The Boston Bruins are 6-0-0 for only the second time in franchise history.
Ahead of a four-game homestand that starts Thursday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery believes his team's game and overall identity continued to evolve while sweeping a four-game road trip, which concluded with a 3-0 win over Chicago on Tuesday.
"Loved the results, loved our goaltending," Montgomery said. "Starting to see our team identity build because I think (Saturday's) L.A. game and this game (Tuesday), you're starting to see us become a heavy, grinding team, which I think is what we're going to have to be."
With the Bruins offense taking a new shape following the retirement of top-two centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, stingy defense has been a huge key.
Boston's plus-12 goal differential sits behind three dynamic offensive clubs' -- Colorado, Vegas and Detroit -- but the seven goals allowed by Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman through six games are the fewest in the NHL by a wide margin (Dallas is next, allowing 10 goals in five games).
"These guys took close attention to detail, played the game plan perfectly," Swayman said in Chicago following his 10th career shutout. "That's special to see as a goalie, to see these guys work their butts off to get on the backcheck, taking away lanes, blocking shots and scoring some goals in a timely manner."
Alongside offensive leaders David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, 19-year-old rookie Matthew Poitras has emerged with three goals in his past two games. He scored his first two in the third period of Sunday's 3-1 win at Anaheim.
It is becoming almost a certainty that Poitras will use the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract to remain with Boston this season, as he would otherwise be returned to juniors after nine NHL games.
"Making it hard on us, isn't he?" Montgomery said. "He's doing a terrific job."
The Ducks head to Boston following Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win at Columbus, which snapped a three-game skid and marked their first road triumph.
Massachusetts native and former Bruin Frank Vatrano scored 2:20 into the extra session, his fifth goal through six games this season.
Vatrano capped a comeback from a 2-1 deficit that allowed Anaheim to erase what first-year coach Greg Cronin described as a "flat" start in the first period. The Ducks were outshot 37-27 but won 61.4 percent of their faceoffs and went 6-for-7 on the penalty kill in the game.
"I thought our penalty killing really won the game for us. A lot of guys did a great job blocking shots (21 in total)," Cronin said.
The Ducks have also been energized by a touted rookie, 2023 No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson, who has not played in the past two games as the team manages his workload.
Carlsson is one of several young Ducks who have made early impacts under Cronin, joining defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Jackson LaCombe and goaltender Lukas Dostal.
While centering Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry on the top line, Carlsson scored in his NHL debut last Thursday against Dallas.
"It's not easy to play in this league. This is a man's league," Vatrano said. "We're only a few games into this, but they're holding their own and they give us a breath of fresh air out there."
--Field Level Media