The Bruins began their homestand on a high note after being out West for their last three games and having minimal time to get their bodies off Mountain Time.
Boston earned a 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at TD Garden with help from a Jake DeBrusk snipe and a David Pastrnak game-winner that nearly left head coach Jim Montgomery speechless.
The Bruins improved to 23-4-1 as they continue to sit atop the NHL standings and find ways to win games.
Here are four takeaways from Tuesday’s win:
Bruins were “running on fumes” despite win
The Bruins played the Avalanche in Colorado, the Coyotes in Arizona and the Golden Knights in Vegas last week, with the final game of the road trip played Sunday night. They didn’t have a lot of time to get their bodies adjusted to time change between the West and East coast but still managed a gutsy win.
“We were running on fumes and these are one of the games where we look at the schedule and we’re like, ‘We’re set up to fail here.'” Montgomery told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley after the game. “But credit to this group, it’s amazing, their mental toughness and their willingness to work for each other. Clearly we didn’t have our ‘A’ game, we weren’t even close to our ‘B’ game, but we willed out a win against a really good hockey team.”
The first period in particular was a bit slow for Boston, but the second period is when the Black and Gold woke up.
“We were sluggish in the first, probably our worst period of the year, and (it was) expected,” Montgomery told reporters after the game. “And in the second period, we started getting our legs going. It’s an incredible effort. …”
Pavel Zacha is holding his own at center
Zacha has been filling in as the second line center while David Krejci recovers from a lower-body injury. His two assists Tuesday night now have him at three in the last two games between David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall. The forward, who was traded to Boston by the Devils for Erik Haula, never quite reached his ceiling while in New Jersey and is on pace to break his career high of 36 points set last year.
“Having spoken to a couple of coaches that have coached him, they told me that his hockey sense and his vision were really good,” Montgomery told reporters. “I think the thing that has helped him become an even better player this year is being around players like (Brad) Marchand, Pastrnak, (David) Krejci, (Patrice) Bergeron, (Nick) Foligno. We have guys that work, and you see the work that goes in day-in and day-out. It’s almost by osmosis you become a more competitive player, and that’s helped him. He’s realized this is what makes these guys so good, and it’s making him better.”
Zacha does need to improve his faceoff wins — having only won 20% of them Tuesday — but that will come with practice, reps and time.
Linus Ullmark continues torrid stretch
What more can be said about Ullmark’s season that hasn’t been said already? The goalie improved to 17-1-0 after stopping 23 pucks against the Islanders. None more important came on a J.G. Pageau backhand in overtime that Ullmark denied and kept it a 3-3 game.
“They definitely took it to us that first period,” Derek Forbort told reporters. “Linus kind of held us in there. I thought we got pretty lucky to get two goals out of it. But we kept grinding and found a way.”
DeBrusk echoed his teammate’s sentiments.
“Give the Islanders credit, they played a really hard game, and they played pretty consistent throughout and found a way to battle back,” DeBrusk told reporters. “Also give a lot of credit to Linus. He kept us in the game the whole night.”
DeBrusk also referred to Ullmark as the Bruins’ “rock” and credited him for the success they’re having as a team this season.
Derek Forbort’s chance paid off
Forbort’s efficiency on the penalty kill was missed while he was out with a broken finger, but he contributed on the offensive side of the kill Tuesday when he put the Bruins up 3-2 in the second period with a shorthanded goal.
Allow Forbort to take us through the goal.
“I think it was kind of like a three-on-three, so I wasn’t really too much ready to get up,” Forbort told reporters. “And then Zacha’s got the puck and he’s such a good passer that I was like, ‘Screw it, may as well keep going,’ and he found me and I shot it.”
It’s a shame the goal didn’t end up being the game-winner.
Regardless, Forbort has been a crucial part to the blue line, and he continued to prove that Tuesday night.
