The Bruins have only played one more game through the first 15 days of the season than they did a season ago, but they -- as well as every other team in the NHL -- have been able to feel the difference between an 82-game leisurely paced season and a 48-game sprint. 

In this season’s first 15 days, the B’s played eight games after playing seven in that span in October of 2011. Despite there only being one more night of work, the post-lockout season has been different for the frequency of back-to-backs as well as the extra importance placed on each point. 

Regardless of whether they’re aware that not too many more games have been played than usual, the average hockey fan will tell you they’ve enjoyed the pace of this season better than others. Though they have a lighter week ahead of them with the Canadiens on Wednesday and then back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday, the Bruins have enjoyed it, too. 

“I love playing more than practicing,” Chris Kelly said with a laugh. “That's just me, but playing every other day or back-to-back days is enjoyable.” 

It was the ultimate cliché (like the preseason version of saying how poised Dougie Hamilton is) to stress that teams needed to play well out of the gate, but it’s true. Teams like the Canadiens (6-2-0) have made themselves surprise threats with strong starts, while the Sabres might end up kicking themselves a couple of months from now for dropping four straight until last week. 

The Bruins have held up their end of the bargain, as they sit atop the Eastern Conference thanks to a 6-1-1 start. Though their record is shiny a sixth of the way into the season, the key will be to keep it up and sustain early success. 

“I think everyone said that they wanted to get off to a good start, but it's important to continue to play well,” Kelly said. “I don't think you can have any lulls in the season, especially with it being a shortened season. In an 82-game schedule, most teams have a point in the year when things aren't going as well as they'd like. I find in the shortened season, you can't really have that.” 

The Bruins had 12 players play overseas during the lockout, while Dougie Hamilton and Chris Bourque played in the OHL and AHL, respectively. It was easy to question whether the others would need to catch up, but they’ve gotten big performances out of those who didn’t play organized hockey during the break. Brad Marchand leads the team with five goals, Nathan Horton has turned in two critical game-tying goals in the third period, Milan Lucic hasn’t appeared to have lost a step and Gregory Campbell was trusted with second-line minutes Saturday with Marchand hurting. 

It seems most players have had their legs, and for those who didn’t play during the lockout, they’re happy to use them. 

“I'm enjoying it now, I think just because I sat at home for four months,” Campbell said with a laugh.

“I think it's evident that there's a lot of desperation from all the teams early on and everybody realizes that with the shortened season it's very important to get off to a good start and to really scrap for every point possible," he added. "Especially with all the games being conference games and the bulk of the games being division games, that plays a huge part in playoff position.”

The Bruins have been banged up of late -- Shawn Thornton (concussion) and Daniel Paille (upper body) missed Saturday's game against the Maple Leafs while Marchand hurt his shoulder after crashing into the boards, but their injuries were sustained directly in games rather being the pulls or strains that could come with being overworked early on. The B's have been liberal with the maintenance days, with David Krejci missing practice on Friday and Monday. 

Though the Bruins have gotten off to a good start, so too have their division rivals. The Northeast is the only division in the league that boasts three teams with 11 or more points. The B’s lead the way with 13 points, the Habs sit one behind them with 12 and the Senators (who have played nine games to the Bruins’ and Canadiens’ eight) have 11. 

So despite establishing early success, the B’s won’t be able to hit the snooze button this week, or any other for that matter. While you can argue whether the Canadiens will be season-long contenders, Wednesday’s game – despite being just the ninth of the season -- will be a big one. Then again, most will this season. You won’t find many lifeless regular-season contests this year, and perhaps that’s the one benefit of the lockout. 

The B’s are pleased with their progress thus far but embrace the challenge ahead of them. They didn’t think a strong start would sew up anything, and they don’t expect it to get any easier. 

“Everyone's going through it,” Kelly said. “It's not like it's one team or two teams that have this tough schedule. All 30 teams are in the same boat, so it's good.”