Less than two weeks ago, Jim Montgomery tore into his Bruins’ players, bag-skated them and then sent another message when talking to reporters after the session.

“We’re not playoff-ready yet,” declared the B’s coach.

Now? Well, they’re getting there.

The B’s could have made life easier on themselves a little easier if they taken advantage of their power plays (0-for-4) but, in the end, they managed to score a quality victory over one of the hottest teams in the league in the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, PNC Arena on Thursday.

Since Montgomery tore their hide off at that practice, the B’s have won four of five games and now three straight, all against playoff-eligible opponents. And Jeremy Swayman doesn’t look like he’s ready to concede the net to is good buddy Linus Ullmark for Game 1 of the playoffs just yet. He made 27 saves and put out a couple of fires before Carolina could get back in the game.

The Hurricanes came into the game on a heater, having gone 11-2-1 in their previous 14 while goalie Freddie Andersen was 7-0 since returning from a blood clot scare that had kept him out for most of the season.

But the Bruins took control of the game in the first period with three consecutive goals in the first 10:46 of the game. The first one was a momentous one – and a long time coming.

Brad Marchand had been stuck on 399 career goals for a whopping 10 goal-less games but he finally got off the schneid at 2:12. Morgan Geekie hit him with a beautiful blue line-to-blue line pass to spring him for a breakaway. Andersen stopped the captain’s original backhander but, as Marchand was falling, the rebound bounced off him and through Andersen for the milestone tally. As Marchand made his way to the bench for his long-awaited fist-bumps, he did the imaginary throw-the-monkey-off-his-back motion, the relief obvious on his face. It was his 28th of the season.

They doubled their lead at 7:42, thanks to some defensive confusion from Carolina and high-end skill from David Pastrnak. Operating in the left corner, Pastrnak held the puck as the Hurricanes scrambled into their man-to-man defense, taking everyone but Pastrnak. As Brent Burns finally fell off him, Pastrnak took the puck to the net and roofed it over Andersen for No. 47.

The B’s and Pastrnak were not done. From high on the right wing, he zipped a pretty pass into the slot that Danton Heinen one-timed past Andersen for his 16th goal of season.

Trying to get his team going, Carolina’s Jack Drury dropped the gloves with John Beecher and landed a couple of shots after Beecher had lost his balance. But the fight did not ignite the Canes’ offense, at least not yet.

The Bruins had a chance to put the hammer down on the Canes when Andrei Svechnikov laid some lumber on Charlie McAvoy and got a double-minor for high-sticking, but the B’s had little urgency on the advantage and managed just two shots on net.

If that wasn’t enough to give Carolina some momentum, the B’s then took two penalties 10 seconds apart – a Brandon Carlo slash and then Hampus Lindholm for slashing – giving the Canes a 5-on-3 for 1:50. Unlike the B’s, the Canes decided to accept the gift. With the puck bouncing around at the side of the net, Jake Guentzel chopped at it and it bounced over a prone Swayman to get the Canes on the board at 15:12.

The B’s then had to kill off a too-many-men penalty late in the second, but they managed to do so to get into the intermission with a 3-1 lead.

The Canes may have had a little life with that one goal, but the B’s clamped down in the third until Lindholm, after taking a bad icing, ended it with an empty net goal from his own zone to put a bow on an impressive road trip.