Bruins Beat Hurricanes to Extend Win Streak to Three Games

BOSTON –– Marco Sturm has talked about his team working to find its identity through the beginning of the season.

Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden was as good an example as the Boston Bruins have had of how they want to play on a nightly basis.

They were defensively sound, physical and opportunistic on the other end of the ice. Plus, they had shut-down goaltending. It earned the B’s their third consecutive win.​

“That was really good today,” Sturm said. “I think it was very noticeable, not just behind the bench, but I think everyone could really see it. We needed to play that way against a team like that. We wanted to have a good start, we wanted to slow them down.”

​Jeremy Swayman last played on Monday against the Ottawa Senators; he made 16 saves on 23 shots in the 7-2 loss. Joonas Korpisalo proceeded to start the next two games for Boston. Saturday’s showing was a statement – and feel-good bounce back – for Swayman, who finished with 28 stops.

​“I know what I need to do to help this team win games. Sometimes it’s just not your night. You can’t control certain things. Park it, move forward and have that mindset of next shot,” Swayman said. “I just thought we had a complete game tonight. That is something we can really build on, and good to have momentum, three games now, feeling good about our game moving forward.”

Swayman kept the Hurricanes off the board before Boston earned the lead to open the third.

Pavel Zacha dished the puck over to Charlie McAvoy on the right side while entering the zone, which created a short 2-on-1 with Casey Mittelstadt. The forward knocked in McAvoy’s cross-crease pass for the 1-0 advantage at 1:27. It was Mittelstadt’s fourth goal of the season and McAvoy’s third point in as many games. Zacha’s secondary assist also extended his point streak to three games.

“I thought we did a good job through the first two periods, staying with it. I think we had chances and kept it tight defensively. Nice to get one right away in the third and play with the lead,” Mittelstadt said.​

“I think especially after a tough stretch and then a tough game in Ottawa, to come home and really defend home ice – it is one of the prides of our team. We want to be a good home team, have this be a tough place to play. Definitely feels good.”​

Viktor Arvidsson widened the gap under four minutes later. Mittelstadt popped the puck up to Arvidsson, who dashed up ice on the breakaway before sniping it past Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen. It marked Arvidsson’s third goal of the year, all of which have come in the last week.

“As a line, I think we are playing more connected and we’re getting a lot of chances,” Arvidsson said. “Today we got two, so that was nice.”

The Hurricanes made it 2-1 at 17:11 with a goal from Alexander Nikishin, but the Bruins withstood the pressure and secured the victory in regulation.

“I thought we defended well. I think they have a team that plays aggressive and transitions well, but I think we were in good spots. I thought we had a good concept of our D-zone coverage today,” McAvoy, who had two assists, said. “Every day is a new opportunity in this league. We’ve done a good job of finding that perspective and finding ways to get better with the limited time we have between games.”​

The Bruins are back in action on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.