There were times when it seemed the Bruins might not even want home-ice advantage in the playoffs. They were far better on the road, tallying points they couldn’t seem to capture at TD Garden. But over the last two weeks, as the playoff push has approached, the Bruins have found their way to respectability at home.
With their win over the Islanders on Saturday, the Bruins moved to at .500 at home at 16-16-5. It marks the first time they have been at least even at home since they were 9-9-2 on Dec. 29.
The Bruins are 3-0-2 in the last five home games, including matchups with the Blackhawks, Capitals, and Islanders, as they have built their longest home point streak of the season.
“It’s not something that you’re happy about when you’re struggling that much at home,’’ Landon Ferraro said. “To take that little extra travel out of it come playoff time is huge [with home ice]. So we needed to figure it out and we needed to do it soon so that we could get some momentum going in.’’
As of Saturday, the Bruins were set up for a matchup with Detroit in the first round of the playoffs — and they would have home ice. Of course, there’s a long way to go, but it helps the Bruins knowing that TD Garden might no longer be quite the Kryptonite it was earlier in the season.
“You would hate to be getting yourselves into a playoff spot and then all of a sudden worry about your home games,’’ coach Claude Julien said. “So we need to get better here and get better in all areas. I thought our power play, the one that we had, was good tonight. We needed to improve that. So, working on those parts of our game, and that includes our home-ice presence.’’
The Bruins haven’t always started well at home, but they did against the Islanders. They were able to get the first goal, and after allowing the equalizer in the second, came back in the final minute of the period to get the game-winner.
And so, as the Bruins head out on the road for eight of their next nine games, it matters that they leave TD Garden with a good feeling.
“It’s the right time and things need to head toward that direction,’’ said Kevan Miller. “I think we’ve put a pretty good emphasis on it the last 10 games or whatever it may be. And things are moving in the right direction, for sure.’’
Miller returns
Miller returned to the lineup after missing three games since being hit from behind by Alex Ovechkin a week ago.
Miller felt fortunate that it was only a week, calling it “a bit of a scare.’’
“It was nice to get the first one under your belt and go from there, but felt pretty good,’’ he said. “You want to keep things simple, move the puck quick, and move your feet — get your feet underneath you. So, first period things were moving quick, but then after that it kind of settled down.’’
Miller was on the ice for the Islanders’ goal, a mess of a shift that saw turnovers from Zdeno Chara, Miller, and David Krejci leading to the 200th goal of John Tavares’s career.
“They do a lot of scoring, so it was a tough job tonight,’’ Miller said. “I think we did a pretty good job with them.’’
Fourth line top notch
There was praise for the Bruins’ fourth line, after it took on a tough assignment. “The Islanders’ fourth line is arguably one of the best in the league, production-wise, and I thought they held their own tonight,’’ Julien said . . . The Bruins finished the win in regulation, their first 60-minute game since March 3. They had played four consecutive overtime games.
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.
