Consistent pattern of solid lines emerges

It’s probably not safe to say the Bruins have found any magic formula for their line combinations. For starters, Joakim Nordstrom will be back in the lineup by early February, and that activation likely will send someone to Level 9. Who that will be, as has been the case all season, will be performance-based. But, at least for now, there’s some consistency. Going into each game there’s at least the semblance of an idea of how the lineup up front might look. It might change midgame, and ice time might differ, but the mid-period shaking up of each and every line hasn’t been in the cards for a little while. Some of that comes from winning; the Bruins were on a five-game winning streak heading into last night. Some of that is that secondary scoring is beginning to be a major factor in the Bruins results. “I don’t know if I ever have long-term solutions,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said following Tuesday’s win against Minnesota. “I think we’re going to let it play out and see how he does, see how the group does. Sometimes it’s a product of how the other lines doing. If you move it around you’re affecting now two lines, so right now we’re going to stick with it.” Sean Kuraly’s 18:21 of ice time Tuesday led all Bruins forwards, which would have been unthinkable earlier in the season. He’s not the only one; Chris Wagner’s ice time steadily has increased over the past seven games, Noel Acciari has been far above his average times the past three games, and, with the Calgary game as the exception, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson is seeing the ice more often. The consequence has been dwindling time for Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato, who haven’t done much to help their cause aside from a Heinen tip-in goal against Minnesota. A lot will change between now and the end of the regular season, but some consistency is a nice change of pace. Killing it The Bruins penalty kill steadily has improved since its poor showing on opening night, and while injuries have left it inconsistent, it’s in a good place midway through the season. “We’re not overthinking it,” Cassidy said. “We’ve built in some adjustments because certain guys were out. We carried them over when guys came back into the lineup. I think that’s allowed us to create more turnovers, some anxiety with the other team, so some easier clears. We’re also make better plays on the clears, we saw a couple last night to the net-front outlet, the valve we’ll call it, to get away from pressure. At 81 percent, the Bruins are 10th in the NHL, good enough to be in the upper third of the league. Over the five-game win streak, the Bruins held opposing power plays to 0-for-15. “Being aggressive,” Patrice Bergeron said. “On the same page, but not giving the power plays too much time to make the plays that they want and I think wanting to deny that time and apace. That’s when you’re successful you can’t be reckless. If it’s done the right way and on the same page, usually it gives you some good results.”