The Bruins' opened the regular season with a home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, whom they had swept in round two of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs just five months earlier.
They recorded their first regular season success against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 8, a 4–1 home victory against their 2011 Conference Final opponents.
The Bruins closed out the month of October with a home-and-home series defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, en route to the worst start by a defending champion since the current playoff platform was adopted in 1994.
[2][3] The back-to-back losses at the hands of their hated rivals proved the catalyst to a resurgence that saw the team secure at least a point in every game through November, the first time the franchise went undefeated in regulation for an entire calendar month since January 1969.
[4] During this run, defending Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas posted a 9–0–0 record and earned First Star honors for the month.