After suffering an injury in the preseason, Taylor Hall didn't know whether or not he was going to be ready to enter the Bruins' lineup for the team's 2022-23 season opener in Washington. Though Hall did play and score on opening night, in the following three games he remained quiet, still working on getting up to speed.
But his struggle to find his game didn't last long, and what began as a slow start to the season has become one of Hall's best starts in his career.
Hall has had goals in three consecutive games to move into a tie for second on the team in goals (4), just one behind linemate David Pastrnak for the team lead, and has five of his six points in the last three games.
With four goals through seven games, this is Hall's best start to a season since the 2016-17 season six years ago, when he scored five goals in the first seven games of his first season with the New Jersey Devils.
Hall's goals this season have been both timely and impactful. Three of his four goals were the deciding goals in games against Washington, Minnesota and Dallas. On top of that, his shootout goal against Anaheim sealed another win for Boston.
"It wasn't the preseason that I wanted, getting injured and just not having the game reps that you get in exhibition games," Hall said last week after scoring Boston's only goal in regulation and only goal in the shootout in the team's 2-1 win over Anaheim. "Exhibition games are almost more about getting your legs under you and feeling like you can play with pace, especially a player like me.
"It was important for me personally, whether I got on the board or not, to find my game and the way that I have to play all season long, and tonight was a decent step forward," he said at the time.
He then built off that performance, adding game-winning goals in the Bruins' two following matches and springing himself into a tie for the league lead in that category. As of the Bruins' last win on Tuesday, Hall's three game-winning goals tie him for first in the NHL with Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel.
Throughout his goal streak, Hall has said he is just happy to be contributing to the team, which is currently in first place in the NHL standings thanks to a 6-1-0 start to the season. The Bruins are tied for most points (12) in the standings with Bruce Cassidy's Golden Knights and also tied with the Golden Knights for best goal differential (+10).
"It's nice to contribute. Like I said the other night, the start to my season personally wasn't the way I wanted it, but our team was rolling and that's the way it goes," Hall said on Saturday. "Guys are going to go through ebbs and flows in their seasons and we need guys to step up every night if maybe other guys aren't. That was the case for me in the first few games of the year so it's nice to contribute. Playing with Pasta and Krejci, I think we're starting to really connect out there 5-on-5 and it was a lot of fun."
Hall, who started out the season on a line with Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk, was moved alongside David Krejci and David Pastrnak partway through the third game of the season. The Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak trio has been the team's highest producing line. They have combined for 26 of the team's points and 11 of its goals.
When asked to comment on how the Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak line has played together this season, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said, "They're very dangerous. The rest of the league is going to have to be aware of them. When they're on their game, they're going to make people really worry about them when they're out there. I find that their game management is getting better and better every game too."
If Hall manages to score for a fourth straight game Thursday night against Detroit, he would tie his career-best goal streak. The last he did it was April 2018, the year he won the Hart Trophy.
