During the off-season, the Boston Bruins signed defenseman Nikita Zadorov to a six-year, $30 million contract. With the Bruins needing an upgrade on the left side of their defense and more overall toughness, it made sense that the Bruins brought him in.

Bruins' change of coach from Jim Montgomery to interim bench boss Joe Sacco leads bruising Zadorov to step up own game and seek the same from teammates.

Killing penalties is Nikita Zadorov‘s business. And business is good. The 6-foot-6, 248-pound defenseman got to show off his special team’s side, Thursday night at TD Garden. The rugged Russian put his formidable frame to good use,

Entering Thursday night’s game against Utah, the Bruins ranked at the bottom of the league’s power-play standings, clicking at just 11.7 percent.

Joe Sacco is undefeated as head coach of the Boston Bruins. In his first game as the man in charge on the Boston bench, Sacco and the Bruins picked up a 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club at TD Garden on Thursday night.