Taylor Hall is elevating his game at perfect time for red-hot Bruins

Hall is elevating his game at perfect time for red-hot Bruins originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Life is not fair, and so is the Boston Bruins having a player of Taylor Hall's caliber on the third line.

One of the best examples of the Bruins' extraordinary depth is the fact that Hall -- a former Hart Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick -- is not in the team's top-six forward group.

Hall started Sunday afternoon's Game 4 against the Florida Panthers as the third-line left wing alongside Trent Frederic and Nick Foligno, and the 31-year-old forward continued to make a strong impact on this first-round playoff series.

Bruins' trade deadline pickups making major impact in series vs. Panthers

Hall ended any hopes of a Panthers comeback by scoring on a breakaway with a gorgeous deke to beat veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The goal put the Bruins ahead 5-2 with 3:36 remaining in the third period.

Hall also scored an empty-net goal soon after, giving him two goals and two assists in the Bruins' 6-2 victory at FLA Live Arena. His seven points (four goals, three assists) lead the team through four games in this series. Two days earlier, he opened the scoring in Game 3 with a goal just 2:26 into the first period.

The B's have been without Patrice Bergeron the whole series and without David Krejci for Games 3 and 4. That's a total of 43 regular season goals, loads of playoff experience and excellent leadership missing from the lineup. Boston needed a few players to step up and help shoulder the scoring burden in the absence of the team's top-two centers, and Hall has risen to the challenge. He has a three-game goal streak, his first since October.

"We envisioned him playing on the third line on the left wing because he had so much success with Charlie (Coyle), and now things have changed. Credit to him, he's really elevated his game," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told NESN after Game 4. "Not only is he making plays, his habits and his details without the puck have been excellent, and I think that's why he's getting so many opportunities like the breakaway goal."

The Bruins were without Hall for a 20-game span from Feb. 26 through April 7. He suffered a lower body injury in a Feb. 25 game against the Vancouver Canucks on the road. Hall was able to play the final three regular season games to get in a rhythm before the playoffs, and those reps seem to have really helped.

"To get into those games and make mistakes, put yourself in spots that you don’t want to be in and correct those and have three days to look back on the video and make some corrections to my game was really valuable," Hall told reporters on April 18, the day after Game 1 of the series.

Hall is giving the Panthers' defensemen all kinds of trouble with his speed. Few wingers are better than Hall at carrying the puck through the neutral zone and into the attacking end with speed and creativity. He creates so many scoring chances off the rush. His smooth zone entry with speed on a second-period power play helped set up Jake DeBrusk's goal that put the Bruins up 2-0 on Sunday.

"I think his speed, that's the obvious answer," DeBrusk told reporters after Game 4 when asked what makes Hall dangerous in transition. "I think it's one of those things that, he obviously reads plays very well coming through the neutral zone ... It's nice to see him get rewarded. He's working hard and going to the hard areas. We need everybody this time of the year, and it was good to see him -- you can see his confidence on the breakaway goal."

The Bruins have enjoyed a special season, and for many of the team's veterans, including Hall, they might never get a better chance to win the Stanley Cup. Here's what he said less than 24 hours following the series opener:

So far, Hall is playing like a guy who understands the significance of the moment.