Originally published on Boston Hockey Now | By Jimmy Murphy | Last updated 1/24/2019
The Boston Bruins set an NHL record by going 32-9-4 on the road in 2023, and they now have their first road win of 2024, a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
The Bruins have now won four straight games and are the best team in the Eastern Conference once again.
Here are your Boston Hockey Now Bruins postgame thoughts:
CLUTCH: This is normally reserved for players or coaches that have a direct impact on the outcome of the game. However, as previously said, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney deserves a great deal of credit for his bargain-hunting on the NHL free agency market past offseason. From James van Riemsdyk to Kevin Shattenkirk to Danton Heinen on a professional tryout, all three have played critical roles in the team’s success this season, and that continued on Tuesday night. All three players contributed to each Boston goal, with van Riemsdyk scoring the game-winner and assisting on two others, and Shattenkirk and Heinen also scoring.
Danton Heinen lights the lamp for the fifth time this season. It's a 3-1 game.
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) January 3, 2024
DOGHOUSE: Boston Bruins supporters and some media members believe that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery should award rookie Georgii Merkulov an automatic berth in the top six forward group. They really need to wake up to the fact that an NHL team, such as the Bruins, is not in rebuild mode. Merkulov was the AHL player of the month in December, with 10 goals and eight assists for a league-high 18 points in 12 games, but he looked out of place in his first two NHL games, and the Bruins were correct to remove him.
To assume that he should be ahead of Charlie Coyle, Morgan Geekie, or Pavel Zacha in a top 6 center place right away, regardless of how he plays, is ridiculous. These are the same supporters that believed the same thing about Ryan Spooner and Ryan Donato and chastised Claude Julien and Bruce Cassidy for not sticking to their game plan. How did that work out?
BANGER: Jakub Lauko concluded with three hits and has established himself as a new ‘Little Ball Of Hate’ for the Boston Bruins.
UNSUNG HERO: Two weeks ago, many Boston Bruins fans, as well as some members of the local media, expected the Bruins to trade winger Jake DeBrusk for whatever they could get. What a difference a couple of weeks can make, don’t you think?
With his assist on van Riemsdyk’s game-winning goal, DeBrusk now has two goals and four assists in his previous five games and appears to be finding his offensive stride.
After a little double-deflection action, the Bruins have a 2-1 lead. James van Riemsdyk gets the goal and now has seven this season.
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) January 3, 2024
To be honest, now, or even in two weeks if this continues, would be a better time to assess DeBrusk’s trade value if the Bruins do not intend to sign him to a contract extension. However, it appears that the Bruins aren’t near to either situation just yet.
Lineup of the Boston Bruins
Forwards
David Pastrnak-Pavel Zacha-Morgan Geekie
Jake DeBrusk-Brad Marchand-Charlie Coyle
Trent Frederic-Danton Heinen, James van Riemsdyk
Georgii Merkulov-Jakub Lauko-Oskar Steen
Mason Lohrei-Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk-Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
