There have been four major differences for the Bruins during this recent winning streak: goaltending, the ability to withstand late comebacks by their opponents, a healthy lineup and a collective increased toughness to their game.
While the Bruins entered the Olympic break with the fourth best goals-against average in the NHL allowing 2.42 goals per game, they have not been the beneficiary of consistent goaltending from Tuukka Rask and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas. While Rask has been nominally better for the majority of the season, he too has struggled at times. In fact, both netminders have had winless streaks of six starts.
Rask, though, has found his game, starting the last six and winning four straight as Boston clawed its way back into a playoff spot. Rask entered the Olympic break at 14-7-4 with a 2.08 GAA and .928 save percentage after turning aside 188 shots of the 200 he faced in the last six games. He has seemingly taken over the No. 1 goalie spot and the Bruins may look to ride him as far as he'll take them in the final 22 games.
Even during this recent win streak, the Bruins haven't exactly made it easy. They blew a two-goal lead before winning in a shootout at Buffalo. They took a 5-0 lead early against Tampa Bay before allowing four unanswered goals and having to hold on for a 5-4 win. Then against Florida, they had to tie the game late before winning it in a shootout.
The constant, though, in the last three games is that the Bruins bent but didn't break. So many times this season, if something went wrong, the Bruins would panic, the problems would snowball and the team would eventually lose. But the Bruins have finally shown an ability to regroup and stick to their game plan or even adapt when necessary.
While not pointing to injuries as an excuse for their struggles, it bears mentioning that the Bruins have finally been able to roll out basically the same four lines during this four-game win streak. That consistency helps to rebuild some chemistry and provides game-by-game normalcy, which makes preparing for games a bit easier.
The Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder line, in particular — the line that was so huge for the Bruins last season — has benefited greatly from this recent stretch of health. While the trio has only combined for five points, they have been creating regular chances and their two-way games have all improved.
The last two seasons, the Bruins prided themselves on toughness and being hard to play against. Toughness doesn't always mean fighting, but it's obvious that this team feeds off fisticuffs just as much as they do from thunderous hits. Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton have all dropped the gloves and plastered opposing players along the boards during this stretch, and it's no coincidence that the team has been better as a result.
Lucic, in particular, has admitted on numerous occasions that he has had trouble finding his game and the gritty part of it that makes him so dynamic. Well, Tuesday night in Buffalo, Lucic got into only his third fight of the season and his first since Jan. 21. Then on Thursday in Tampa Bay he played another physical game, subsequently lighting the lamp twice.
In that same game, Chara, who has been hampered by a dislocated pinkie finger, finally showed the flair and grit that helped lead him to a Norris Trophy last season, getting into a fight and notching an assist. Thornton has been in a fight in three of the last five games.
So what does all of this add up to for the final 22 games? Well, if the Bruins continue to play this way, fans will get the hockey they have grown to love over the past two seasons. Beyond that, whether the Bruins go on to win the Stanley Cup or not, at least they will go down fighting, both literally and figuratively.
"If you look at the history of the teams that won [the Cup], a lot of them got hot at the end," Mark Recchi told the media on Saturday night. "That's got to be our focus these last 22 [regular-season] games. I don't think it matters what place you're in to get into the playoffs. … But let's be in the playoffs, let's be hot going into the playoffs and then we'll see how far we can take it."
Recchi need look no further than one of his former teams, the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins, who at this point last season were 27-25-5. After a coaching change, the Penguins caught fire and went 18-3-4 down the stretch run en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins may not have the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, but they still have a formidable team that seems to be catching fire at the right time. A tweak or two at the trade deadline, and you never know what can happen in this tight Eastern Conference race.
