BOSTON — If home games didn’t count in the NHL standings, the Bruins would be tied with the Washington Capitals for the best record in the league.
That’s both a testament to Boston’s incredible success on the road (23-7-3 in 33 games) and its struggles at home. But the Bruins have done their part lately to balance out the latter.
With Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 win over the New York Islanders, the B’s now have taken at least a point from five consecutive home games (3-0-2), their longest such streak of the season. Perhaps more importantly, Boston no longer has a losing record on home ice, as the club now sports a 16-16-5 record at TD Garden.
It’s the first time the B’s have had a home record of .500 or better since Dec. 29.
“Well, it’s obviously encouraging,” head coach Claude Julien said. “But more importantly, I think where we were at one point and where we are now means that we have been better than worse at home, and we are hoping to establish that going forward here. You would hate to be getting yourselves into a playoff spot and then all of a sudden (be) worried about your home games. So, we need to get better here.”
Indeed, the Bruins are in somewhat of an odd situation in that they’re on track to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs yet have been a much better team on the road. Despite the stats, though, Julien’s players insist they’d much rather be in Boston than elsewhere, especially in the postseason.
“Yeah, it’s always an advantage when you can play in front of your fans at home,” forward Loui Eriksson said. “Obviously, we haven’t been the best at home this season, but we can still improve on that. We definitely want to be playing for that spot, and hopefully we can get it.”
The Bruins won’t have too many chances to improve their home record before the playoffs, though: Just four of their remaining 12 games are at home.
Let’s hit a few other notes from Bruins-Islanders:
— David Pastrnak stole the show with his pair of goals, but the best player on the ice arguably was Eriksson.
The Swedish winger contributed on all three of the Bruins’ goals, leading the team with three points on one goal and two assists. He got Boston on the board in the first with a wraparound goal on the power play and made a nice pass off the boards to set up Pastrnak’s game-clincher late in the third.
“I think we felt pretty good in our line (Saturday),” Eriksson said. “We just stuck with it even though we got scored on there in the second. Other than that, I thought we had a pretty good game. It was nice, (David Krejci) made a great play there to (David Pastrnak) for the second goal. And Pasta was flying, so it was good to see.”
— The Islanders’ only score was a significant one, as captain John Tavares tallied his 200th career goal with a backhander in the second period.
The 25-year-old has scored at least 24 goals in each of the seven seasons he’s been in the league.
— The Bruins welcomed back an old friend in Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who made his first trip to TD Garden this season and third trip since Boston shipped him to New York in October 2014.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Boychuk told reporters when asked if it’s still special to come back and play in Boston. “To see the guys that you played with for a long time, it’s always good to see their faces. Even yours.”
— The club’s upcoming road trip will mark another homecoming for one of its current players, as forward Matt Beleskey will play in Anaheim against the Ducks on Friday for the first time since he signed with Boston this offseason.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” Beleskey said. “Fun to get back and play in that rink. It’s always been a fun rink for me. I’m looking forward to it.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
