After ripping off three straight wins at home, the Bruins (32-24-6, 70 points) entered their bye week from Feb. 13-17 on a high note.
Five days away from the rink had stymied most teams this season, but the Bruins reversed the trend, and hurled themselves back into third place in the Atlantic Division.
Interim Head Coach Bruce Cassidy has won six of his first seven games behind the bench for the B's. Much of that success can be attributed to the team asserting itself early against opponents.
The Bruins were able to score the first goal in all four games on their road trip. They have scored a first period goal in eight consecutive games, and in six of those games, they struck first.
What has led to the strong starts?
"Focus in the locker room, making sure we're ready to play," said Kevan Miller, attributing his team's quick strike mentality to readiness out of the gate.
"Something we've been focusing on all year - you can't always have the best starts, but we've been pretty fortunate lately and guys are ready to play, so we want to continue that."
With just 20 games left in the season and five of their next six on home ice, early starts will be a crucial component of the Bruins' playoff aspirations.
"It's like playoff hockey, every game's a must-win and for us," said Frank Vatrano. "We're right on the cusp of the playoffs, so obviously you pay attention to what's going on around the league."
"But at the end of day, we need to worry about what we're doing. We've got to win games and can't let any games slip away from us."
Tuesday's game against Arizona will mark the Bruins' final contest in what has been a light month of February. The schedule becomes compact again in March, with 14 games in 31 days.
With the Atlantic Division as close as it is, every point will matter.
