BOSTON — It wasn’t all that long ago that the Boston Bruins, a team built to win on defense, looked completely and utterly helpless in their own zone as they lost six games in a row and seven of eight.

But at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team built to win with by dominating puck possession and firing a high volume of shots on net, the Bruins were calm and in control.

They had finally grasped the concepts new head coach Marco Sturm has tried to instill, and it resulted in a 2-1 win, their third in a row.

“It was really good today,” Sturm said of the team’s defensive structure. “It was really noticeable, and not just from behind the bench. Everyone could really see it. We needed to play that way against a team like that.  We wanted to have a good start and slow them down, especially in the first. With that, you need good structure. Today was probably one of the best we’ve played structure wise for 60 minutes.” 

Through 40 minutes, both sides traded chances, but neither could finish one off.  It wasn’t until 1:27 of the third period that Casey Mittelstadt drove hard to the net and broke the stalemate for the Bruins’ with his fourth goal of the season, courtesy of assists from Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha.

“It was a heck of a play by Pav and Chucky,” said Mittelstadt. “I thought we did a good job through the first two periods staying with it. We had chances, and kept tight defensively. It was nice to get one right away in the third, and play with the lead.”

Viktor Arvidsson added to Boston’s advantage minutes later, sniping a shot from the top of the right face-off circle over the shoulder of Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen for his third goal of the season.

The Hurricanes got on the board with 2:49 left to play after Alexander Nikishin blasted a shot from the high slot. That, though, was the only puck that got past Jeremy Swayman, who stopped 28 of 29 shots.

“That was important for us,” Swayman said. “Obviously, we wanted to end this homestand off the right way. I thought we had a complete game tonight. That’s something that we can really build on. It’s good to have momentum for three games now, feeling good about our game and moving forward.” 

The Bruins will visit the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

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