minutes per game on Boston’s top pairing alongside Zdeno Chara.

McAvoy said his phone blew up with text and voice messages after his “Gordie Howe Hat Trick,” which consists of a goal, assist and fight, in Boston’s 7-2 victory over visiting Columbus on Dec. 21 — his 20th birthday — at TD Garden. McAvoy scored a power play goal in the second period, scrapped with the Blue Jackets’ rookie Pierre Luc-Dubois 53 seconds into the third, and assisted on fellow rookie Danton Heinen’s goal with 7:30 remaining.

“A lot of people reached out to me with kind words after that game,” McAvoy said. 

There was no shortage of McAvoy jerseys in the crowd in the two games at Barclays, as well as at Madison Square Garden when the Bruins faced the Rangers on Nov. 8. And they’ll be back at MSG on Feb. 7.

“I’m thankful to have great support from my family and so many people in the community,” he said. “I’m proud to say I’m from Long Beach.”