It’s still very early in the season but the Bruins are on a roll right now.
Boston moved to 6-1-0 after a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at TD Garden. On a night when the offense was quiet, the defense stepped up and Linus Ullmark once again turned in a solid start between the pipes to help the Bruins to victory.
Even though the second line cashed in with goals from David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall, the second line still was prevented from getting quality looks and creating scoring opportunities. There’s no reason to worry about the trio of Pastrnak, Hall and David Krejci, but when one of the Bruins’ best lines is having difficulty making scoring plays, the rest of the team needs to step up.
“I think we’re finding different ways to win every night,” Montgomery told reporters after the game. “I didn’t think (Tuesday) was a very good offensive game for us, I thought there were plays to be made that even our elite offensive players weren’t seeing. But our checking is really improving. We won with defense, and of course, Linus was really good in the net again (Tuesday).”
The defense was the highlight for the Bruins, especially in the final four minutes of the game when Dallas threatened to tie it 2-2. Boston locked in and didn’t let the game slip away as it did too many times in the past.
“We haven’t won a game doing that. We’ve kind of surrendered leads and then we end up winning in overtime or pull away late,” Montgomery told reporters. “But it’s nice to close out a game where Dallas — I give them credit — they played really hard at the end. … They pushed us, and they tested us, and I liked the way we shut things down in the last four minutes.”
The blue line shut down a tough Stars offense and even though they outshot the B’s 30-27, the defense finished with 11 blocked shots. Connor Clifton (three hits, two blocks) really helped set the tone physically between his big hit on Roope Hintz and dropping the gloves with Colin Miller.
It was crucial for the Bruins to get off to a strong start, and they’ve done that with six wins in seven games. Still without Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, Boston has the next-man-up mentality that seemed to be missing at times last year. The Bruins started the 2022-23 campaign also without Matt Grzelcyk and even though the defense had some holes in the first few games, they’ve really seemed to find a groove.
All lines are contributing, the depth that’s been showcased has been solid and Nick Foligno has shown vast improvements already after a tough inaugural season with the Bruins last year.
Right now it’s all clicking for Boston. There still is plenty of hockey left to be played and some tough opponents coming up on the schedule, but for now, the Bruins sit atop the NHL standings and remain undefeated on home ice.
