The Bruins followed up their perfect homestand by opening a three-game road trip in even more impressive fashion, beating the Islanders 6-0 Saturday night on Long Island.
It was the eighth straight win for Boston, which has moved from last place in the Eastern Conference at the end of October all the way up into a playoff spot. The Bruins currently sit in seventh in the East with 22 points at 11-7-0. They're just three points behind Philadelphia for the conference lead with a game in hand on the Flyers and just two points behind Buffalo for first place in the Northeast Division with two games in hand on the Sabres.
"We want to keep getting better, keep climbing and keep winning," Bruins forward Nathan Horton said. "We wanted a good start and when we got it we kind of fed off that the whole game and we played a pretty good game."
The Bruins started strong with three goals in the opening period against the Islanders. As they have throughout this winning streak, they got contributions from throughout the lineup, with five different players scoring goals and 10 different Bruins collecting points.
"That's what we have when we win games," Horton said. "We have four lines and have everybody contributing. That's what it takes to win, and it's definitely nice to have."
Horton was one of the biggest contributors with a goal, an assist and four shots, and he nearly had a second goal when a bid on a power play clanged off the post. He now has 4-4-8 totals during the eight-game win streak. Linemates Milan Lucic and David Krejci were quieter, with just one assist from Lucic on the night. But they've combined for another 15 points in the streak with Lucic posting 5-3-8 totals and Krejci 2-5-7.
That hasn't even been Boston's most prolific line. Patrice Bergeron (2-6-8, plus-10), Tyler Seguin (7-4-11, plus-10) and Brad Marchand (4-7-11, plus-11) hold that honor, and they continued to produce on Saturday with Seguin breaking down the left side to set up Bergeron for the game's first goal and Marchand also picking up two more assists.
But on Saturday, even that line didn't have to carry the load in this victory. Third-line center Chris Kelly (5-3-8, plus-9 during streak) came through with a monster effort with a pair of goals and an assist, while fourth-line center Gregory Campbell chipped in an assist and won 12 of 14 draws he took.
"That's what you need, you can't always be relying on one or two lines," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "You need contributions from the whole team and that's what we're getting. It's so important that you're getting that. Some nights the [same] guys can't always be producing, always creating something. And when you have your third and fourth lines contributing, that gives the team such a lift."
It was more than just the forwards, though, as the defense also added goals from Chara and Andrew Ference, and Joe Corvo was a plus-4 with an assist. Corvo is now a plus-11 with six assists during the winning streak, while Chara has 1-9-10 totals and is also a plus-11.
"I thought it was another great team effort," Kelly said. "Everyone contributed. Everyone played hard. Our D did a great job moving the puck up to the forwards and Timmy [Thomas] was solid for us when he needed to be."
Thomas picked up his 28th career shutout, but wasn't called upon to do too much for it. He needed to make just 23 saves, including just two in the first period when the Bruins outshot New York 13-2 while building a 3-0 lead. Thomas, who's had to work plenty for many of his other shutouts over the years, wasn't complaining about picking up one without too much of a sweat.
"That's OK, I've got no problem with games like that," Thomas said. "Over the years I've had them both ways, and it's nice to get them this way too."
Thomas is now 5-0-0 with a 1.60 GAA, a .937 save percentage and two shutouts during the Bruins' November to remember. Backup Tuukka Rask hasn't been too shabby either, going 3-0-0 with a 1.95 GAA. On Saturday, the Bruins almost didn't need a goalie at all in the early going with the way they dominated the opening period.
"We really took over the first period and set the standard for the game," Thomas said. "Every time they tried to pick it up, they could never really get any momentum going."
The Bruins have plenty of momentum, though. They've outscored opponents 42-14 in this 8-0-0 run, as they've soared up the conference standings. And they've done it with everyone on the roster finding ways to contribute.
This kind of magical run can't continue forever, but if the Bruins can maintain that kind of balance and continue to use their superior depth to their advantage, their ascent up the standings shouldn't be stopping any time soon.
