The Bruins ended their losing streak at home (0-2-1 over their last three at the Garden) on Monday night, defeating the Devils, 3-0, thanks to a 28-save shutout by Tim Thomas.

Michael Ryder got the Bruins started in the first period on a 5-on-3, beating Martin Brodeur at a really tough angle, while Nathan Horton and Blake Wheeler added goals in the second and third periods, respectively. 

The goal for Horton helped him snap a stretch of four home games in which he didn't have a point. For Wheeler, helping the Bruins win was needed after creating opportunities but failing to capitalize on them on Saturday in the team's 2-0 loss to the Senators. 

"To be able to bounce back and have a good start and chip in and kind of put it out of reach in the third period there," Wheeler said, "it definitely felt really good."

It was in Monday's game that the team seemed to address of a couple of their recent issues: slow starts and winning at the Garden. Here is the Hat Trick of lessons learned on Monday night. 

FIRST GOAL HELPS B'S GRAB A WIN AT HOME

Admittedly, a lot of negative statistics have been thrown around as the losses have come, so here's a positive one: The Bruins are 7-0-0 in games in which they score the first goal. In fact, last Wednesday's come-from-behind victory over the Penguins and their first game against the Devils were the Bruins' only wins in which they didn't strike first.

Score the first goal, win the game. That's the way it's been for the Bruins, and it most certainly is the reason one could point to a slow start each time they lose. 

On Monday, it was Michael Ryder who put the B's on the board first, catching Martin Brodeur cheating over in anticipation of a pass and beating the Devils' netminder at a nearly impossible angle for his fifth goal of the season. 

"I just think it gives us that extra boost," Ryder said following the game. "When we get off to that good start and get that lead, we’re a hard team to play against and that’s what we want to try and do. … Maybe just our mind frame [differs] a little bit, but it’s always key in this league to get the lead early and you can just make the other team catch up from there."

On Monday the Bruins were able to quiet doubters -- temporarily -- on a couple of fronts. The victory at the Garden was just their third in seven tries, as it made them a .500 team in Boston (3-3-1 at the Garden, with a home loss coming at O2 Arena in Prague to open the season).

Wheeler, rarely , has called the team's play at home "unacceptable" a couple of times this season and knew that a fast start was the easiest way to remedy the problem. He saw the proof of it on Monday and after the game said that grabbing an early lead "makes them play into your hand a lot more and kind of focus more on the little things defensively.

The Bruins saw a lot of things this season that were familiar sights: the first goal, a brilliant game by Tim Thomas (by now the shutouts are even getting more and more familiar), a Nathan Horton goal, and a well-executed penalty kill. They haven't seen them all come together at home in a while, and it's clear that it's a sure-fire recipe for success. 

GIVE THAT MAN A ROSTER SPOT

Claude Julien said following the injury to Johnny Boychuk that he had confidence in 24-year-old Adam McQuaid because he was solid blueliner who wouldn't cost the Bruins. A healthy scratch in the team's first six games, it was uncertain just how well he would handle the playing time. 

Turns out Julien was right. McQuaid hasn't cost the Bruins (he has an even rating through nine games), and he's provided them something they need -- a right-handed shooting defenseman (Boychuk is the only other one on the team) -- and something they can never have enough of -- physicality. 

Those on hand at the Garden were treated to a director's cut brawl between McQuaid and Rod Pelley. McQuaid actually lost his balance during the scuffle, got back up, and continued to the extended fight's conclusion. After the game, teammates pointed to the McQuaid/Pelley twist, which came just 3:05 into the game, as a big reason for the momentum the Bruins were able to sustain in the first 20 minutes. While that did nothing to suggest he should stick around when Boychuk returns (which could be as soon as Wednesday in New York), it was just another reminder that McQuaid has made the most of this opportunity. 

It is unlikely that the Bruins would simply give Matt Hunwick's job to McQuaid, but it's hard not to think that given McQuaid's steady lay and physical presence, he will continue to get minutes, even if they don't come every game. 

"Absolutely," Claude Julien said prior to the game regarding whether McQuaid has forced himself into the conversation. "When we make that decision, we’ve got to kind of balance everything and then what we need in our lineup. Again, it’s not like we’ve got a ton of right-handed shots either and that certainly will come into play at some point. We know [Dennis] Seidenberg can play the right side very comfortably. I think this is where the competition part comes in and who’s playing well and who should be in and who shouldn’t. You know, those decisions will come when they come."

Hunwick and McQuaid offer different skill sets, of course. Hunwick offers far more offensively (he has 11 shots on goal in the last nine games, while McQuaid has five), while McQuaid is safer and more physical. McQuaid can see that he's been getting more attention lately, but he just hopes that he's made a good impression on Julien and the coaching staff. 

"I hope [I can keep playing when Boychuk returns], but it's out of my control," McQuaid said after the game. "We'll see what happens, but i just hope that they have the confidence in me, that if we are all healthy and they need to mix things up, that they can throw me in there."

THOMAS WINS THE BATTLE OF VEZINAS AGAIN

You have to feel for how bad a team is playing in front of Martin Brodeur. The Devils have scored just 33 goals this season -- good for an average of 1.83 a game. No goalie in recent memory, with perhaps Miikka Kiprusoff in the 2003-04 season (1.70 GAA) the exception, has a chance at winning behind that. Even so, Thomas has now grabbed wins in both of his matchups with Brodeur this season. While beating another Vezina winner is noteworthy, it doesn't touch what his stats are becoming. 

On the night of Nov. 15, just 11 games into his season, Thomas stood on the ice celebrating his fourth shutout of the season. That's just one less than his career-high. With his next shutout, Thomas will have five shutouts for the third year in a row, but given the way he's going, that personal-best seems destined for revision.

Thomas now leads the league with four shutouts and a .960 save percentage. His GAA is second only to Mathieu Garon, who has played in just six games this season. The remarkable legend of Tim Thomas -- a guy who on paper only stood out because of his $5 million cap hit entering the season -- continues to grow.