There's a reason it was hard to get too worked up over the Bruins' recent 3-5-0 skid. They were shorthanded. David Pastrnak missed all eight of those games. Hampus Lindholm missed seven and a half of them. Linus Ullmark, who had been playing like their No. 1 goalie, missed the last three-plus. Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic all missed a game apiece during that stretch.
Allow Saturday afternoon's 3-1 win over the red-hot New York Rangers to serve as an important reminder: These Bruins are pretty good when they actually have their full lineup. Pastrnak, Lindholm and Ullmark all made their returns on Saturday, and all three played key roles in the win.
Pastrnak and Lindholm made their presence known on the game's opening goal late in the first period. Lindholm started the play by shielding off Artemi Panarin on the forecheck and then making a clean breakout pass to start the rush. Pastrnak finished it by getting himself open and burying Charlie McAvoy's pass into an empty cage before Igor Shesterkin could get across.
Neither looked limited. Lindholm led the Bruins in ice time at 24:41. Pastrnak led the forwards in ice time at 20:19. Lindholm continued the solid all-around play he brought in his first seven games as a Bruin, with his clean, composed breakouts noticeable throughout the game. On the game's opening shift, he made a smooth breakout pass right up the middle -- a place a lot of defensemen don't usually look -- to Charlie Coyle that sprung a 3-on-2.
Pastrnak also picked up an assist on the Bruins' second goal when he got in the way of an Adam Fox pass and helped set up Taylor Hall's breakaway the other way. He nearly had a couple others on setups to Hall, but one was saved and the other saw Hall's stick lifted at the last second. Pastrnak also drew a tripping penalty in the second period. He looked slightly off at times on a couple timing and puckhandling plays, but said he felt better as the game went on.
"First couple shifts, I felt some rust," said Pastrnak, who reached 500 career points with his two-point night. "Got better as the game went. First period was a little rusty, but obviously the goal helped me."
The power play still didn't score despite Pastrnak's return, with the slump now reaching 0-for-32, but there were signs of encouragement. The Rangers clearly made a point to take away Pastrnak's one-timer from the left circle -- it really wasn't there all day -- but that allowed Patrice Bergeron to get a couple good looks from his bumper spot. Those were chances the Bruins haven't been getting recently, as teams shifted to taking Bergeron away with no Pastrnak and no comparable replacement.
Pastrnak and Lindholm are not expected to play Sunday night in Montreal -- not because of any sort of setback, but because the plan all along was to have them play just one game this weekend. Bruce Cassidy left the door slightly ajar for that to change if they're really feeling good, though.
Ullmark had arguably the best game not just of the returning players, but of anyone on the ice Saturday. He was terrific in stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced and, quite frankly, outdueled soon-to-be Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. His effort was highlighted by a couple flashy glove saves -- one on Mika Zibanejad and one on Frank Vatrano on a 2-on-1.
When Ullmark went down last week, goaltending suddenly became an uncomfortable question mark for the Bruins when you combined Ullmark's injury with Swayman's struggles at the time. But with Swayman playing well in two of his three games since then and Ullmark picking up right where he left off (remember, he also outdueled Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy in his second-to-last full game before the injury), the Bruins can now breathe a little easier.
And that goes for the whole lineup, really. Everyone got a boost from the returns of Pastrnak, Lindholm and Ullmark. The fact that they all contributed to a big win against a potential first-round opponent and came out of it looking and feeling good is huge for the Bruins. Now they're whole again, and now they can remember that they're a pretty good hockey team that can compete with anyone when they have their full lineup in place.
"A lot," Cassidy said when asked what kind of lift the team got Saturday. "This time of year, your dog days so to speak, looking forward to the playoffs, but still have to play games and play well against good hockey clubs. A little bit of different energy in the room.
"We saw it early with Hampus with breakouts and the transition plays. Pasta the finish obviously, but made other plays. Listen, they're very good NHL players -- elite, you could say. So it's gonna make a difference in your lineup."
It certainly did on Saturday. The Bruins will hope it continues to as they're now a week out from the playoffs.
