Bruins only part way to their game

Barely a minute into their November 29 home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a Bruins forward was first to a dump-in and absorbed a hit to make a centering pass. That same forward would tip home the ensuing shot to give the Bruins a quick 1-0 lead.

The forward: Taylor Hall.

The Bruins are not asking the 2018 Hart Trophy winner to be their MVP, they're only asking him for his best.

"I had my big year (2017-18) ... in Jersey, I was playing with some younger players, and it was up to me to carry the puck in a little bit more and do some of the legwork, but you've got to be adaptable to what line you're playing on, and the structure and the chemistry that you want to get with your linemates," said Hall, whose season began on left wing with Davids Krejci and Pastrnak. Now he's on the third line alongside Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic.

Over 30 now, Hall wants to win, and he cheerfully accepts whatever role coach Jim Montgomery hands him.

"It's not always going to be a rush game - that's where I thrive, is the rush game - but when that's not there you've got to be able to play down low and create (scoring) chances there, and I'm getting better at that," said Hall. "You never know what kind of game it's going to be, and it's up to me just to be as open as possible and with speed. And, whether I've got the puck or not, I really can't control that, but it's up to me to play with pace. That's my game, it's where I feel comfortable, and use that pace to check well."

Hall's straight-line speed fits perfectly into Boston's forecheck, which was augmented over the summer by the addition of high-flying 2015 draft picks Pavel Zacha and A.J. Greer. With these burners, in addition to Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand, bearing down on the opponent's every thought, the Bruins are more athletically formidable than last year.

Krejci's, Pastrnak's and most of all Patrice Bergeron's brilliance in reading the play is foundational to this amped aggression, and Frederic and Nick Foligno suddenly have sync to their rock 'em, sock 'em.

At 20 wins by the 23-game mark, the Bruins may be vulnerable but not to overconfidence. Beyond missing Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk, they have found almost 20 ways to win.

"I think that... it hasn't been a thing of two of the same kind. And that also has a strength to it, knowing that you can come back, you can keep extending your lead, you can play a tight game, you can play a physical game. You know that even if you're not at your best you can still manage to win, and you get a lot of confidence out of that," said Vezina Trophy candidate Linus Ullmark after Saturday night's 5-1 win over the undermanned Colorado Avalanche. "Instead of always having to win 6-1 or having those kinds of games just to get a win and you lose the tight games because, in the end, whenever the postseason comes or you get closer to it it's going to be tight. You've got to fight for everything."

The fight rages on, and Montgomery's accent on puck support has given that mindset preoccupation with a new strategy to hold onto the puck until help arrives. It seems every play the Bruins make, there is a teammate within 10 feet.

"There are a lot of options available. When you're patient, one is going to open up," said Bergeron. "There are ways that Monty wants us to play, and I think it's very black and white, and when that happens it seems like everyone is able to keep their speed, right? ... I think it helps on our transition a lot."

With strong opponents including Bruce Cassidy's Vegas Golden Knights, sustaining this historic rate of point accumulation is unlikely. But of far greater intrigue than the standings is the Bruins know they could lean more heavily on their opponents.

"I don't think we've actually gotten that game yet to the area or the place that we want to play at," said Foligno. "Probably the difference in last year is we were such a shot-quantity team; we fired a ton of pucks at net and a lot of times we didn't have somebody in front.

"It was one and done, right? So now, as guys that are heavy and love to hit and create chances, it's hard because you're just chasing ... whereas this one is more, 'Do we have somebody at the net?' You're looking. 'No? Okay, hold onto it a little longer. Let some support get there.'

"So I think you're going to start to see that evolution where we really do hem teams in and get more confident understanding of how we're going to get offense off of that. ... I'm expecting that to be the next phase for us ... where we're just hammering teams, holding them in a three-quarter-ice game we call it, where they just chip it out and we come right back at them. They don't have time to change. ... That's fun, that's winning hockey."

Minutes before that November 17 discussion with Foligno, Montgomery was focused on improving the forecheck as a means toward that end.

I asked the coach if we'll know the Bruins have found their game when they are pounding the attacking zone with extended, 5-on-5 shifts that leave the opponent gassed and desperate to ice the puck.

His answer: "Yes."

If this starts happening with any regularity, take the Bruins very seriously.

Mick Colageo writes about hockey for The Standard-Times. Follow on Twitter @MickColageo.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Boston Bruins have won 20 of their first 23 games of 2022-23