Through two games, only the Vancouver Canucks (2) and Arizona Coyotes (1) have scored less goals than the three the Bruins have. But the big difference between the Canucks, Coyotes and Bruins has been Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, both have helped the Bruins to a 2-0 start.

As much as the Bruins have struggled offensively, they’ve been excellent in their own zone, allowing one goal in two games.

The Bruins 1-0 shutout over the Arizona Coyotes Saturday night was the 48th shutout of Halak’s career, piggybacking off a solid 2019-20 debut by Rask in Dallas on Thursday.

“He (Halak) was good, like Tuukka the other night,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Saturday night. “Not a lot of rebounds issues, pucks were sticking to him. I think we did a good job clearing the ones that didn’t [stick to him]. A couple of things we weren’t clean on, but he was real good.”

Halak was tested early in Arizona, facing 10 Coyotes shots including a Vinnie Hinostroza breakaway attempt. With the Bruins holding onto a 1-0 lead in the third, the Coyotes once again peppered Halak with shots, this time 14 in total in the frame.

"It was great to be back playing a real game, playing with these boys, it's really special,” Halak said following the win. “I was looking forward to it again. It worked out well. We came here, their home opener, and we got two points."

Halak had several big saves keeping the Coyotes off the board, allowing the Bruins to get away with scoring one lone goal, a tally from Brad Marchand late in the first period.

The Bruins offense is simply too good to be limited as they have in these first two games. Cassidy knows it’s matter of doing things right and playing the game the way they need to.

“I don't think we're playing the way we need to right now to score, not generating enough, let's start with that. "We're not playing off an original shot, we're trying to make plays through sticks that maybe aren't there,” said Cassidy.

After looking out of sync in the season opener against the Golden Knights, the Bruins top line of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak looked more like themselves against Arizona.

"Tonight was a little better. We've got to keep improving and keep communicating and finding each other,” said Bergeron, who assisted on Marchand’s goal. “I thought tonight was everyone, we all can create more and get on the puck a little more and competing. When you do that, good things happen. It's a big win, it's not easy to win in this league. We'll take it on the road."

Through two games the Bruins haven’t done much to create opportunities for themselves.

“We want to get our offense going a little bit,” added Cassidy. “I don't think we're making a lot of plays in the O-zone. That has to do with our spacing in the O-zone. We met this morning and talked a little bit about that."

Part of the Bruins issues with rust has been the inability to get their lines together in the preseason thanks to injuries and veteran rest after a short offseason.

The Bruins have the speed and skillset to create space and make plays in the offensive zone, it’s just a matter of shaking off the rust and getting things going offensively.

They will have a chance to do that against a tough Vegas team Tuesday night that has allowed just one goal in each of their first two contests.

He won’t play Tuesday against Vegas, but Joakim Nordstrom (lower-body) has been cleared for game action and could draw back into the lineup later this week.

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