"Yeah, you know, and we're not going to overanalyze it," said Interim Head Coach Bruce Cassidy. "I think we're well aware that teams have struggled."
The B's do have the slight benefit of being in the road mindset.
"But I think the road teams are a little different animal - I think they've actually played decent hockey," said Cassidy. "Chicago, we watched some of that game [on Saturday] night, they were pretty good even though they lost, so getting out of town and re-focusing, I think it's an advantage being on the road, to start out of the break."
The players were just as cool and calm as Cassidy. There's a highly apparent energy around the team - partly from five days of recharging, and partly because they went into the break on a three-game winning streak, having earned wins over San Jose (6-3), Vancouver (4-3) and Montreal (4-0).
"I think we're confident in the tweaks that we made, and the system, and we're playing much more aggressive and assertive," said defenseman Torey Krug. "And I think when we do that, we're playing in the fun zone in the offensive zone, and everybody likes to do that, so if we can do that, and continue to maintain that aggressive style of play, then I think that it will be fun for us to be a part of."
Krug and the Bruins hit the ice on Sunday morning at the SAP Center in San Jose for a brief pregame skate to get the legs moving, and get themselves back in the right frame of mind.
Often on the days of earlier games, the team won't practice.
"Typically, we probably wouldn't skate, but just to get out there and get your legs moving, get some of that mental rust out of there," said Krug. "So it's just about shaking off the cobwebs and getting read to go for tonight."
