Now the W's are starting to fall.
The Bruins' back-to-back wins against Montreal and Buffalo on the road have allowed fans to become interested again and have also put the team in a tie for the eighth playoff spot in the East. Just like that, they're back in it.
A full 60-minute effort against Montreal on Sunday was something we haven't seen in their previous 10 winless games, seven of which came in front of their hometown crowd. But collecting the points on Sunday helped the B's gain the confidence they needed to sneak past Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at HSBC Arena. It was hardly perfect for the B's, but they got the job done.
And in the end, it's not about looking good.
"Sometimes they're not always pretty," Claude Julien said after the game, "but they make up for the ones you think you should have had but never got."
Tuuka Rask made 43 saves in his fourth consecutive start, Daniel Paille scored twice against his former team and the Bruins appear to have gotten their swagger back.
Still, when the Bruins failed to score on a power play in overtime, Julien wasn't without doubt.
"I thought we were going to see deja vu again in overtime with that 4-on-3,'' Julien said, referring to the unsuccessful power play that the Bruins had last week before losing in a shootout to Montreal. "But at least we managed to find a way to win in the shootout.
"That's a big extra point for us. We need those wins and we need those extra points."
The B's have two more games to go before the Bruins take off for the Winter Olympics: Thursday against Tampa Bay and Saturday against Florida. Six players will head to Vancouver, and the rest will take much-needed time off to heal their wounds, soak up some rays and clear their minds. Two more chances remain for Boston to earn four points and secure a solid position for when they return to game action on March 2.
Let's hope the next two are as successful as the previous two have been.
