The Bruins are 12-4-1 and sit first in the Atlantic, and last night's 6-2 win in Pittsburgh showed exactly why.
Six different players scored for Boston on Thursday, and the team's own postgame recap put the theme in plain words. That is the kind of start Marco Sturm's group has put together, with 25 points and the second-best record in the NHL.
The Bruins tied the depth message to a quote from the postgame room, and it was direct about how this group sees itself.
Boston Hockey Now ran its own postgame piece titled "Six Goals, What Makes the Team Dangerous," and the title says what the scoresheet did.
Zacha got two. Mark Kastelic, Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie and Fraser Minten each added one. Pastrnak and John-Jason Peterka had two assists apiece, so the stars were involved too, but they were not the only story.
Kastelic and Minten are the interesting names. Kastelic has 3 goals and Minten has 6 on the season, and both did their damage while playing under 14 minutes. Minten's 6 goals match Elias Lindholm's team-level production, and he has two game-winners of his own.
The whole roster is contributing. Peterka sits at +11 and Geekie has 13 points, numbers that belong to the second and third lines, not the headliners. Hampus Lindholm finished a +4 on Thursday and carries a +14 rating into the weekend.
What the numbers say about Boston's start
The team has 64 goals for and 40 against, a +24 differential that backs up the record. The Bruins are 7-1-0 at home and 5-3-1 on the road, and they are 7-2-1 over their last 10.
That balance matters in the standings. Boston has the second-most points in the league, and the Atlantic race looks different with the Bruins in front.
Last month, Marco Sturm's heavy use of Pastrnak's line drew questions after a 2-1 loss in Carolina. Thursday's output makes that worry look smaller. When the third and fourth lines score, the matchups stop being so simple for opponents.
Pastrnak leads the club with 22 points, and he did it with 8 goals and 14 assists. The more telling part is how many other forwards sit within a few points of him. That is the kind of scoring spread that hides a cold night from any one player.
Elias Lindholm has 14 points and three game-winning goals, which is a strong return for a veteran centre. A lineup that gets that from the middle of the group does not need a single line to carry it every night.
Next up is a real test. The Bruins host the Panthers on Sunday, November 8, and Florida arrives 9-5-2 with a +5 goal differential, well behind Boston in the standings but winners of seven of their last 10.
