The Boston Bruins came out of their last break refreshed and rejuvenated. Now, they just need to do the same thing after this next one.
Defeating the Seattle Kraken 3-2 in their first-ever matchup on Tuesday, Boston enters the All-Star break having won 13 of its last 17 games since COVID-19 gave them an impromptu holiday vacation.
Some of that has to be credited to the Bruins showing resolve and response since the start of January, and how pairing David Pastrnak with Taylor Hall on the second line has gotten both players out of a slump.
That was the case against Seattle, with Pastrnak's two power play goals opening scoring and then winning the game for Boston. Hall had an assist and a goal himself.
"You know how he one-times the puck and how dangerous he is from all areas of the offensive zone," Hall said of playing with Pastrnak. "It's about me kind of knowing where he's going to be without having a look. And we've talked about it, we've worked on it and we're going to continue to get better at that. So yeah, he's an amazing player. He's a great person. And I think if we plan a line together, we can continue to improve and help our team that way."
Since the last break, Pastrnak has 14 goals and eight assists. Hall has put up five goals and 10 assists in the same stretch.
"We're finding some chemistry," Pastrnak said of Hall.
"He's unbelievable at finding me, you know, he's finding me so much that even I tell him sometimes he should. But don't get me wrong, I love it. But he's looking for me and I look for him to be honest."
Hopefully the best is yet to come between the two, but it will be important for Boston to carry their production into the second half of the season. Hall, though, is trying to exceed that precedent when they get back in a week. He'll take the vacation to focus on his game individually.
"I think I have another level to get to personally in how I can help our team win games is the biggest thing. So defensively, not being on for goals against. Offensively, getting the puck to the middle of the ice and attacking the net more than I have. I still think that's an area that I can get better at -- is taking pucks to nets instead of being so pass-first. That's kind of the way that I've I've trended is as a pass-first player."
No matter what the Bruins look like in the second half, they closed out the first half against the Kraken in a way that symbolized how they managed this turnaround.
Between contributions from the second line and the resolve shown after blowing a two-goal lead, Boston pulled it off.
"What I liked about us, we were resilient," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We stuck with it. We got down. We bounced back. I liked our special teams tonight. They were the difference in the game."
Here are some other notes from Bruins-Kraken:
-- Urho Vaakanainen went down early in the second after a pretty tough hit from Yanni Gourde, who originally was called for a major before downgrading the call to a boarding minor. Vaakanainen was ruled out with an upper-body injury the rest of the game.
Understandably, his coach wasn't a fan of the hit from behind.
"I didn't like the hit at all..." Cassidy said. "To not make a call on that hit is unbelievable to me."
-- Did you miss hugs between Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman? Same.
-- Where is Tuesday's star of the game going on vacation this week? Pastrnak is headed to Key West, Florida, this offseason for the first time to get some sunshine.
-- The Bruins get back to action Tuesday, Feb. 8 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
