Bruins Pull Away Late Against Flyers, Win Fifth Straight

BOSTON - David Krejci isn't getting too ahead of himself.
The veteran pivot is in the midst of his 16th season with the Bruins. As such, he knows all too well about the ups and downs a team must endure during the course of an 82-game schedule.
"I wouldn't get carried away," Krejci said when asked about Boston's torrid start to the season. "Obviously, we've had a great start but it's a long season. It's a really long season. And we're gonna hit some rough patches. That's just the way it is. For right now, we're rolling. So, we'll try and get as many wins as we can."

Having said all of that, even Krejci admitted that what the Bruins have done through the season's first six weeks defies expectations. Following a 4-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden on Thursday night - their fifth straight win - the Black & Gold are now 15-2-0 on the year and 10-0-0 on home ice.
"It's hard to win one game. But to win this many games - 17 games, 15 wins - that crazy," said Krejci, who notched two goals against the Flyers, both over the game's final 10 minutes. "Nobody expected that. We're staying even keel here. We're focusing on the task at hand. We've been doing a pretty good job at it. We're getting ready. We always put the game behind us, we move on."
Krejci helped lead the charge for Boston in the third period after a slow start for the club over the first two frames. After Tomas Nosek opened the scoring at 11:25 of the second and Jake DeBrusk doubled Boston's lead at 7:31 of the third, Philadelphia answered on Owen Tippett's power-play marker to make it a one-goal game at 9:48 of the final period.
But Krejci responded just 16 seconds later when Pavel Zacha (two assists) battled through Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov for a loose puck and tapped a feed over to the slot. Krejci was there to scoop it up and buried one over the glove of Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart to make it 3-1 with 9:56 remaining.
The 36-year-old was at it again moments later when he deposited Nick Foligno's spin-around feed from the doorstep on the power play to extend Boston's lead to 4-1 with 4:39 to go.
"I thought he was really on," coach Jim Montgomery said of Krejci. "Everything looked on - he looked faster, he was stronger on pucks, he was holding on to pucks, he was skating away from people. I could tell he was on his game by how quickly he was closing on people in the D-zone. I thought he was a great 200-foot player tonight."

Montgomery added that he felt the Bruins' slow start was less about effort and more about rust after Boston's lengthy three-day layoff.
"It was more of a product of us, not having played in three days, which is the longest we've gone this year since we have started," said Montgomery. "I think our guys were too excited to play. Our puck movement was really good, but we were skating out of position.
"Offensively, and especially defensively, we were skating out in the middle of the ice a lot, which is uncommon for us…Philadelphia, they took advantage of it, credit to them. They had some really good looks and Linus [Ullmark] had to be really good until we executed great on the D-zone face off that got us that Nosek goal."

On the Nose

On Sunday night against Vancouver, Nosek was relieved to cash in with an empty-netter and snap what seemed like an endless 65-game goal-less stretch. But against the Flyers, the centerman got to experience some genuine joy.
Nosek scored for the second straight game when he one-timed home Foligno's backhand feed from around the back of the net with 8:35 left in the second to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The tally also extended his point streak to a career-high four games (two goals, two assists).
"It was different emotions, for sure," Nosek said of his celebration following the goal, which included him dropping down to one knee for a Ray Bourque-style fist pump. "I actually enjoyed this one…I was happy to put it in…it was actually a goal scorer's happiness.
"I'm not going to lie; it feels pretty good to be able to produce something and to help the team in some way other than defensively."

Feedin' Foligno

In addition to his helper on Nosek's goal, Foligno also delivered a nifty feed on Krejci's second goal - a power-play marker - of the third period. After collecting Taylor Hall's dish from the right-wing circle, Foligno quickly spun and zipped a no-look pass to Krejci across the slot. Krejci then ripped a one-timer by Hart to extend the B's lead to three goals.
"He made a great play," said Krejci, who snapped a nine-game stretch without a goal. "He's been in the league a long time. I've seen him make those plays before. He's a good player. The NHL is all about confidence and he has it right now. Good for him."
Foligno's second assist of the night was the 300th of his career, a milestone that he met with a bit of self-deprecation.
"Yes, [I can remember] everyone one of them," Foligno said with a smirk. "Sitting next to Krech and [Patrice Bergeron] and [Brad Marchand], and [David Pastrnak], they've all got a lot."
Foligno added that he believes Montgomery's system makes it easy to anticipate where his teammates are going to be, which was a key part to both of his assists on Thursday night.
"I think what's so great about Monty's system is, it's so fast but predictable," said Foligno. "I think we really enjoy playing and it's tailored to a lot of the guys in the room and we feel that when we are playing, we know where guys are supposed to be.
"You can kind of have that sixth sense. It's dangerous because we are playing with so much speed, too, so when the guys are in the right spots, it makes it really hard on other teams and I think you're seeing that right now."

Wait, There's More