Bruins Roll Past Islanders for Fourth Straight Victory

BOSTON - Bruce Cassidy put it about as simply as he could on Saturday afternoon.
After the Bruins cruised to a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders at TD Garden, behind six different goal scorers, Boston's bench boss needed just a few words to express his satisfaction with his club's performance.
"Well," he said, "there was a lot to like."
As he often does in his meetings with the media, Cassidy went into further detail about what exactly the Bruins did well in their fourth straight victory. But his initial sentence easily could have been enough to describe the B's last three months - and, more specifically, the Black & Gold's last 17 games, during which they've posted a stellar 14-2-1 record.

Their surge through the new calendar year has propelled the Bruins (87 points) into second place in the Atlantic Division (at least for Saturday afternoon), ahead of both Tampa and Toronto.
"I think every night we expect a win," said Taylor Hall, who notched three points (goal, two assists). "It doesn't matter who we're playing, where we're playing. It's a really fun feeling to have. Every line's contributing, I think you've seen a lot of balance with the four lines.
"Whoever's hopping over the boards it's your responsibility to make something good happen, to leave something good for the line that comes after. It's nice to see pucks go in, you get confidence as a line doing that and all the lines are feeling it that way."
After an uneven start to the season - which included long lulls in the schedule, a bevy of new faces getting acclimated to new surroundings, and a rampant run of COVID-19 throughout the dressing room around the holidays - the Bruins began to hit their stride after returning from their pandemic-related hiatus on Jan. 1 and have been picking up more and more steam as the stretch run intensifies.
"There's a lot of things that have turned over in the last few years, like [Zdeno] Chara, [David] Krejci, Tuukka [Rask], Kevan Miller, Torey Krug. Those are big parts of the team that aren't here anymore, guys that I didn't even play with, but you can tell that they were holes that needed to be filled," said Hall.
"The start of the year with our schedule, we played sometimes one every five days, three days; it was hard to get traction and momentum. Now that we got COVID all over with from January 1, we've had a good schedule just in terms of keeping momentum and playing well.
"I think fans, management, people were wondering what our identity as a team was gonna be. In the room we kept focus and everyone's really turning the right way."

Patrice Bergeron echoed Halls's sentiments, saying that he believes the success can be attributed to each player in the dressing room buying into their respective roles, no matter how large or small they may be on any given night.
"I think everyone's playing the right way, contributing," said Bergeron. "I feel like I can see the growth in our team in the way that we're playing. Guys owning their roles, playing the right way, and doing it for the right reasons."
Cassidy saw Saturday's effort as a perfect example of that mentality. After being eliminated by the Islanders in the second round last spring, and losing both meetings so far this season, the Bruins sent a message with their convincing victory, on an afternoon that otherwise could have been a bit of a "trap game" following a big win over the Lightning.
"I think it was an important game for us to put our best foot forward, we did not in the previous two," said Cassidy. "I think we're more of a complete team now in terms of personnel, our roster, than we were earlier in the year.
"This is a little more what we look like, so I was glad our guys took it to heart…this time of year, sometimes teams getting up for certain games can be a challenge - kind of the dog days. So for us today, I think that had something to do with it."

A Milestone Return

After missing the last four games with an elbow infection, Bergeron was back in the lineup for the Bruins' win over the Islanders. It marked his 1,200th career game, making him the 120th player in NHL history to hit that milestone.
"I guess I've been around for a while," said Bergeron, who added that his arm felt "fine" in his return. "That's probably the one thing. It's been a long road, but it went fast - for the first 1,200. It's kind of crazy to think…I guess I appreciate the moment, be thankful for everything I've been able to go through."
Bergeron, who picked up an assist and four shots on goal in 15:38 of ice time, ranks third in Bruins history in games played behind Ray Bourque (1,518) and Johnny Bucyk (1,436).
"Of course, it's special," he said. "Especially being an Original Six team and a storied franchise. Being around and having the chance to meet those guys, Bucyk, Bourque, [Bobby] Orr, and all the greats. To me, it's an honor and something I don't take lightly to be a Boston Bruin. It definitely is special."
Cassidy, with a smirk, said after the game that he told Bergeron he needs him around for "1,300 and beyond."
"Credit to him, to play for one organization that long tells you a lot about both sides," said Cassidy. "He loves it here, we love having him. Listen, we've talked about what he does for the team all day long. Both sides of the puck, leadership on the ice, in the community. Him and [wife] Steph, when new wives come to town, they always welcome them.
"It's up and down the list. Can't thank him enough for how he's helped me. Real happy for Patrice and happy to have him back in the lineup."

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