Taylor Hall has never been on an NHL team like the Bruins. For starters, the Bruins expect to at least get out of the first round of the playoffs every year, something they have done each of the last three seasons.
Hall, meanwhile, has never been on a team where that has even been a realistic expectation. The Oilers never made the playoffs in his six years there. The Devils made it once in 2018, and that was as an eight-seed that only squeaked in because of Hall's MVP performance that year. The Coyotes only got to play in the bubble last summer because the playoff field was expanded from eight teams per conference to 12.
Hall has also had to be relied on to be the best player and a team leader just about everywhere he's been. That is also no longer the case on a team that features veteran leaders like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask, as well as young stars David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy.
Hall and fellow trade deadline acquisitions Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly arrived in Boston on Monday, and he said he has been impressed with what he's seen so far.
"It's been cool," Hall said Thursday night. "There's something different about playing for an Original Six franchise like the Bruins. There's a culture here that is special, and it's a credit to the guys that have been here for a while that have created that.
"Guys like myself, Curtis and Mike, we come in and we're just a piece of the puzzle. That's the motto here, and it's pretty easy to see. No matter who's in the lineup, who's playing, who's getting a lot of minutes, who's not, it's up to everyone to do their job and contribute, and it's been fun doing that so far."
Hall's contributions have been steadily growing throughout his two games. He helped set up a Craig Smith goal in Tuesday's win over the Sabres with a nice backcheck and good transition to lead the rush the other way. He had a couple other good defensive plays, too.
In Thursday's 4-1 win over the Islanders, he helped create several scoring chances, including a couple on the power play that led to him getting moved up from the second unit to the first. He combined with Smith to win a wall battle and then set up David Krejci for a golden chance from the slot. He also sprung David Pastrnak on a one-on-one rush with a great pass through the neutral zone, and nearly split multiple Islanders defenders with a rush of his own up the middle.
Then early in the third period, he broke through with his first goal as a Bruin, taking a pass from Pastrnak and racing into the offensive zone with speed. Hall expertly shielded the puck from an oncoming defender and then beat Semyon Varlamov five-hole.
"You always want to contribute," Hall said. "As an offensive guy, you don't come into every game hoping to score a goal, but you want to make plays, you want to create chances, and I thought tonight our line did that. So, it was nice to see one go in."
