The Boston Bruins won again last night, pushing their latest winning streak to four games, with all four wins coming by three goals.
Last night saw the return of Charlie McAvoy, less than four full weeks from taking a slap shot to the jaw, undergoing surgery, and losing 20 pounds without the ability to eat solid food.
To call McAvoy a warrior would be putting it mildly. Most notably, he returned on a pair with Nikita Zadorov, a pairing that dominated before McAvoy's injury.
Following up on a three-point return game Tuesday in St Louis, David Pastrnak put up four points, with two goals to boot.
All this while the fourth line of Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic dominated again, with Kuraly scoring for the trio.
The bad news comes in the unknown of Jonathan Aspirot and Viktor Arvidsson injuries, both of which have not seen any clear updates yet.
The Bruins' next game is Sunday evening against the Minnesota Wild, finishing off the road trip before a five-game homestand begins on Tuesday.
What's become increasingly clear to some is that this Bruins team is for real. Forget the analytics, forget the fancy stuff. Anyone who's watched closely knows this team will be a complete nightmare come late April.
This is a team with the DNA to go on a deep playoff run.
It's a team that features high-end, elite offense with a strong power play (when everyone's healthy). The Bruins also have the best goalie in the league this season in Jeremy Swayman.
Combine that high-end with depth that can score and will hit everyone and everything into oblivion, and all of a sudden you've got the makings of a team that can go far.
What's more, it couldn't be more obvious the entire Eastern Conference and especially the Atlantic Division finds itself mired in mediocrity and inconsistency.
Does anyone think the all-skill, limited-to-no-muscle Montreal Canadiens or Detroit Red Wings could survive a seven-game series against these Bruins? We already know the Toronto Maple Leafs can't do that.
With the Florida Panthers currently down to 13th in the conference, there's a clear window of opportunity for the Bruins to do some serious damage in the playoffs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are an obvious bad matchup, with a similar makeup and similarly elite goaltending, but outside of them, who in the Atlantic can match up with Boston physically and in net?
If Boston's able to add one more high-end forward (looking right at Alex Tuch, who makes perfect sense for Boston), it vaults them from contender in some eyes to an indisputable Stanley Cup contender, odds be damned.
All season, the only thing to stop the Bruins has been injuries. Outside the six-game skid in October, this team is 19-7-0.
It's time to believe and see, the potential is so much higher than anyone expected this season in Boston. The DNA is there.