And yet they head to Washington for a visit to the White House on Monday less than thrilled with how they are playing.
The Bruins bounced back from Saturday's overtime loss to the Rangers with a 6-5 win in Philadelphia. But they needed to go to a shootout to do it, squandering a 3-1 lead in the opening period and a 5-4 edge in the third before finally earning the extra point.
"It was kind of a back and forth game," Bruins forward Tyler Seguin said. "I think we came out with a great start, which is what we wanted, and they answered. In the second period, I think we let off the gas a little bit and they came out and played a good hockey game. We were fortunate to walk away with two points."
Seguin helped secure the extra point, scoring in the second round of the shootout after David Krejci converted Boston's first shot. The Bruins didn't need a third shooter, as Tim Thomas sandwiched saves on Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds around a Claude Giroux goal to clinch the 2-1 shootout victory. That still wasn't enough for Thomas, though, as he allowed a season-high five goals on 38 shots.
"Well, as a goalie I think I would prefer to win in the shootout if it was 1-1 or 2-2 or something," Thomas said. "We need to improve, we know that. We played some really good hockey for the great majority of this year. We’re having some of these awkward games lately. We're finding ways to get points and come out with wins in a lot of them, but it's not Boston Bruins hockey. I don't think we're happy with our effort. It is nice before the All-Star break to have some wins underneath your belt to feel good about yourself. You want to do it the right way at the same time."
Thomas might not have been pleased to allow so many goals, but his coach was quick to defend the netminder's play.
"I'm done commenting on my goaltender," Julien said. "It seems like every time he lets in goals we want to talk about that. Our whole team I think could have been better tonight but he was bombarded with a lot of shots from everyone. They had a lot of traffic in front of the net even the goal I think that put them up, I forget which goal it is, whether it's the third or the fourth goal, it deflected off [Adam] McQuaid and found its way in. He was way out of his net to challenge the puck. I mean there's nights where those things happen and at the end of the day he made the saves he had to in the shootout."
The Bruins came up with the effort when they needed to as well, but it was still far from the complete 60-minute effort they are seeking. The Flyers took advantage, with Scott Hartnell scoring a natural hat trick in the second — all off feeds from Giroux — to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead for the Flyers.
"It was definitely a wild one," said Bruins forward Milan Lucic, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick of his own with a goal, assist and fight. "They obviously did a great job on their power play, getting those goals. Obviously Giroux and Hartnell have found this great chemistry this year where obviously they're producing a lot. For us, we had a great first period and then our intensity dropped. We started to play soft, we started complaining, and took a little bit too many penalties, and we got ourselves in trouble. But, the good thing is we were able to refocus and pull this one out."
The Bruins did pull it out, shaking off their second-period meltdown and rallying in the third with early goals by Krejci and Gregory Campbell, then finally prevailing in the shootout after Philadelphia tied it thanks to more undisciplined play by the Bruins — who gave the Flyers eight power-play opportunities.
"Well we needed that to get back in the game and obviously I wasn't a very happy coach after the second period," Julien said. "This is where your team responds and they responded to what I had to say and they went out there and found a way to win. I guess we could have hopefully avoided that had we been better in the second, but when you're not then you got to find a way to dig yourselves out of the hole you dug yourself in. Our guys did that tonight."
The win pulls the Bruins even with the Rangers atop the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 64 points through 46 games, though the Rangers retain first place with two more wins in regulation and overtime than the Bruins, who have been forced to rely on the shootout too often this season. The Flyers are just three points back with 61 through 47 games.
The Bruins have one more chance before the All-Star break to get their game back on track completely, as they face the Capitals in Washington on Tuesday.
"We weren't too happy with the consistency of our game," Seguin said. "Right now, I think there is a bit of a bittersweet taste in our mouths. We want to go into Washington, with one game left until All-Star break, and play a full sixty minutes."
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