As Charlie McAvoy returns, the Bruins have passed their first test

While the Bruins themselves weren't going to put a number on it, it's safe to say they wanted to get through Charlie McAvoy's season-opening six-game suspension with at least a .500 record.

They had already assured themselves of that before Saturday by winning three of their first five games. On Saturday afternoon, Boston added the cherry on top by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 at TD Garden to improve to 4-2-0.

After two straight losses to Minnesota and Ottawa, the Bruins can and should feel good about their response, as they closed out their three-game homestand with a pair of pretty convincing wins.

Saturday's win over the Flyers and Thursday's 6-1 triumph over the Utah Mammoth were different kinds of dominant. On Thursday, the Bruins started slow and still gave up a lot of shots, but they were uber-efficient, dominated the special teams battle, and took advantage of some poor Utah goaltending.

On Saturday, the Bruins were on their toes from the start and controlled 5-on-5 play all afternoon, frequently transitioning through the neutral zone with ease. But, they had more trouble finishing their chances and needed to have some patience, with former Bruin Dan Vladar turning in a valiant effort in the Philly net, at least for the first two periods.

The Bruins broke through 12:21 into the game, with David Pastrnak setting up Pavel Zacha for Zacha's first goal of the season after a Flyers turnover. As good as Vladar was most of the day, he wanted that one back after fumbling a stoppable Zacha shot into the net.

The Bruins had to wait a while to add to their lead, despite outshooting Philly 12-3 in the first period and then recording the first seven shots of the second period as well.

They did finally get some insurance late in the second, though. Jeremy Swayman kicked away a David Jiricek slapper, springing the Bruins in transition in the process. The Bruins' second line executed the rush perfectly, with Marat Khusnutdinov feeding Fraser Minten, who then dished over to JJ Peterka on the left wing. Peterka hit defenseman Mason Lohrei as the trailer, and Lohrei buried a shot from the slot for his second goal in as many games.

The second line struck again early in the third period to make it 3-0 off a good offensive-zone cycle. Khusnutdinov went low-to-high to Will Borgen at the point. He then moved it back down low for Minten, who fed Khusnutdinov in front for the Russian winger's first goal of the season.

After Porter Martone got the Flyers on the board 6:32 into the third, it was the third line's time to strike a few minutes later. A great offensive-zone shift ended with a James Hagens to Elias Lindholm to Casey Mittelstadt tic-tac-toe passing sequence for the goal.

Minten added a fifth Boston tally with four minutes left in the game, beating Vladar five-hole after racing in down the left wing. That gave Minten (1 goal, 2 assists) a three-point afternoon and Peterka (2 assists) a multi-point game with the assist.

The goals were nice, of course, but the most encouraging development Saturday was that it was easily the Bruins' most complete defensive effort. They allowed just eight shots through the first two periods, and 15 overall. They were cleaner exiting their zone, they were connected through the neutral zone, and perhaps most importantly, they were hanging onto pucks and cycling in the offensive zone, a point of emphasis for Sturm this season.

It is definitely worth pointing out that the Flyers did not provide the stiffest competition. Now 0-4-2 on the season, Philly looks every bit like a team completely lost at sea. But the Bruins can only play who's on the schedule, and they've now beaten a few different kinds of opponents early on. Utah was playing some great hockey entering Thursday night. The Rangers and Jets, the Bruins' first two opponents, were both expected to struggle, but both actually got off to pretty good starts this year (the Rangers, unfortunately, just lost star goalie Igor Shesterkin to a season-ending injury, so that could very well be the end of their good vibes).

Now the Bruins head out west for a four-game road trip starting Tuesday night in San Jose. That will be McAvoy's season debut. Who draws out of the lineup on defense will be a tough decision for Sturm. Either Lohrei or Frederic Brunet would seem to be the most likely choice, but both have been playing some really good hockey. Sturm also likes what he's seen from his top two pairs of Hampus Lindholm-Will Borgen and Nikita Zadorov-Connor Clifton, so he won't be in any rush to sit anyone from that group either.

It's a good problem to have, one created by a 4-2-0 start that has seen the Bruins incorporate some youth (Brunet, Hagens, Matt Poitras), find some line combinations to roll with, and build out their defensive depth.