The Bruins returned home after a successful five-game road trip and got set to host the Buffalo Sabres for the teams' final two meetings of the season.
With the Rangers still on Boston's heels, every point matters for the black and gold and taking care of business against the Sabres is their priority.
David Pastrnak, David Krejci, Charlie Coyle, Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand each lit the lamp and Tuukka Rask made 29 saves as the Bruins defeated Buffalo 5-2.
Here are three key takeaways from the game.
1. Fast start
Fresh off their strong performance in Pittsburgh, the Bruins’ top line picked up right where they left off to begin Thursday night’s game against the Sabres.
Just over a minute into the game, Brad Marchand picked off a self-pass attempt from Rasmus Dahlin and transitioned right into offense. Crossing the Sabres blue line, Marchand dropped a pass back to Patrice Beregeron, whose no-look pass was one-timed home by David Pastrnak for a quick 1-0 lead.
After a five-game road trip, the top line led by example and didn’t allow for a sluggish start. Bergeron, Marchand and Pastrnak seem to have their swagger back as a dominant, puck-possession line capable of scoring on any given shift.
This is important in the long term as well because while the Bergeron line typically finds success in the regular season, the emergence of the Bruins’ second line -- David Krejci between Taylor Hall and Craig Smith -- will force opponents to spread out their defensive assignments and will create more room for the Bergeron line to operate come the postseason.
2. Coyle nets game-winner, ends career-long goal slump
Charlie Coyle has been at the forefront of the Bruins’ offensive struggles among the bottom-six forwards. His season-long slump has been really puzzling since he has both the size and skill to be a consistent point producer, especially against opponents' third lines. Furthermore, he’s a vital piece to the puzzle for the Bruins if they wish to go far in the playoffs.
Well, it’s been a long time coming, but after 28 games without a goal Coyle finally got the monkey off his back against the Sabres, ending the longest goal-scoring slump of his career.
Not only did Coyle score the eventual game-winning goal, but it was a strong, power-forward type goal and exactly how he’s capable of playing more often than not.
After standing up on Sam Reinhart in the neutral zone, Coyle stripped the Sabres forward of the puck and shielded him off while taking it hard to the net and shooting top-corner for the 3-2 lead.
Coyle’s relief was evident after giving the Bruins the lead midway through the third period and if he can continue to play with offensive confidence, the Bruins’ ceiling as a team skyrockets with three potential scoring lines.
3. Re-energized Krejci continues to surge
With the score tied at one late in the first period, the Bruins were allotted an opportunity on the power play to take the lead.
While the top power-play unit created a few good looks on the man-advantage, they were unable to capitalize.
With seconds winding down on the power play and the period, Charlie McAvoy used his elite skating ability to take over control of play in the offensive zone. Circling back to the top of the blue line, McAvoy zipped a pass over to David Krejci at the top of the left circle and No. 46 rifled a one-timer off the post and in for a 2-1 lead just before time expired.
No one was likely happier with the addition of Taylor Hall than Krejci. After years of lacking scoring wingers on his line, Krejci has been playing with extra jump, creativity and execution since the trade deadline.
Need proof? Over the last 10 games with Hall on his left wing, Krejci has accumulated six goals and five assists for 11 points. In his first 34 games of the season without Hall on his wing, Krejci had only two goals.
In the third period, their building chemistry jumped off the screen again. After toe-dragging around not one, but two Buffalo defensemen, Krejci slid a nifty pass over to a wide-open Hall, who buried the puck into a wide-open net to give Boston a 4-2 lead and essentially ice the game.
The idea of “Playoff Krejci” and a confident former MVP winger in Hall has the potential to be a lethal combination in the postseason.