Bruins Set NHL Record with 12th Consecutive Home Win

BOSTON - David Pastrnak took a moment to look around.
Yes, he has been a member of the Bruins organization for nine seasons and played over 260 games at TD Garden, but on Friday afternoon he made sure to appreciate the atmosphere inside the building.
"I took a moment during one of the timeouts to look around," said Pastrnak. "Obviously, the fans are buzzing, and it's pretty loud. They're our seventh player out there. It's fun to see."

The Black Friday crowd, which is always one of the most raucous of the regular season, was bustling from the beginning, especially with history on the line - and Pastrnak made sure to cap things exactly as they expected when they arrived on Causeway Street for the post-holiday matinee.
The winger's power-play blast in overtime sealed an NHL record for the Bruins, as they overcame a two-goal deficit and battled back for a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes to set the league mark with their 12th consecutive home win to start the season.
"It feels awesome. We talked about it after the second going into the third," coach Jim Montgomery said of setting the record. "There's been a lot of great teams in this league and you're able to set a precedent and break a record. It doesn't happen if those guys don't believe in themselves like they do."
The Bruins have now won 19 consecutive games overall on Causeway Street (regular season and playoffs) dating back to April 16, the sixth time in NHL history that has happened.
"It's obviously amazing," Pastrnak said of the B's home success. "It's Original Six, so any record you make as a team is special because it's such a long history. We're obviously aware of it, and this group is great. We took over in the third period because we were playing the right way, 5-on-5, in the first two periods. I think we tired them up a little bit, and that's a hell of a team we beat today."

David Krejci, who scored both of Boston's goals in regulation, said the Bruins could feel the momentum building in their favor with each goal.
"Once we got our first, then the second one…we obviously knew there was something special on the line and we just kept coming at 'em," he said. "The energy in the building was great and glad we got a win."
The veteran centerman added that Montgomery's acknowledgement of the record during the second intermission helped then focus in on the significance of what was at stake.
"Obviously, it's never fun being down going into the third, you're sitting in here trying to figure it out," said Krejci. "When he said that, it kind of…you want to come out there and do the job, you know? Something special [was] on the line. It's hard to win in this league and to get 12 at home in a row, that's pretty special. We worked hard to get a win tonight and I'm really happy that we did."
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said that while the club doesn't "want to put all the emphasis on a record," they were proud of the effort they put forth to secure two more points while improving to 18-3-0 this season.
"It doesn't happen often, right?" Bergeron said of the record. "We've worked extremely hard to get to this points…that being said, I think we have something special and want to carry that on. And we want to show some character and I thought it was a character win."

Pastrnak On Point

The Bruins secured the record when Pastrnak tattooed a one-timer by Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov at 3:19 of the extra session off a feed from Brad Marchand at the left-wing circle. The winger also assisted on Krejci's first of two goals, extending his point streak to nine games (six goals, seven assists), the sixth time in his career he has hit that mark.
"We won the faceoff, so we didn't have to break the puck out. That was good," said Pastrnak. "We had a couple of looks - first one, tried to do a shop tip to Bergy. The goalie made a good save. Bergy did an excellent job of recovering the puck.
"A little running around right after the first initial chance. We get the look we were looking for. Big win for us, obviously, coming from behind after Thanksgiving - the game is never easy, so it's a good win."

A Double Shot of Krecho

After falling behind on two power-play tallies (Stefan Noesen, 6:34 of the first; Jesperi Kotkaniemi, 15:05 of the first) - which marked the sixth straight game that Boston's penalty kill has surrendered at least one goal - Krejci pulled the Bruins back even with his seventh and eighth goals of the season.
Krejci's first of the afternoon came with just 31 seconds to go in the second when he wristed one over the left shoulder of Kochetkov off a feed from Pastrnak. The 36-year-old struck again with 9:33 remaining in the third when he wristed one home from high in the Carolina zone with Nick Foligno parked in front of Kochetkov with a brilliant screen.
Initially, the marker was waved off for goalie interference on Foligno, but after review was determined to be a good goal.
"I thought we should challenge it, but I always wait for Goalie [coach] Bob [Essensa] and also input from our video coaches [Mat Myers and Sean Andrake]," said Montgomery. "Our video coaches do a great job, they study a lot of that in the offseason of what is goalie interference and what isn't, and we were very confident that it would be overturned because Foligno started it outside the blue paint and then got pushed into the blue paint."
Per NHL Stats, Krejci became the third player to record 400 points at TD Garden, joining Patrice Bergeron (538) and Brad Marchand (441).

