Bruins As Bruins wins keep stacking up, so does morale of key contributors up front “I think the last three games might be the best three consecutive games we’ve had all year.” Jake DeBrusk now has 11 points in his last 12 games. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe
On a night where hats cascaded down on the frozen sheet at TD Garden, the confidence on an emboldened Bruins bench continues to soar.
Boston’s 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Thursday followed a similar script for this 2023-24 roster.
David Pastrnak doled out most of the damage in the offensive zone with his first hat trick of the year, while a stingy defensive effort in the third period limited a high-octane Colorado team to just four shots on goal over the last 20 minutes of play.
With the All-Star break a little over a week away, Boston has now won three straight games and collected points in seven consecutive contests.
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“I think slowly but surely, we’ve gotten results here since Christmas,” Jim Montgomery said. “But I think the last three games might be the best three consecutive games we’ve had all year, even including the start.”
It should come as little surprise that Boston’s strong stretch of play has coincided with several key contributors starting to find their groove after inconsistent play throughout the fall.
Boston has had no shortage of players pull on the rope this season, with 13 different players on the roster already lighting the lamp at least five times.
But in a win where Pastrnak secured his 27th, 28th, and 29th tallies, Jakub Lauko’s first goal of the 2023-24 campaign might have provided the greatest lift.
In his 32nd game of the year, the 23-year-old winger finally found twine — flipping a puck into a nearly empty Avs net following a strong forechecking sequence alongside linemates Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie.
“When you’re looking at your name and you see bagels? It has an impact on you,” Montgomery said of Lauko finally scoring. “It tends to wear on you, makes you impatient, makes it harder to stay with your own process and help the team.”
Jakub Lauko cashes in with his first goal of the season.
2-0 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/074VSFvBmL — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 19, 2024
The Bruins are at their best when Lauko is conducting chaos on the ice — whether it’s drawing penalties, dropping the gloves, or landing welts on the forecheck.
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But after suffering a near-catastrophic eye injury in October and an extended scoring slump, Thursday’s result served as a much-needed lift for a checking-line contributor.
“I kind of took a long long look in the mirror,” Lauko acknowledged. “I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing. … I was kind of like, let’s sit down for two games and I think my confidence hit the complete bottom, so I took a look at myself and said, ‘Hey, if you want to stay here, you want to play for those guys, you need to do something about it.’
“So I think since the Vegas game [on Jan. 11], I was trying to turn it around and hopefully I’ll keep going and playing better.”
While Lauko finally got off the schneid, Jake DeBrusk continued to validate that a second-half scoring surge was all but inevitable for the streaky winger.
Jake DeBrusk tips one past Georgiev.
Primary assist to Wotherspoon.
3-1 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/PqruSef4ga — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 19, 2024
DeBrusk tallied his 10th goal of the season with a tipped tally off a Parker Wotherspoon point shot in the first period of play, later adding another point off a slick feed to Pastrnak that served as the final nail in Colorado’s coffin with 2:36 left on the clock.
DeBrusk to Pastrnak on the power play.
Pastrnak’s second goal of the game makes it 4-2 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/OfM3vdsyUH — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 19, 2024
“It seems to be getting repetitive here in the second half,” Montgomery said of DeBrusk. “It seems like every game, it’s his best game of the year. And that’s a credit to him. Because his details, his habits — that play to Pasta, that’s a high-end play on the power-play goal.”
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After entering the holiday break in late December with just four goals and 11 points in his first 31 games, DeBrusk has now scored six goals and posted 11 points in his last 12 contests.
“I’ve got a half year to make it up. … Obviously it’s pretty frustrating at the beginning of the year and I’ve been in positions like this before where I didn’t know if I could do it,” DeBrusk said of getting back on track. “But I know I can do it, so that honestly makes it more frustrating.
“Just kind of waiting patiently. … I think a full 200-foot, probably was one of my better [games]. But I still kind of threw some burgers out there, so it wasn’t perfect. It’s hard to be perfect in this league, obviously.”
The first-place Bruins’ hopes of a fruitful playoff run still likely rest on the shoulders of players like Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark, and Charlie McAvoy.
But after months of growing pains, Montgomery believes that an overhauled Bruins roster is starting to feed off the positive returns found on the scoresheet.
“We were a well-oiled machine eight games in last year,” Montgomery said earlier this week. “And I feel like we’re starting to develop somewhat of an oiled machine now, understanding how we need to play, how we have to get there.”