Bruins Have Important Road Trip Coming Up

BOSTON – Bring on the road trip.

This five-game, 11-day trek through Winnipeg, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton has arrived at a perfect point of the season for the Boston Bruins. The team has won a season-high four consecutive games, including a 4-3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at TD Garden. The Bruins are 7-2-0 under interim coach Joe Sacco and there’s a different feel around on and off the ice.

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Several players described how there was a disconnect earlier in the season, but the team is finally starting to believe in itself and it’s evident on the ice. Case in point: Boston erased a two-goal deficit against the Flyers, which was missing from the Bruins’ game before their recent surge.

“The belief factor is night and day to what it was in the beginning,” said Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who finished with 23 saves. “We understand every one of us can do a job and finish it the right way. The belief in here is contagious and it’s definitely elevated our game play. In situations like tonight, there was no doubt we were going to push, have a comeback and it was really good to see us get the job done.”

When a team is feeling this good about itself, there’s nothing better than a long road trip to help build that bond amongst the players.

“It’s going to be a great time for us to get a little more camaraderie, seeing each other every day and having some good time on the road. It’s obviously a longer one and I’m looking forward to a lot of challenging games, but also a lot of great times to get better and use the experience moving forward to push us to the next level,” Swayman said.

Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy, who has played his best hockey of late, showcased a big smile when asked about the upcoming road trip.

“This is always one you look at (on the schedule). You know it’s a long one and it’s only once a year,” McAvoy said. “We’ll get out there, enjoy each other’s company on the road and sometimes these trips are a good opportunity for us to have some experiences (together). I know we have a couple of days in Calgary and we’re thinking about going to Banff (in the Alberta Rockeis), or something like that. It’s nice on the road and we’ll come closer together on this trip.”

Prior to Saturday’s win against the Flyers, Sacco explained why the team is playing with consistency the last few weeks.

“The consistency starts with the buy-in from the group as far as how we want to play,” he said. “It starts from our goaltender out, protecting the net front, doing a good job in our zone, working our way into the middle of the ice and then the offensive zone. That’s the consistency we’ve had in our game the last little while here.”

The Bruins are focused on defense first and that has translated into a more potent offense. They’re creating more chaos in front of the opposition’s net and getting rewarded for their efforts. The players and staff seemed more prepared every game and the results are there. There’s been a solid response since the coaching change.

“We have a great group,” Sacco said. “We have great leadership, and we’ve always had good leadership since I’ve been here. They’re an extension of the staff a lot of times, so it’s been nice to see the guys buy in to what we’re trying to sell. They know what winning hockey looks like, it was just getting them to see it again.”

So, the Bruins head out for two weeks, and the timing couldn’t be better.

“We still haven’t played our best hockey,” Swayman said. “It’s exciting for us to know we can still get points and know we still have more to give. We’re pushing more and more every day and in this locker room we expect high expectations for ourselves, so it’s good to get results but we know what we need to do to get more.”

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