Bruins Set to Begin Divisional Schedule

BOSTON – The Bruins must play the schedule in front of them. But there’s no doubt the Black & Gold are ready to ratchet it up a notch.

That is no slight toward their first seven opponents of the season – all Weston Conference foes – but rather an acknowledgement that their next four games will allow them a better understanding of where they sit within the Atlantic Division as they battle the Detroit Red Wings (twice), Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs over the next week.

“We need to find out,” coach Jim Montgomery said of where they stand against their divisional rivals. “We’ve got three real good teams coming in…I think our division is really strong and really competitive all the way top to bottom. So, it's going to be good test for us coming up, and it starts [Saturday].”

Boston will welcome the Red Wings to TD Garden on Saturday night before hosting Florida on Monday and Toronto on Wednesday. They’ll end the Atlantic Division stretch next Saturday with another matchup against Detroit at Little Caesars Arena.

“They're all playing really well right now…we're all aware of how good of opponents they are and want to make sure we start on the right foot,” said Matt Grzelcyk. “It’s a bit of a measuring stick…if you want to make the playoffs, you have to put yourself in the best situation going in. We’ve got to create some separation between these next few teams.

“They’re all, especially Detroit, up and coming, and feel like they have a lot to prove. We want to make sure that we're playing well at home and avenge that loss [Thursday] night.”

Lindholm Staying Patient

Hampus Lindholm may not have a point so far this season, but Montgomery is anything but concerned about the Bruin’s blue liner.

“I think Hampus is playing really well,” said Montgomery. “I look at the two previous games to [Thursday] night, and he's had an abundance of chances. He had a great chance in the first period all alone with the goalie [against Anaheim]. He's too good of a player, he's too much of an impact player in this league, he's an elite player in this league. If he keeps putting himself in those situations…he’s going to have success.”

With Charlie McAvoy sidelined to start last season, Lindholm got off to an impressive start with 13 points over this first 11 games.

“It’s a small sample size right now,” said Montgomery. “Last year, he got off to a great start. It probably really…offensively, wasn't really him. And he's, offensively, done a lot better than what he's showing right now…but it's coming, and we see it in how dominant he is.

“He's still defending really well, I know he was minus-4 [Thursday] night. But to me, there's one-offs, and how much he's been helping us win…you just look at our goals against, and he has a huge impact on that.”

Lindholm, meanwhile, feels like the chances he’s been creating – including a hard drive to the net that led to a shot off the post on Thursday night – will lead to production soon enough.

“I feel like I’ve been creating a lot of chances,” said Lindholm. “That’s hockey sometimes, that’s sports. It’s not always rewarding when you want to and sometimes you can play bad and everything goes your way. Last night was a little tougher because maybe if you get a bounce and get that one in there, you might close that one out.”

Wait, There’s More

• Brad Marchand stayed off the ice on Friday for a maintenance day. “Just pure maintenance,” said Montgomery. “We've had a lot of games in a short amount of time. Wear and tear, that’s all.”
• Friday’s session at Warrior Ice Arena marked the B’s first practice since October 18 in San Jose. “This is our first practice in nine days, just with our schedule and travel,” said Montgomery. “So, we were looking for pace, and we were looking to get back to habits and details that we think lead to our process of success. And I think we did that today.”
• The Bruins went 1-for-3 on the power play against the Ducks and felt much better about what they generated across their three man-advantage opportunities. “I like the pace we played with,” said Montgomery. “I thought Charlie McAvoy led our power play with the pace, just the way he carried the puck, how assertive he was carrying it, moving it. And I thought that because of that, we ended up creating 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s within the box. I thought we could have scored on every power play, so it was a good step in the right direction.”
• Grzelcyk has only once averaged a minute or more of shorthanded time in a season (1:01 in 2019-20) and five times averaged less than 40 seconds, but is at 1:11 per game so far in 2023-24. “It's been nice to be used more on the PK a little bit, so just I think it kind of helps you get in the flow of the game a little bit better, and you're not sitting as much and relying on 5-on-5. I've been trying to welcome that, just getting out there on the ice, feel more comfortable with my game. [Charlie McAvoy] has been playing great, so just feeding off of him.”
• McAvoy recorded three assists in a period for the second time in his NHL career on Thursday night. Per NHL Stats, the only other defensemen in Bruins history with multiple three-assist periods are Bobby Orr (11x), Glen Wesley (4x), Ray Bourque (3x), Brad Park (2x) and Eddie Shore (2x).