The Bruins cannot stop winning.
Boston earned its fifth straight victory Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to two goals from David Krejci and some stellar goaltending from Linus Ullmark yet again.
Everything seems to be going the Bruins’ way, and even on a night when they started slow and Matt Grzelcyk had an off game, they still found a way to win — something they’ve done 15 times this season.
Here are four takeaways from Boston’s 4-1 win over the Flyers.
There’s no place like home
The win moved the Bruins to 10-0-0 at TD Garden as they continued to build on the franchise-best start to the season. Boston sits atop the NHL standings and has shown no signs of slowing down. The offense is scoring, the defense is throwing its weight around and the goaltending is top-notch.
“It’s hard to win one game. But to win this many games –17 games, 15 wins — that’s crazy,” Krejci told reporters after the game. “Nobody expected that. We’re staying even keel here. We’re focusing on the task at hand. We’ve been doing a pretty good job at it. We’re getting ready. We always put the game behind us, we move on.”
Linus Ullmark continues to shine
Ullmark really bailed the Bruins out in the first 12 minutes of the game, making timely stops and keeping the Flyers off the board. The 22-save performance put the goalie in Bruins history, becoming the third netminder to win each of his first eight or more home games, per NHL Stats. He joins Gillies Gilbert (16 games in 1973-74) and Ross Brooks (eight games in 1973-74).
Ullmark now is 12-1-0 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .937 save percentage overall, both of which lead the league. He’s had to take on a brunt of the workload after Jeremy Swayman went down with an injury Nov. 1, but Ullmark held it down just fine.
“I feel great,” Ullmark told reporters after the game. “It’s why we work out in the summer. We had a little longer summer after we got beaten there in the first round (of the playoffs). So, there was a lot of emotions that you wanted to get right back at it. And you had that little carrot in front of you all the time. I owe a lot to the guys I work with in the summer, as well.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery did note he believed Ullmark was playing “too many games,” but with how hot he’s been, it’s hard to move away from.
Also, the goalie hug returned Thursday night.
Nick Foligno reaches milestone
Foligno picked up two assists in Thursday’s win to give him 300 for his career. The bottom-six forward has done a complete 180 since last season and is just four points shy of matching his 2021-22 season total — something he credits to Montgomery’s system.
“I think what’s so great about Monty’s system is, it’s so fast but predictable,” Foligno told reporters. “I think we really enjoy playing and it’s tailored to a lot of the guys in the room and we feel that when we are playing, we know where guys are supposed to be. You can kind of have that sixth sense. It’s dangerous because we are playing with so much speed, too, so when the guys are in the right spots, it makes it really hard on other teams and I think you’re seeing that right now.”
Foligno has made it look easy at times when assisting with a goal, as showcased by his helper on Krejci’s insurance goal in the third period.
Anton Stralman impresses
Stralman suited up for the Bruins for the first time since Nov. 3 and certainly got Montgomery’s attention. The defenseman amassed two shots on goal with three hits in 15:51 of ice time, all while playing on his off side alongside Brandon Carlo.
“Very much so,” Montgomery told reporters when asked if he was impressed with Stralman playing on his off side. “Usually, people that are intelligent and can skate well can play their off side as a defenseman and he showed that. He had his head up and he was pretty dangerous over on that side in the offensive zone. He tried to hit Krejci in the first period and it hit the skate blade of a Philadelphia Flyer or else that would’ve been a goal.”
It’s been a rocky start to the season for Stralman, who began the year on a PTO with Boston before having it converted to a one-year deal. But visa issues kept Stralman from playing in the United States and he never could quite get into a groove. After a strong few days of practice, though, it seems all he needed was some reps.
