The Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes have been two of the best teams in the NHL for the first four weeks of the season.
That puts them in position to pursue early-season Eastern Conference supremacy when they meet Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
The teams lead their respective divisions.
Boston owns an eight-game points streak (7-0-1), including back-to-back games with six goals by ending last week by defeating Nashville and San Jose.
The Bruins will be looking for more after overcoming San Jose 6-4.
“We know we were far from our best (Saturday),” Boston forward David Pastrnak said. “It’s OK, we ended up winning, and it’s hard to win in this league. … But we also have much better than that.”
The Hurricanes have returned from a 3-1-1 road trip to launch a three-game homestand. It will be Carolina’s first home game in two weeks.
“A win always feels good,” goalie Pyotr Kochetkov said after concluding the road trip with a 4-0 win at St. Louis. “We just want to go home because (it’s been a) long trip. I’m very happy for the guys.”
The Hurricanes became the first NHL team this season to reach 20 points. That’s a first-time achievement for the franchise.
Boston has 19 points in one fewer game.
On Sunday, the Hurricanes announced the one-year signing of defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who hasn’t played this season as he wasn’t under contract. According to a report, though, he will need a bit of prep time before making his season debut.
Carolina wasted no time in getting back on track following a shootout defeat in Edmonton with its shutout of the Blues.
“You want to bounce back right away, and we were able to do that,” Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers said.
Pastrnak has been the catalyst for the Bruins, with team highs of seven goals and 10 assists. James Hagens has added four goals so far, battling in front of the net.
“We’re pushing him pretty hard, getting more to the paint, more to the inside,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said of Hagens. “That’s where you score the goals, so good for him that he realized that. Look at his four goals he has scored. Good for him, for just listening and also taking it really seriously.”
In eight of their nine victories, the Bruins have scored at least four goals. They’ve posted six goals in four different games.
Seth Jarvis will make his home season debut Tuesday after beginning the season on the injury list following offseason shoulder surgery. He played in the final two games of the road trip, with points in each game.
Even with Jarvis back, the Hurricanes have been forced to use some patchwork lineups as injuries have mounted. They’re without captain Jordan Staal and forwards Taylor Hall and Mark Jankowski.
“With the guys out, we’ve had guys that came in to the lineup and have really stepped up,” Ehlers said. “We did that all last year, and it seems like it’s started that way again this year. I’m proud of the guys in here. It sucks that we have guys out, but we’ve got to play with the guys that we have, and these guys step up. That’s exciting for our team.”
Kochetkov is 7-0-0 to begin the season for Carolina following the Blues shutout.
Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman also has seven victories (7-1-1).
The Bruins have picked up points in all but one of their six road games.