SUNRISE, Florida — Everybody was thinking it: Wouldn’t it be great if Brandon Carlo scored a goal in Game 1?
Wouldn’t it be great if he scored on the same calendar day his wife Mayson gave birth to their second child — a boy named Crew Corbett Carlo?
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But reality so rarely delivers the tidy, fairy-tale caliber happily-ever-after moment. And Brandon Carlo rarely scores anyway. He had four all year and just 28 in his career. His goals are scarce even on days when he isn’t up all night in the maternity ward.
Just making to Florida in time for an 8 p.m. playoff game and getting a victory on the day Crew was born would have been special.
But there Carlo was with 20.6 seconds left in the second period with the puck on his stick in the right-wing face-off circle. He didn’t rush. He let the screen develop in front of Sergei Bobrovsky and then slung a wrist shot through the traffic into the net.
Instant-fairy tale.
“I don’t score very often,” Carlo said. “Definitely a part played there by God.”
As David Pastrnak retrieved the puck — Crew Carlo’s first souvenir — Carlo turned toward the Bruins bench and basked in his teammates reactions. They’d been hoping he’d got one and relished that it happened.
“The birth of a child, it’s amazing the energy it gives you,” Jim Montgomery said, smiling a little wistfully. “The birth of my kids? It’s like winning a championship. It gives you adrenaline like you can’t believe for three days.”
At the other end, Jeremy Swayman shot his arms up.
“I don’t celebrate often, but I raised my hands with that one. It’s so incredible what he did today. He was so excited. I can only imagine what it’s like leaving your little one and your wife at home right after,” Swayman said. “Mayson is a big part of this team too, allowing him to come and supporting him. It’s probably one of the most memorable moments I’ll have with this playoff run. No doubt about it.”
It’s been quite the week for Carlo, who assisted on David Pastrnak’s overtime game-winner against Toronto on Saturday. He went from TD Garden to the hospital to meet his wife who had started showing indications that Crew was coming soon after the game. They spent much of Sunday in the hospital before their son arrived healthy around 3 a.m. Monday morning.
“We sped it up as fast as we could. We were flipping her around, flipping her upside down. Whatever we could do to get that baby out of there,” Carlo said smiling and then turned serious. “I’m so thankful, so proud of my wife. … To see his face and to have a healthy wife and a healthy baby, I couldn’t be more happy.”
Eleven hours after that Carlo was wheels up and headed south. After sleeping on the plane, a car met him at the airport and hustled him Doug Mirabelli-style to Amerant Arena by 6 p.m. in time for the 8 p.m. game. Just before 10 p.m., still riding a cocktail of adrenaline and dad energy, Carlo beat Bobrovsky.
If he’d scored, but the Bruins had lost, it still would have been special, but not really the same. But his goal turned a 2-1 lead into a 3-1 advantage. It was a big goal on a big day.
“A great 24 hours. A lot of fun.” he said. “It’s definitely 24 hours I won’t forget.”
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
