If you didn’t know Reilly Smith missed the beginning of training camp due to a contract dispute, his play to start the season wouldn’t indicate that he missed time in early September. After negotiating a new one-year contract that held him out for quite some time, Smith came into camp in great shape. After scoring the Bruins’ first goal of the 2014-15 season a week ago, Smith has been one of the better Bruins so far as the team battles with inconsistency.

Smith’s efforts Wednesday night showed that he hasn’t missed a beat as Smith scored his second goal of the season. With the game in the shootout and the game on his stick, Smith made sure the Bruins losing streak became a thing of the past.

On a team that has trouble scoring, Smith has been one of a few Bruins who has made the most of his opportunities, something we saw against Jimmy Howard who stood on his head the entire night. Having a short training camp is no easy feat, but Smith is not letting that affect him. He is playing like a man who is chasing a long term contract this summer.

Playing on a line with one of the best two-way players in hockey in Patrice Bergeron, as well as Brad Marchand who he played with all of last season, is helping Smith ease the transition back into game shape. The chemistry that the trio has built continues to grow. The hard work and puck-battling effort of Marchand and Bergeron led to Smith’s third period tally.

Unlike the Krejci and Spooner lines where they are learning to play with a new right winger almost every night, Smith knows who he is playing with and where they are going to be in certain situations. That helps considerably. For Smith and his linemates, it’s a matter of practice making perfect.

“Yeah it’s funny because that’s exactly how we were doing it in practice the last couple of days so yeah figures; we score a dirty one like that” Smith said after Wednesday’s win. “So yeah, it was nice to get it in the back of the net.”

With a tough game in Montreal Thursday night and the Bruins looking to get back on track, the win was a huge relief for Smith and his team.

“Oh yeah it was huge. It was tough, you try not to think about it but it’s always in the back of your head” added Smith. “So to get that win, even if it is in the shootout, it shows a little bit of resilience and it shows we’re going back in the right direction.”

Smith leads the Black and Gold in scoring on the young season with two goals. He is coming off a season where he scored 20 times in his first year with the team. His productivity is crucial this season especially with Jarome Iginla absent on the first line. He will be depended on a little bit more now on that second line.

When it came down to negotiating a new contract, Smith understood the business side of hockey and how the team had little wiggle room to offer him a longer contract, but General Manager Peter Chiarelli knows it can benefit the player in the long run although there are some risks involved.

“I think both sides assume some risk and both sides benefit,” Chiarelli said at his press conference where he announced the deals for Smith (and Torey Krug) last month.

“They walk right into arbitration and that’s the certainty of a deal. They’ve both put up good numbers, so they both have good cases. And from our perspective it helps us from a planning perspective this year, but we risk a higher number next year so I’m okay with that. I’m okay with that. So it’s a two way street, but both sides assume some benefit and both sides assume some risk.”

The 23 year-old Smith could’ve made things more difficult for the Bruins for not getting the deal he thought he may have deserved, but he understands the bigger picture and knows what’s good for the betterment of the team. Smith got off to a freakishly fast start last season and hopes that he can continue his pace this season because the Black and Gold will need it.

Hear what the Bruins had to say following the teams 3-2 shootout win in Detroit Wednesday night: