Charlie McAvoy is back as Bruins kick it into overdrive

The Boston Bruins maintain their narrow lead in the Eastern Conference as they take on the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night — and they’ll get a boost from the return of Charlie McAvoy.

Perhaps no team in the NHL has shown more resilience in the face of adversity than the Boston Bruins, who are making a strong case as the league’s deepest team.

For extended periods throughout the year, the Bruins have been without top-six forwards Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk, center David Backes and top-pairing defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy.

This weekend, the Bruins’ win over the Florida Panthers came at a cost, as both blue liner Brandon Carlo and center Riley Nash left with injuries — Carlo’s, a broken left fibula, will keep him out for awhile.

But in the face of injuries that would seem insurmountable on another squad, these gritty Bruins have kept the dream alive, kicking the Tampa Bay Lightning out of first place in the Atlantic Division, a position they held since October.

And while losing Carlo is a blow to the blue line, the unit is about to get a huge boost in the final stretch with the return of Charlie McAvoy on Tuesday night against the Bolts.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed that McAvoy would return to the lineup Tuesday, per the Bruins’ Twitter:

McAvoy suffered a knee injury in the Bruins’ bout with the Montreal Canadiens on March 3, and the team then lost Chara 10 days later, but the Bruins have managed to win 9-of-15 in that span.

Getting McAvoy back now is crucial, and not only because the Bruins are now missing more blue-line depth with Carlo out of the lineup. The rookie has four games, including tonight’s, to get back in the swing of things before the playoffs start. The Bruins will need him to get his head in the right place as he enters the NHL postseason.

And the rewards are there for the reaping. If Boston can pull out a win in regulation against Tampa Bay tonight, the Bruins can clinch the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage with just one more point from there. Pretty sweet.

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The Lightning host the Bruins at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can also follow the action via live stream at Fubo.tv.