Under new coach Marco Sturm, the Boston Bruins have continued a familiar trend.
The Bruins have won their first three games this season, doing so for the fourth time in seven campaigns. They will look to continue their October pace when they close a three-game homestand against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday afternoon.
Boston passed its first Atlantic Division test in a 3-1 victory Saturday over the Buffalo Sabres. Pavel Zacha, Mark Kastelic and Sean Kuraly each scored a goal and the Bruins received strong goaltending from Jeremy Swayman (21 saves), while going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
“(We’re) paying attention to our system and having high attention to detail,” Swayman said. “There’s a reason why we’re getting results — because each guy is buying in and sticking to our system the coaches put together.”
Since the Morgan Geekie-Elias Lindholm-David Pastrnak top line did all of the scoring in Wednesday’s 3-1 win at the Washington Capitals, Boston has received top-to-bottom contributions.
Defenseman Jordan Harris provided a perfect example in his Bruins debut, subbing for Hampus Lindholm (lower body). The Massachusetts native played a strong game and chipped in immediately with the primary helper on Zacha’s first goal.
In net, Swayman has allowed just one goal in each of his two starts.
“(Saturday) was just a good example of how we want to play,” Sturm said. “It doesn’t always have to come from the big boys. I think everyone is chipping in and excited to get out there.”
The Bruins’ results have come in close games as well, closing two victories with empty-net goals and winning the other in overtime.
“It’s not easy to play tight games like that at this level,” Harris said. “Every team has players that can make plays. I think it’s really impressive how we stuck to our game.”
Following a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, the veteran-laden Lightning are 0-2-0 for just the third time ever and the first in Jon Cooper’s 13 full seasons as head coach.
Tampa Bay allowed three goals in a five-minute stretch during Saturday’s first period. Two nights earlier, the Ottawa Senators erased a pair of first-period deficits and handed the Lightning a 5-4 loss to begin the season.
“There were a lot of uncharacteristic plays left out there that guys that are normally used to making them weren’t making. So that’s part of the reset too,” Cooper said. “And then ultimately, you have to just go back to basic winning hockey habits. We did it for a while, clearly not enough.”
All three members of Tampa Bay’s top unit have contributed multiple points so far, including center Brayden Point with a team-high four and defenseman Darren Raddysh with two goals. But there is work to do.
The Lightning has been outshot by at least nine in both games, with former Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy off to a rough start (.855 save percentage).
“We just didn’t go from a good team to a bad team in two games,” Cooper said. “You lose two in a row in January, it’s one thing. When you lose two in the beginning, it’s a little eye opening. So, a lot of runway left here.”
Cooper’s team hopes hitting the road for all four games this week can provide a bit of a fresh start. The first of two back-to-backs in that span moves from Boston to Washington for a Tuesday tilt.
“It’s only two games, and we’re gonna go on the road, we’re gonna come out hard,” Lightning forward Yanni Gourde said. “That’s all we can control is the next game and the first shift of the next game, and we go from there.”
