Ask any NHL player and he'll tell you, the key to winning games is in a full team effort.
That is no different when it comes to the Boston Bruins, as they have now taken 13 out of 14 total possible points in their last seven games -- 6-0-1 -- and have received production from a slew of players during that span.
The black and gold have 21 goals in their last seven contests from 10 different players. Perhaps the most productive has been the trio of Marco Sturm, Mark Recci, and center Patrice Bergeron, combining for 19 total points during that span.
In last night's 4-1 domination over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the second-line accounted for eight points and 15 of the Bruins 39 shots on net.
"Those guys were just on top of their game. from a delighted coach Julien after last night's game. "They wanted to establish the lead tonight. Score the first goal which we did. Then it was a matter of not just sitting back, it was let go get some more. Our guys responded well that way."
The 24-year-old Bergeron has been the Bruins best all-around player to date, and leads the team in points with 8-13-21.
Future Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi had this to say about his center.
"He’s a player. People forget that he’s 23-24 years old and he’s asked to play on these top lines every night. He plays way above his age, and his commitment to defense, number one, is just unbelievable, and number two, he’s just very offensively gifted and he’s taking advantage of that.."
With the game-winning goal and two assists last night, Bergeron now has a scoring line of 2-6-8 over the last seven games, and has been a beast in the face-off circle. After winning 14-of-19 draws last night, Bergeron has won nearly 65-percent in the last seven games, and is now fifth in the NHL with a 58.3 total winning percentage.
"If you start with the puck you are controlling the play. If you lose that job you got to chase it and you are wasting a lot of energy trying to get that puck back. So why not put the energy into the face-off circle. Our guys have responded well. When we don’t do well I put the blame on not just the centerman but the other guys that are battling for loose pucks. I have to give credit to everybody as well when we win those draws." from head coach Claude Julien after last night's victory.
After a somewhat slow start, Marco Sturm (2-5-7 in the first 15 games) has been heating-up as well, recording 4-1-5 in his last seven, including his two goal performance last night.
"He’s a heck of a player. He’s a great two-way hockey player. Added Recchi on his line-mate. "He skates great, and when he gets some confidence you can see it. It’s nice to see that."
Mark Recchi is bound for hockey's Hall once his chance is up, there's no question about that. The 41-year-old has "been there done that" throughout his 21 seasons in the NHL, and brings his vast experience to the locker room and ice every night.
With a big win last night, the Stanley Cup winner knows the importance of not getting too high and remaining focused over these next few games.
"We've talked about having four games in a 10-12 game stand, making sure we take advantage of this (win), and it was a first start tonight.
"A lot of teams are going to play a couple of more games than us over the next 10 days or so. We're only going to play three games in the next 10 days when teams play five. So we're going to have to make sure we keep playing our game to keep up in the standings right now."
With the up-and-down schedule, the Bruins head north of the border to face the Canadiens in Montreal's 100th year anniversary on Friday; game one of three against Division rivals. Recchi went on to say,
"Now we go up to Montreal, it's a big night for them, we've got to make sure we quiet everything down. We're going to have to weather the storm if not push back right away and hopefully get a big win there."
"And then we've got another big rivalry with Toronto, obviously with Kessel coming back it will be a big deal, but we know the importance of these games and we want to keep climbing...."
The Bruins are currently first in the Northeast Division with 33 points (14-8-5) and third overall in the Eastern Conference. With their total team effort, and spectacular play from the second-line especially, as of late, the Bruins could find themselves atop the East in no time.
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