The Bruins are off to the hottest start in franchise history, posting an 8-1-0 record in their first nine games.
Boston extended its win streak to five with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. It not only was a nice road win, but a win that came on the second night of a back-to-back without Brad Marchand and David Krejci.
The Bruins have been finding ways to win each game and have gotten contributions from all lines, solid defense and brick-wall goaltending.
Here are four takeaways from Friday’s win.
Secondary scoring doesn’t seem to be an issue
Secondary scoring has plagued the Bruins in seasons past, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue this season.
The Bruins have 15 different goal scorers through their first nine games, and it’s not just David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron doing the heavy lifting. Nick Foligno has emerged as an asset, Charlie Coyle has two goals in as many games and even Hampus Lindholm and Matt Grzelcyk have chipped in some offense from the blue line.
It’s early, yes, but seeing this kind of production from everyone up and down the lineup certainly is reason for optimism.
Linus Ullmark stays hot
Ullmark remained perfect and moved to 6-0-0 after a 30-save performance Friday night. The last time a goalie had this kind of start was in 2010 when Tim Thomas also started the season 6-0-0.
Even when Jeremy Swayman struggled in his two starts before bouncing back with a much-needed win, Ullmark was able to give the Bruins a chance to win with his timely saves. Especially in the beginning of the season when the B’s were without their top defense pair in Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy, it was Ullmark who was relied upon and he answered the bell without hesitation.
Bruins making it easy for Jim Montgomery
There were many questions about just how good the Bruins would be to start the year, especially with a new head coach and without key players in Brad Marchand, McAvoy and Grzelcyk. But Montgomery seems to be a perfect fit and clearly is getting the most out of the Bruins.
“It’s unreal how comfortable I am standing behind the bench,” Montgomery told reporters after Friday’s win. “We’re giving up odd-man rushes, there’s guys open on the back door and you’re not even worried because you just expect our goalies to make saves. It’s a very comforting feeling as a coach behind the bench.”
The next-man-up mentality and how the Bruins have gone to battle for one another through the first nine games also had made Montgomery’s job easy, and it’s something he noticed against the Blue Jackets.
“Just how committed they are to each other,” Montgomery told reporters when asked what has stood out to him in October. “We’re at the end of three in four with travel. The blocked shots, we have a lot of guys wearing ice bags right now.
“It shows you the commitment early on in the year that we have to playing hard for each other. And we’re getting good results because of it. If you would have told me we’d be 8-1, I’d be like I’ve got some swamp land I want to sell you.”
David Pastrnak is elite
We already knew this, but Pastrnak is playing at an even higher level than he’s had before. In fact, this may be the best he’s looked in his entire NHL career. He’s been stellar alongside Krejci and Hall, and even with Krejci sidelined at the moment, he still has great chemistry with Pavel Zacha.
“I thought we had a great first period as a line, had many opportunities, Grizzy scored his goal,” Pastrnak told reporters. “I think we could have scored a couple more. …”
With Pastrnak’s high-level play also comes more extension talks. The forward will be a free agent at the end of the season and both sides have expressed the desire to stay. General manager Don Sweeney recently said there wasn’t much movement on a new contract with Pastrnak, but they might want to kick it into gear. After all, Pastrnak’s stock only will continue to keep going up.
