Brad Marchand reveals Bruins secret to success

The Boston Bruins, despite having dropped three games in a row for the first time this season, are the NHL's best team with a sparkling record of 38-7-5. This completely contradicts the prediction that most fans and pundits had before the season that this would be the year that the Bruins would take a considerable step backwards in the standings. 

Prior to the season, veteran forward David Krejci made his return to the Bruins lineup after spending a season playing overseas in his native country, while veteran captain and perennial Selke Trophy threat Patrice Bergeron put to rest rumors of retirement by inking a one-year contract to come back for at least one more season.

In forward Brad Marchand's mind, how have the Bruins been able to remain this good for so long now? According to him, it's because players take less to remain in Boston, freeing up more cap space to be able to acquire additional depth throughout the lineup to remain successful. 

"Guys have tried to take less to win because we know that it bleeds through the lineup," he said during an appearance on the Tim And Friends podcast. "If you can have six guys that make lower salary other than three, it's a lot harder to play against....and that's why we've been good for so long." 

Of course, goal scoring sniper David Pastrnak is a pending unrestricted free agent at this season's end, and has been projected to potentially receive a new deal that would not only be the largest in Bruins team history, but that would also make him the highest paid NHL player in league history. We'll see what happens with that.

Until then, are you in agreement with Marchand's assessment of why the B's have been able to stay competitive for this long now? How much longer is their window open, especially if Krejci and Bergeron decide to call it quits after this season?