When the Bruins visited Winnipeg on Dec. 22, they got "embarrassed," to use coach Jim Montgomery's word. They lost 5-1 and looked every bit as overmatched as that score indicates. It was their third straight loss and a clear indication that they still had a lot of growing to do, even though their record was still very good at the time.
Exactly one month later, the Bruins showed just how much of that growing they've done, beating that same Jets team 4-1 Monday night at TD Garden in a matchup of the top two teams in the NHL in terms of points percentage.
This time around, the Bruins are now on a five-game winning streak. They've knocked off two of the best teams in the NHL in their last three games by a combined score of 9-3, having beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday. In between, they crushed the Montreal Canadiens 9-4, scoring the most goals they've scored in a game in 12 years.
Since using Christmas break as a reset, the Bruins have gone 10-1-3. They lead the NHL in scoring during that time. On Monday, they ended the stingy Jets' remarkable streak of 34 straight games without allowing more than three goals. And now Boston once again has the best record in the NHL.
"We played them right before that break, and we weren't going too well then. There was a lot of things that we weren't doing right," Charlie Coyle said Monday night. "We go on a break, take our time to kind of reset, and then we come back and I feel like we've just kind of been building our game ever since.
"It's not always perfect, but when we start to stray off, we get it right back. And that's a sign of a good team, is you don't let those – when you lose or you have a bad period or a bad shift – you don't let that linger. … We bring that focus again and gain the momentum the right way and play the right way, and we've been doing a lot of that lately. That's why we see the success that we've had and the wins piling up."
Coyle's own play has been a big part of the Bruins' growth. He is increasingly looking like a legitimate No. 1 center, helping to answer the biggest question facing this team. He had two more points on Monday, scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal on a net-front tip and then helping to set up Brad Marchand's empty-netter.
Coyle has three straight multi-point games and now has 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in the last 14 games. His 17 goals on the season are already his most in his six years a Bruin. He is on pace for 30 goals and 68 points, which would blow past his career highs of 21 and 56, respectively. In the five games that he has centered Marchand and David Pastrnak over the last 10 days, the Bruins have outscored opponents 5-1 during their 5-on-5 shifts.
Another key player in the Bruins' improvement over the last month also scored Monday: Jake DeBrusk. It came shorthanded, with 5:25 left in the game, and all but sealed the win. DeBrusk now has 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) in the last 14 games, a complete 180 from his 11 points in 31 games to start the season.
We could go on and on about everyone who's stepped up over these last 14 games. Pastrnak has 23 points, Marchand 16, Charlie McAvoy 12, Trent Frederic 11, Morgan Geekie 11, Hampus Lindholm 10. Danton Heinen recorded his first career hat trick on Saturday. Jakub Lauko has his first career three-game point streak and goals in two of the last three. Jeremy Swayman was great again on Monday. But this is really about the whole group playing better, more connected team hockey.
"Our willingness to hang onto pucks. Our willingness to play five guys together, especially coming out of our D-zone, through the neutral zone, and then really in the offensive zone," Montgomery said when asked what's led to the uptick in scoring. "I think the defensemen have been active and opened up space for the forwards, and I think the forwards have done a really good job of making plays when they're there, and then hanging onto pucks or putting into areas where we can continue to possess."
The Bruins are also winning in different ways. After a few higher-scoring affairs recently, they locked it down defensively against Winnipeg. Through two periods Monday, the Jets had 10 shots on goal and zero high-danger chances. They made a push to start the third with Boston holding a 2-1 lead, but the Bruins held serve and eventually extended the lead, showing off another area of demonstrable growth: Closing out games.
"We've had a lot of games here recently where we've been scoring goals, but it was nice to have a 2-1 game going into the third and to be able to extend the lead again," Montgomery said. "I thought we gave up a couple of chances, and they pushed. They're a real good hockey team. But I was glad with the patience we had."
The Bruins have three games left before the All-Star break. They won't be easy. Two are against the surging Carolina Hurricanes (8-2-1 in their last 11) and Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-0 in their last seven), and the other is a road game in Ottawa on the second night of a back-to-back.
If the Bruins keep playing the way they've been playing, though, they'll enter this break feeling a lot better about themselves than they did at the Christmas break.
