What the Bruins are doing without their best forward and their best defenseman has been truly impressive.
The B’s are a decent 5-5-0 since Charlie McAvoy took a slapper to the face in a road game against the Montreal Canadiens, and they are an impressive 3-2-0 since David Pastrnak went out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury around the Thanksgiving holiday. They won back-to-back games for the first time on Saturday night since those two major injuries with a solid 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden, and now sit tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The goals were spread out with each of the top three B’s lines getting on the board, and the defense and goaltending were exactly the level of high strength that the Bruins are going to need for a winning formula this season. Doing this without a couple of vital cogs in the hockey machine should tell everybody that the Bruins group is strong, and that there a growing identity with this Black and Gold group that goes beyond any individual players.
“It is [encouraging] and it’s a belief in this locker room,” said Jeremy Swayman, who made 29 saves in the victory. “It’s the ‘next man up’ mentality and we’re staying in the moment and we’re making sure that anyone that gets the opportunity to play in the Black and Gold earns it and can help us winning games.
“So it’s really good to see guys step up and obviously guys that have been in the lineup and are consistently stepping up, playing their roles to a ‘T’ and having success.”
It might also be a time for some head coaches to