BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have won five straight games. Their latest was a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
If the Bruins keep playing this way, more two-point results are around the corner.
It’s not just that they have been winning — it is the nature in which they’ve banked points. Boston has not been asking Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman to steal wins, which they had to do earlier this season. The team has not been waiting for their stars to light up the scoreboard.
The Bruins are winning because they have executed their most critical responsibility: defending.
They have closed rapidly in the defensive zone. They have assembled layers in front of their goalies. They have waited for assistance instead of overpursuing.
“We’ve each got a job in the D-zone. Just do your job,” said Sean Kuraly, who gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the second period. “Sometimes you’re starting to give up goals and you’re starting to think, ‘I need to do more.’ The message from the coaching staff is, ‘Come back. Take a deep breath. Do your job.’ If there’s a breakdown, we can help each other out. But let’s not be too quick to want to put out fires or go too far outside of the system.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Senators were expected to score 0.83 goals during five-on-five play. It was the lowest xGA the Bruins have allowed this season, following a 2.17 xGA effort in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders and a 1.82 xGA sparkler in a 2-1 result over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 1. These were much stingier performances than the 3.76 xGA game against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 30, which the Bruins were fortunate to win.
The Bruins were built to win this way.
“We don’t have a lot of goal scorers,” said coach Marco Sturm. “So we have to work for it. These guys tried so hard today. That will be a challenge all year long. Power play, that’s why it’s so important for us.”
The thing that makes Sturm optimistic about the games to come is that his players now know how to execute his system. It is a sustainable process, not one that is necessarily subject to randomness.
“The game without the puck, that should be our bread and butter moving forward for the whole season,” said Sturm.
The Bruins have embraced a solid defensive structure under new coach Marco Sturm. (Rich Gagnon / Getty Images)
Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov are humming on the No. 1 pair. McAvoy is using his feet to get out of trouble. Zadorov is eliminating bodies every game.
In overtime, McAvoy made two threatening moves by swooping near the net. His first setup for Pavel Zacha went side. On McAvoy’s second go-around, Zacha put the winner behind ex-teammate Linus Ullmark with 5.5 seconds remaining in overtime.
Hampus Lindholm has played in five straight games after returning from a lower-body injury. It is not a coincidence that the Bruins have won all five. The left-shot defenseman has been noticeable with his stick, feet and positioning in the defensive and neutral zones. His offensive game is coming.
As for Andrew Peeke, Lindholm’s partner, the right-shot defenseman made his mark with two assists against the Senators. Peeke paid the price physically, too. In the second period, Peeke was checked into the boards in front of the Bruins’ bench by Tyler Kleven. Peeke needed time in the dressing room to recover. Later in the second, while killing a penalty, Peeke took a David Perron slap shot off the right hand.
“We’re protecting good ice,” said Peeke. “We’re winning battles. We’re getting the puck out of the zone. We’re a little bit cleaner in all three zones, not just the D-zone. We’re protecting the middle of the ice, keeping people on the outside and we’re winning battles.”
Jonathan Aspirot and Henri Jokiharju have been fulfilling their responsibilities on the No. 3 pair. It leaves Mason Lohrei, a healthy scratch for the entire winning streak, with no choice but to wait his turn.
The Bruins have scored two five-on-five goals in each game of their streak. It’s not much. But it’s been enough because of how they’ve checked.
“Whirlwind of a game,” said Peeke. “Feel good. Happy to get the win. Good feeling in the room right now.”