Hall scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season in the 4-0 victory at Denver.
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DENVER — The Bruins, the NHL’s hottest team at sea level this season with their stunning 14-0-1 record on home ice, moved to the mile-high climes of Colorado Wednesday night and tagged the Avalanche with a 4-0 defeat here at Ball Arena.
Led by a pair of Taylor Hall goals, and singles from David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic, the Bruins improved to 21-3-1 and pulled into a first-place tie with New Jersey with 43 points in the NHL standings.
Linus Ullmark (23 saves) improved his league-best mark to 15-1-0 with his second shutout of the season.
Hall, whose markers provided the 2-0 and 4-0 leads, has 11 goals for the season, five of those in the last four games. The former No. 1 draft pick has a legit shot for 30 goals — a plateau he has reached but once in his NHL career, during his MVP season (2017-18) with New Jersey.
Frederic has found a home on the right side, his off wing, now playing his most confident hockey in his span of four-plus seasons with the varsity.
“I didn’t know he had a one-timer, now we are seeing it all the time,” kidded coach Jim Montgomery. “I think what we’re seeing now is him getting close to his ceiling [for potential] He’s solidifying his spot as a third-line player.”
Frederic has delivered 6-5–11 in 11 games, the best output of his career.
A fast, strong start was No. 1 on Montgomery’s checklist. He didn’t get it.
Hall’s run of five goals over four games, all with Charlie Coyle his center, is the best he has produced since joining the club in trade at the ’21 trade deadline. He has been an increasingly good fit with Coyle, in part because Hall likes to lug the puck, allowing Coyle to find different spots on the ice once over the blue line.
“He made an amazing play on the [2-0] goal,” said Hall, praising Coyle. “For a line to do well the center has to play well. No line in this league can have success without the center being a catalyst and someone you can really rely on.”
“It did, until the last 4-5 minutes of the period,” said Montgomery, laughing when asked if the two-goal lead felt like a foothold in the moment. “Then it looked like our players felt that way, too. But we made some big blocks and I thought Brandon Carlo made some big blocks on the penalty kill-and some big plays in the offensive zone, too.”
