The Boston Bruins (7-7-0) stayed red-hot, beating the Carolina Hurricanes (7-4-0) 2-1 on Saturday afternoon inside TD Garden.
The story of the day, by far, is just how surgical the Bruins were all afternoon. Carolina's known for their suffocating, dominant play found themselves without answers on Saturday.
Boston limited everything, sticking to their structure, and ultimately outplayed the Hurricanes en route to the win.
At five-on-five, the Bruins amassed 14 high-danger chances and 30 total scoring chances. The Hurricanes totaled just 7 high-danger looks and 21 scoring chances. They did this without Elias Lindholm in the lineup, too.
Pure, unfiltered dominance from Boston. Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov continue to dominate as a pair, just running the ice when they play.
McAvoy, in particular, is playing his best hockey since getting separated from Mason Lohrei.
The steady play of Jonathan Aspirot continues to impress, as does the unbelievable impact of Hampus Lindholm on this team. All of a sudden, Boston finds themselves with a much stingier defense.
Today, the game entered the third period 0-0 after some brilliance from both goaltenders, with Jeremy Swayman shining when needed.
Casey Mittelstadt took over from there.
This clip doesn't show the full play, but Mittelstadt first suffocates a Sebastian Aho zone entry. He then turns with the puck, carries all the way through neutral ice, then made an awesome passing play, with McAvoy finding a wide-open Mittelstadt on the backdoor.
It's Head Coach Marco Sturm's system personified. Stout defense immediately transitioned into a fast attack, catching defenders off guard and out of position.
Mittelstadt and second line then duplicated it on their very next shift, just over three minutes later.
What a shot by Arvidsson, after Mittelstadt sprung him for the breakaway. It turned out to be all the Bruins needed.
Alexander Nikishin scored a last-gap goal to give Carolina life, but Swayman shut the door. He made 28 saves in the victory, continuing the theme of excellent goaltending.
Today gave the blueprint for continued Boston success. Stout, disciplined defense turning into quick, lightning-fast counter attacking.
Boston has a rare two-day breather before they head to New York to take on the New York Islanders.