After the Bruins' slow start, the offense has finally gotten hot after some rough nights early in the season. Both Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask have been solid all year. The B's have finally been able to use the physical aspect of the game to their advantage in the way they did so successfully in their Cup season last year.
Perhaps the biggest reason for Boston's newfound success, however, may not come from anything on the ice, rather behind the Bruins' bench.
Coach Claude Julien, who has been criticized — both fairly and unfairly — at times during his tenure in Boston has shown in recent weeks that he certainly has his finger on the pulse of his hockey club.
The latest example came Tuesday night in what could be described as his team's most difficult win of the season.
Brad Marchand's tenacity, aggressiveness and downright pesky ways have benefited the Bruins more often than not in the youngster's first two full seasons with the B's. He's the type of player you love to have on your team and hate to see on the other side because, simply put, he's just so darn good at getting under the skin of the opposition.
However, Marchand has shown a penchant early in his career for crossing the line sometimes to the point that his aggressiveness borders on recklessness. When he does that, it tends to hurt the Bruins more than it helps — like they did Tuesday against New Jersey.
Marchand's silly roughing penalty against Adam Henrique (Marchand's second penalty of the night) put the Bruins down a man. Johnny Boychuk followed with a delay of game penalty, and the Devils cashed in on a 5-on-3 to take the game's first lead.
Julien had seen enough from his young agitator. Marchand was left to sit on the Bruins' bench for much of the second period, and Benoit Pouliot took his place alongside Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin.
Julien didn't hide from his decision after the game either.
"Marsh is a guy that plays on the edge, and every once in awhile he crosses that line," Julien said Tuesday night. "It's what makes him a good player, but at the same time, it can't hurt his hockey team. It doesn't just frustrate coaches, I'm sure it frustrates his teammates at times too when he puts us in that position."
Julien apparently decided that the second period was all the time that Marchand needed to reflect on what he had done, as the winger was back out on his line to start the third period, and Julien even called Marchand's number on a scripted play to open the final period.
From there, all Marchand did was score a goal just 6 seconds into the third period to set the tone for the game's final period.
It's just the latest example of Julien's continued ability to read his team, read his players and act on what's best for his club's prospects of winning.
A lot of coaching success is based on knowing what makes your players tick — what motivates them and what discourages them. Julien knew that sitting Marchand would send the message, and the message was received loud and clear.
"It was a message sent to him that he can't put us in that situation. And the character that he has, he didn't say a word, he just responded with a solid third period, and that's what I like about Brad. He takes responsibility and when he's given a chance, he answers properly."
It's not unlike what Julien has done with Pouliot in the forward's first season in Boston. While Pouliot has yo-yo'd between the press box and the ice, Julien has insisted all along that Pouliot's game is coming along. That's starting to be validated, as Pouliot scored his first goal of the season last week before notching the game-winner against the Devils.
Julien's handling of Marchand and Pouliot is just the latest move that's postively affected his team's on-ice performance. In finally putting Marchand, Bergeron and Seguin together on the same line, the Bruins for the first time in a long time have a top-flight line that can be considered among the league's best. All they've done in this six-game winning streak is combine for 12-22-34 totals.
Julien also continues to call the right goaltender's number on a nightly basis in an attempt to keep both Thomas and Rask sharp.
When the club struggled early on, Julien showed a willingness to shake things up, as he shuffled his lines on seemingly a nightly basis. Julien looked for ways to improve his team's play, without overreacting. That said, he certainly didn't hide from sharing how he felt at times about the way his team was playing.
Even as he looked for change, he more importantly remained calm throughout the team's early struggles. He showed patience when he needed to, and he even showed his disappointment at times. Regardless, the message was clear — we need to play better.
The Bruins are finally playing better and are starting to show signs of living up to the lofty expectations that are placed on the defending Cup champions after an offseason relatively devoid of change.
Plenty of members in the Bruins' room deserve credit for that turnaround. Few, if any, deserve more credit than Julien.
