David Pastrnak leads the Bruins into Sunday's game against Florida with 22 points, and the 12-4-1 start has plenty of help behind him.
Boston sits third in the NHL with 25 points and first in the Atlantic. Thursday night's 6-2 win at Pittsburgh made it three straight, and the Bruins now host the Panthers with that momentum.
Start with the obvious. Pastrnak has 8 goals and 14 assists, and he's the engine of a power play that has fed him 3 goals and 4 assists this season. No one else on the roster is close.
Elias Lindholm has 14 points, and three of his six goals have been game-winners. That's a second-line center delivering in tight games, which is exactly what this group lacked at times in recent years.
Then there's the pair at 13 points each. Morgan Geekie has 4 goals and 9 assists, and Morgan Geekie's goal in Pittsburgh kept his hot stretch going. John-Jason Peterka has the same 13 points and a +11 rating, the best on the team.
Fraser Minten's plus-10 and the goalie split
Fraser Minten may be the most interesting name on the list. He has 6 goals and a +10 rating, and two of those goals were game-winners. That's real production from a 22-year-old who isn't being asked to carry the offense.
The depth is why this run doesn't depend on one line. Here's how the last five games have gone.
In goal, Jeremy Swayman has played 12 games and Michael DiPietro has played 5. Dans les coulisses pointed out that DiPietro is 4-0-0 over his last four games with a .931 save percentage, a 1.99 goals-against average and one shutout.
That's a backup making the coach's decision harder, and it's worth watching who gets the net against a Florida team that comes in with Paul Maurice behind the bench. Marco Sturm hasn't been forced into a real choice yet, but a stretch like that tends to create one. You can read about Jeremy Swayman's start against the Golden Knights for how the workload got split earlier this week.
The team numbers back it all up. Boston has scored 64 goals and allowed 40, a +24 differential, and it's 7-1-0 at home against 5-3-1 on the road. The Bruins are 7-2-1 over their last 10, and Sunday at TD Garden is the next chance to protect that home record.
Quick hits
WINNIPEG JETSKyle Connor and the Jets host Tampa Bay on Sunday, chasing a third straight win after Thursday's 6-2 win over Vancouver. Winnipeg has a good shot to stack another.
WASHINGTON CAPITALSProspect Lynden Lakovic picked up two primary assists just 1:27 apart in Hershey's 4-2 loss to Springfield on Friday. The result stings, but the flash is worth tracking.
ST-LOUIS BLUESThe Blues take a 3-5-1 road record into Nashville tonight, and Logan Mailloux has just joined them there. Those road woes need to stop soon.
CAROLINA HURRICANESThe NHL's best team has an odd problem. The Hurricanes have been better away from Raleigh, and they hit the ice at Lane Arena this morning to fix it before Chicago.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFSJohn Tavares looks set to return tonight against the Canadiens, according to practice lines from Mark Masters. That's a welcome boost for the top six.
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