Celebrating the Captain

Before the game, the Bruins announced that they would celebrate Bergeron for his 1,000-career point milestone with a pregame ceremony on Dec. 17. But at the first TV timeout on Friday afternoon, the B's captain was acknowledged on the big board and received a rousing standing ovation that lasted nearly a minute.
"Definitely special," said Bergeron. "The fans have been such a big part of all my time here in Boston. Very thankful for all of them. That was special, for sure. That's not something I necessarily loved - I'm not gonna lie - I couldn't wait for the camera to be off of me…very thankful and appreciative of that, for sure."
Between his 1,000-point accomplishment on Tuesday in Tampa and the Bruins' record-setting win on Friday afternoon, it's been quite a week for the 37-year-old centerman.
"It's been great," he said. "To me, it's really more the celebration of guys coming on the ice and, after the game, being able to celebrate with them. Just to share that moment with all those guys you battle with and create connections with, it's special. Like I said many times, it's a special group.
"What we have going on, we want to carry that on and keep getting better and keep working hard. Home ice is important, and we want to keep getting better, but it feels nice to have a record like that, especially after being around for a long time. It's special."

Something in the Air

Montgomery felt that Charlie McAvoy's heavy hit on Kotkaniemi in the neutral zone midway through the second period turned the tide for the Bruins and injected even more juice into an already rowdy TD Garden crowd.
"I liked the way we started, then we got on our heels there in the last ten minutes of the first and then we didn't get it back until Charlie had that big hit just inside our blue line," he said. "And then I thought the third and fourth lines, [A.J.] Greer put it in after that on the forecheck, Foligno got a hit and then we got a change, Coyle came out, big hit, [Taylor Hall] big hit and got possession and then we got to our offensive game in the offensive zone…it seemed like we were in their end the whole last thirty minutes of the game."
Boston's bench boss said "it sure did" feel like a playoff atmosphere between two teams that have faced off in the postseason three times in the last four years.
"You had to fight for every inch of ice," said Montgomery. "Carolina, they're a hard team to play because they don't give you anything. You have to earn everything and I felt that we did go out and earn it."

Ullmark Leaves Injured

Linus Ullmark exited the game with an upper-body injury after a net-front pile-up in the third period and did not return. Craig Smith also left the game with an upper-body injury earlier in the game. Both were termed day-to-day by Montgomery.
Jeremy Swayman took over in relief of Ullmark and stopped all six shots he faced for the victory.
"His attitude and he really believes in first team," Montgomery said of what stands out about Swayman. "Everything is about the team. And for him to come in and do the job he did was not a surprise."
Swayman said that he was just paying it back after Ullmark took over for him in Pittsburgh following an injury earlier this month.
"It was crazy. You never see that," Swayman said of goaltender injuries. "Once in a year, and then it happens twice. I think he'll be OK. That's all I care about - first thing I asked. He's a big Swedish Viking so he'll be all right.
"I just want to make sure I'm preparing the same way every day, so it's just like another day in the office. I think if you have that repetition nothing really surprises you, so I wanted to give myself the best chance to be able to jump in."
The third-year netminder was pleased to have Foligno step in for Ullmark with the postgame win hug, especially after spending Thanksgiving dinner with the veteran forward's family.
"I could be a Foligno Jr. if I asked," said Swayman. "I was there last night, too, for Thanksgiving so it's a special family. I got to get the best cooked meal in Boston with [his wife] Janelle and the kids. Played some knee hockey, too, so got a little warmup in. It was great."

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