BOSTON — Few NHL players have been more locked in this season than No. 46 has been for the Boston Bruins.
David Krejci has been the driving force behind the Bruins’ red-hot scoring attack, recording at least a point in each of Boston’s first eight games and multiple points in four.
His 14 points this season, including two goals in Tuesday’s 6-0 rout of the Arizona Coyotes, are good for second in the NHL behind Dallas Stars winger Jamie Benn, who’s played nine games to Krejci’s eight.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Bruins winger Brad Marchand said of Krejci. “He plays like that every year. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s such a dominant player in this league. He’s able to slow the game down the way very few guys in this league can. When he’s on, you’ve got to watch him every shift. He’s very dangerous, and he can create something beautiful out of nothing. It’s fun to watch him play.”
“Give him the puck,” defenseman Torey Krug added, “and good things are going to happen.”
Krejci’s point streak is, according to the Bruins, the longest by a Boston player to begin a season since 1992-93, when Joe Juneau and Dimitri Kvartalnov each tallied points in the first 14 contests.
“He’s off to a good start,” head coach Claude Julien said. “It’s all about confidence in this league and he’s gotten off to a good start. He’s feeling good about his game. He’s very healthy as you can see. That makes a big difference. It’s nice to have him back.”
Entering the season as perhaps the Bruins’ important offensive player, Krejci has exceeded even those lofty expectations. He’s already equaled his 2014-15 goal total of seven, and he’s on pace to blow his career high of 23 out of the water.
But the veteran center didn’t want to hear about those stats. He’d rather focus on the fact that, after opening the season with three disheartening losses, the Bruins have won four times in their last five tries.
“You know what, I don’t really care.” Krejci said. “It’s always nice when the puck goes in the net and we see those points, but it’s a pretty good feeling that we’ve won four (out of our last five) games. It’s a good feeling in the room, and we’ve just got to keep it rolling.”
Boston’s offense has followed Krejci’s lead in those five contests, scoring at least four goals in each. The Bruins’ 4.13 goal-per-game averaged ranks second in the NHL, just 0.01 behind the top-ranked Washington Capitals.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
