3 reasons why the Bruins are on NHL-best 5-game win streak

With a come-from-behind win over the New York Rangers on Black Friday, the Boston Bruins extended their string of consecutive victories to five, the longest current winning streak in the league.

Here are three reasons why the Bruins are one of the NHL's hottest teams:

Stability on the blue line

Following the departure of Dougie Hamilton early in the offseason, general manager Don Sweeney elected not to solidify the blue line through free agency or via trade, instead choosing to open up a battle for playing time among a group of young and largely untested internal options.

To say the Bruins' defense was a mess to start the season is a massive understatement, as Boston dropped its first three games on home ice, allowing 16 goals on 93 shots tossed at Tuukka Rask.

Slowly but surely, however, head coach Claude Julien appears to have found a mix that's working, with the following top six having been iced in each of the past five games after an injury to Kevan Miller, who appeared in 17 games prior to suffering a concussion.

As it turns out, five of the six were fixtures on the blue line late last season, while rookie Colin Miller - acquired in the Milan Lucic trade - has emerged with 10 points in 19 games since being inserted into the lineup.

Even when the other Miller is healthy, there appears to be little reason to split up this group.

Rask rounding into form

The former Vezina Trophy winner is finally starting to post familiar numbers, stopping 85 of 91 shots in three starts during the streak, good for a save percentage of .934.

While his save percentage for the season still sits at an uncharacteristic .899, Rask improved his personal record to 8-7-1, and it's no coincidence he's finding his game at the same time the defense in front of him stabilizes.

It also helps that backup Jonas Gustavsson is playing well enough to afford Rask the opportunity to rest and regroup. The Swede won both starts during the five-game run, with an almost equal save percentage of .932.

Based on a more stable blue line and strong play from the goalies, the Bruins have allowed an average of two goals per game over the past five, well down from their 25th-ranked 2.91 nightly allowance so far this season.

Krejci leading balanced attack

With four points in the past five games, David Krejci has posted nine goals and 15 assists in 22 games, and is on pace to smash his previous career highs in goals, assists, points, and shots.

But he's not the only player rolling these days for the Bruins, who sit in a tie for third in goals scored (73) and in sole possession of third in goals per game (3.27).

Boston boasts no fewer than 11 players with at least 10 points, more than both the Montreal Canadiens (10) and Dallas Stars (eight), the only two teams averaging more goals per contest than Boston.

Though the forward lines have been mixed and matched, Julien can roll out at least eight forwards with the ability to produce on any given night, which is a big reason why Boston sits first in the league with a power-play success rate of 32.4 percent.

With contributions from relative newcomers like Frank Vatrano and Landon Ferraro helping the cause from deeper down in the lineup, and with David Pastrnak - who's out with a foot injury - likely to rejoin the fold at some point, the Bruins' offense shows no signs of slowing down.

If the defense, goaltending, and offense all begin clicking at the same time, forecasts of doom in Boston may prove to have been premature.