The Boston Bruins, collectively, weren't the only ones to deliver yet another milestone performance after they notched their 14th consecutive home win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at TD Garden.
Bruins forward Trent Frederic, who entered the contest without having scored a goal since Nov. 7 during their 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues, broke out of his goalless streak in a big way in the 5-1 victory.
The 24-year-old delivered the first two-goal performance of his career while simultaneously extending his point streak to three game as well. The strong showing was something Bruins coach Jim Montgomery felt Frederic was closing in on.
"We've been seeing it coming for a while," Montgomery said. "... From where he started the year in training camp, to where he just keeps getting better. And I think you're seeing the aggressive mindset, offensively now. He's taking pucks to hard areas, and if he doesn't have a play, he's hanging onto it. And we're starting to see that a lot in practice and actually, it's funny ... me and (Charlie Coyle) were having lunch yesterday and we were talking about how much his confidence has grown and it popped today, offensively with his first two-goal game."
Frederic gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead late in the first period, but he passed along credit to Coyle first for keeping the play alive in the offensive zone and for Charlie McAvoy to set up Frederic, who only had to tap in the puck from the goalmouth.
"Just great plays," Frederic said as seen on NESN postgame coverage. "Chucky (Coyle) kept the first one in. ... And made a great to Pav (Zacha), and he passed it to Charlie McAvoy, and he made a great play to me and I (was) just lucky to be there. ... We're just having fun. Monty's put a lot of confidence into all of us. When you're winning, you're having a lot of fun and it's a good place, a good work environment for sure."
The Bruins, who improved to a still NHL-best 20-3-0, return to the ice Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights (18-7-1). Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, along with an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
