BOSTON — It seems like with each win to start this season the Boston Bruins make history.
That was the case again Saturday night with the Bruins notching a resounding 6-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. The triumph not only moved the Bruins to 16-2-0 on the season, but also a perfect 11-0-0 mark on their home ice, which tied the NHL record for the best home start with the 2021-22 Florida Panthers and the 1963-64 Blackhawks, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
“It’s unfathomable that we were going to have this start, right?” Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery said. “So, we’re enjoying the ride right now, but we know our schedule is getting really hard. It’s nice to be part of the record books. One thing we wanted to do was to focus on staying in the present, focus on the next shift and I thought we did a great job of that tonight.”
With the Bruins continuing to rack up wins, and doing it at times in dominant fashion like they did against the Blackhawks — they outshot Chicago, 43-18, just to further illustrate the dominance — it sure is easy to see the enjoyment Boston is having on the ice.
“We are having fun. It’s always fun when you win,” star winger Brad Marchand said. “I think we understand that we have a really good group, really good opportunity this year. So we’re excited about that. But every day we come to the rink we work hard. Coaching staff is doing a great job of keeping us accountable and making sure we are not getting complacent.”
The Bruins had it all working for them Saturday, something they’ve been able to come close to sustaining each time they’ve stepped on the ice in their home building.
“Everything. The home crowd, especially,” goalie Jeremy Swayman said on what’s led to the unblemished home start. “We don’t want to lose in this arena. Boston fans are the best in the league. So, we want to make sure that we’re winning at home and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”
Here are more notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Blackhawks game:
— Swayman made his return to the net since recovering from a lower-body injury. It was Swayman’s first start since Oct. 27 and his first game action since Nov. 1 when he suffered the injury after a collision with Patrice Bergeron. Swayman didn’t have the heaviest of workloads against the worst-scoring offense in the NHL, but he finished with 17 saves.
“Unbelievable,” Swayman said on how it felt to be back. “It was a long two weeks, working every day for a common goal and that was to get back on the ice for a game. To get this win at home was a special one. So, I’m really happy to be back.”
— Charlie McAvoy and Marchand were busy handing out plenty of helpers. The two combined for seven assists — McAvoy led the way with four of them — to spark tremendous puck movement from the Bruins.
— Bergeron tallied a goal and an assist in the win, pushing his career point total to 999, and the milestone was surely on the mind of his teammates.
“Obviously we’re well aware of that coming up,” Marchand said. “You could see we were looking for him there at the end of the game. We all want to see him get that milestone. It will come at some point. We’ll be looking forward to that.”
— Boston is now 2-0 on the season when wearing their reverse retro “Pooh Bear” jerseys.
— The Bruins look to stay on a roll Monday when they visit Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning. Puck drop from Amalie Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch all of the action, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
