For most of the past two seasons, the Bruins have been one of the best teams in the NHL on the road, but carrying that success over to the TD Garden ice has been a struggle. In 2009-10, they were barely over .500 at home at 18-17-6. After winning at Fenway in the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, they didn’t win another game in Boston until March 4, going 0-7-3 at the Garden in that stretch for the second-longest home winless streak in franchise history.
They were better last season with a 22-13-6 home record, coming alive with a 7-1-3 mark in their final 11 regular-season games at the Garden. But that was still not as good as their 24-11-5 road mark. And when they lost the first two games of the opening round of the playoffs against Montreal at the Garden, it appeared those home ice struggles might really cost them.
Then the Bruins finally figured out how to win at home when it mattered most. Boston won 10 of its last 11 home games in the playoffs, including a pair of dramatic Game 7 victories over Montreal and Tampa Bay and all three games at the Garden against the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final.
“At playoff time you’ve got to be able to win at home,” Bruins winger Brad Marchand said during the Final. “I think the crowd has a lot to do with it. We have a great crowd and the fans really push us when we need a momentum boost. It just seems to be working a little better for us now in playoff time.”
But can the Bruins carry that success into the regular season this year? They’ll need to if they want to get off to good start. They open with three straight home games and play 13 of their first 17 games overall at the Garden. Unlike most years, there’s no early West Coast trip this season, so the Bruins will get a chance to make hay at home for a change.
To do that, they’ll have to apply the lessons they learned this postseason. Among them is the need to approach games at the Garden in the same fashion as a matchup in hostile territory.
“Sometimes in the playoffs, the more ‘road’ type of game ends up getting you the victory in the end,” goalie Tim Thomas said during the Montreal series. “There might be something to learn from that. If you can play a road type game at home, maybe that’s how you get victories at home.
“There is a tendency when you’re at home to try to put on a show for the home crowd,” Thomas added. “But sometimes that works against you over the course of a full 60 minutes.”
Of course, as long as the Bruins take care of getting those wins, they can give the home crowd a little entertainment to go along with it.
“If you want your fans cheering for you, you give them a reason to cheer,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said during the Cup Final. “That’s what we need to do.
“It’s always nice to be home,” Julien added. “You got your fans behind you. That’s an advantage obviously to the home team. We expect to use that to our advantage.”
The Bruins used the crowd to their advantage throughout the playoffs. And with a bright new championship banner being raised to the Garden rafters this fall, those fans will be eager to show their support once again. Now it’s just up to the Bruins to keep giving them plenty to cheer about.
NESN.com Bruins beat writer Douglas Flynn will be answering one question facing the Bruins this offseason each day until Aug. 8.
Saturday, July 16: How will the Bruins handle the Stanley Cup hangover?
Monday, July 18: Who will replace the leadership lost with Mark Recchi’s retirement?
