24 goals. From a team that was considered barren just a few weeks ago in October to the new November version, the Bruins have made a new name for themselves in the new month, putting up 24 goals in just four games, including the 6-3 win over one of the Western Conference leaders, the Edmonton Oilers.
This win puts the Bruins back at .500 after a grueling climb out of the hole they put themselves into. But as many of the players mentioned, it wasn't about getting back to even, it was having a winning record. And the way it looks right now, it doesn't seem too far-fetched.
Within the four games in November, three of them were against Canadian teams that have been on some sort of streak before facing the Bruins. Bruins forward and native of Vancouver, BC Milan Lucic said playing against those teams heightens the emotion in the locker room because of how well those other teams are doing.
And perhaps hearing the Canadian National Anthem helps too.
"I guess they don't like us so much in Canada right now," Lucic said. "Maybe we need the 'O Canada' before every game."
But the Bruins offense doesn't just depend on the team they play. Lucic currently sits on a 5-game goal streak and has led the team and line in big scoring opportunities. Standing in the locker room still jazzed up after the game, with a Nathan Horton-type smile on his face, Lucic talked about just how fun it's been playing the way they played.
"We know the situation going into every game and we are playing teams that are on a roll," Lucic said. "That kind of--it makes it easier to get up in those games. You get more fired up for teams that are on a roll. Going through what we went through last year, every game in the playoffs was a big game and it seems like because we got ourselves into a big hole this year that every game has turned into a pretty big game and we have been able to respond and we have to keep it going."
Heading into the third period, the Bruins held a 4-2 lead after goals from Boychuk, Caron, Marchand and Seguin hit the back of the net. Oilers forward Ryan Smyth and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins provided the offense on the other side of the ice.
But once again, it was in the third period that the Bruins performed their magic.
Patrice Bergeron was nabbed for a high-sticking call and was sent to the penalty box with 6:35 left in the third period. Down a goal, this was prime time for the Oilers to take advantage. After cycling the puck well in the Bruins zone, eventually they found a weak link with seven seconds left on the man-advantage and Smyth tapped in his second goal of the game, making it 4-3 with plenty of time left.
Or so they thought.
However, the B's, and more specifically Lucic, decided to take matters into his own hands.Standing in front of the net, Corvo made a thread-the-needle pass through the crease, and hit Lucic right in the tape and past Dubnyk, giving the Black and Gold the 5-3 lead.
Marchand also added another goal, sealing the deal completely, just 44 seconds after that.
" Like you said we have learned from a lot of things that we have gone through in the past," Lucic said. "We’re not going to get frustrated that much anymore, we don’t get down and we just focus on getting that next goal, and we were able to on a big power play goal by Marsh [Brad Marchand]."
Four straight wins, 24 goals and a team that's feeling more confident than ever. The Bruins host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, and will look to add even more to their own streak they are creating.
"Well, we’ve had to work extremely hard to get ourselves back at .500 here," Lucic said. "Obviously a big thing for us is having a winning record and we still haven’t accomplished that yet this year. Obviously we’ve made strides in the right direction, especially these last four games to start November. We have to keep going, keep building off what we are doing right and keep this thing going."