We are two months into the NHL season and we still don’t know exactly who these Boston Bruins are.

That’s about to change.

A challenging five-game road trip, starting to Tuesday in Winnipeg, should reveal much more of a the substance of this team.

Since GM Don Sweeney effectively gave his team a do-over when he fired coach Jim Montgomery and installed interim coach Joe Sacco, the B’s have made the most of an advantageous situation. In going 7-2 in the nine games since the coaching change, Sacco has made good on the mandate to clean up the slot area in front of the B’s own net while utilizing their size on the forecheck to play behind the opposition in the offensive zone. They’re allowing just 2.00 goals per game in that span while their production has ticked up recently with 17 goals in their last four games.

But since Sacco took over, the B’s have played just one team inside the playoff bracket – Vancouver, to whom they were shut out, though they played well in that game – while seeing a steady diet of goalies who have sub-.900 save percentages.

A team can only play the schedule in front of it and the B’s have done a good job of taking care of business. But now it’s about to get real.

“I’d like to see how we respond. I think it tells a lot about your team when you get on the road, about the identity of your group and how it responds to different environments,” said Sacco. “We’re going to play one of the better teams in the league in our next game. I won’t look too far ahead because Winnipeg is obviously going to be a nice challenge. But I think it’s important that we remains true to our identity and that’s what’s given us success lately. But it’s a test on the road for us and I think that’s when you see your group and how you respond, when you don’t have the last change on the ice and you’re not in control of how guys respond to those different situations.”

After a slow start, Brad Marchand is on an upswing. He’s got three goals in the past two games, including the equalizer on Saturday against the Flyers that got the game to overtime, when Pavel Zacha won it with his second OT winner in a week.

Marchand believes the team is trending well, but there are areas that still need to be cleaned up. This trip presents an opportunity to do so.

“We still need to manage the game a little bit better at times. You can always clean up your D zone. We’ve been working on our defensive structure a lot in the neutral zone and obviously in the D zone,” said Marchand. “Our biggest strength is always how we defend. We got away from that a little bit and that’s the point where we’re starting to have some success again. We’re defending better. Obviously, the goals are coming. What I mean by that is in the neutral zone, when you defend well, you create turnovers and opportunities. And that’s when a lot of goals are scored. We’re doing a better job at that. Even our defensive structure coming out of the D-zone, we scored a couple of goals out of that last game. Those are things we need to continue to build on. But managing games is something I think we can get better at, whether it’s being up by a goal or down by a goal, tied games, late in periods, we can (improve) there.”

After being league’s rabbit team out fo the gate, the Jets have come back to Earth lately. They’re just 4-6 in their last 10 and have lost the Central Division lead to the Minnesota Wild at the moment. But they’re a talented team with an excellent goalie in Connor Hellebuyck. From Winnipeg, the B’s go on to Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. The Jets, Canucks and Oilers are all inside the Western Conference playoff structure.

“We’re going to play some good teams,” said Nikita Zadorov, who like Elias Lindholm split time last season between Calgary and Vancouver. “Winnipeg is a top team in the league right now, Seattle is a good team, Vancouver is one of the top teams, Edmonton’s one of the top teams obviously. So I think it’s going to be a fun road trip. There’s a lot of memories for me to go on that road trip, so it’s going to be exciting.”….

The B’s health is a bit of concern. David Pastrnak did not practice on Monday due to an upper body injury, according to Sacco, who said the team was “hopeful” that the B’s top point man will be ready to play against Winnipeg. In practice, Tyler Johnson took Pastrnak’s spot on the line with Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie.

Pastrnak has four assists in his last three games, including the primary helpers on both of Zacha’s OT winners, but he has just one goal in his last 11 games. Whether that’s health related is anyone’s guess….

Flyers coach John Tortorella stirred things up on Saturday after the B’s 4-3 overtime win in which the B’s were granted three third period power plays. Tortorella strongly insinuated that the B’s helped the calls along.

“One thing I teach my team to do is not dive. Maybe I should start teaching them that,” fumed Tortorella.

Sacco’s response?

“That’s not our group,” said Sacco. “That’s not our team and that’s not how we play. That’s how I respond to that. That’s not what we’re about.”