By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter @TCalauttis
For the second straight game, the Boston Bruins looked like a completely different team. After a six-goal outburst against the New York Rangers, the Black and Gold put together one of their best defensive efforts of the season, shutting out the Minnesota Wild and propelling themselves closer to the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Here’s how it went down:
Swayman Shuts the Door
All eyes may have been on opposing netminder Marc-Andre Fleury as he made his last appearance at TD Garden (he’s announced he’ll retire at the end of the season), but Jeremy Swayman stole the show. Despite staring down a Hall-of-Famer, Boston’s goaltender posted a 35-save shutout, leading his team to their second straight victory.
“(Swayman) made a couple of amazing saves and kept (Minnesota) off the board in some huge instances,” said Brandon Carlo following the victory. “Overall, we did a pretty good job defending, and having a guy like (Sway) behind you is pretty incredible.”
Swayman’s best save of the night came in the second period after the Bruins established a two-goal lead. Boston was hemmed in their zone for two or three minutes and badly needed a whistle to get their tired defensemen off the ice. The Wild could only generate perimeter chances until the end of the sequence when Matt Boldy fired a one-timer from the top of the right circle. Swayman sprawled from right to left to glove the chance and give the team time to breathe.
Swayman was asked after the game how it feels to make a save like the one he did on Matt Boldy. “It means you’re doing your job right. You want to deflate the other team and make sure that they know it will be hard to score on you.” He added, “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against; it’s important to do whatever you can to get two points at this point (in the season).”
The shutout was Swayman’s third of the season, tying him for third in the NHL among goaltenders.
Frederic Ends his Slump
It has been six games since Trent Frederic scored his last goal, and he decided to end that slump at the best possible time. The play started with Wild forward Marco Rossi making a net towards Jeremy Swayman. His cross-crease pass couldn’t connect with a teammate, which allowed Carlo, Frederic, and puck carrier Matt Poitras to spring the other way. Poitras found Frederic, who lasered his eighth goal of the season over the shoulder of Fleury for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s great to see other guys contribute offensively,” said head coach Joe Sacco when asked about Frederic. “He was moving his feet tonight; he was skating. And when (Frederic) moves his feet, he’s a different player. It’s nice to see a guy like Freddy get rewarded.”
With an assist on both the team’s first and second goals, Matt Poitras now has four points in his last two games and is up to seven in his previous ten. Overall, Poitras is up to 1-10-11 through 24 games, and his confidence only seems to grow. He and Frederic have developed a nice chemistry this season. When those two skate together, shot attempts are 132-102, scoring chances are 65-46, and high-danger chances are 21-19.
“It was a good pass by Potsy,” said Frederic about his goal. “I usually go short-side, and it doesn’t work, so I changed it up a little bit. Fortunately, it went in.”
Dad Strength Continues
Brandon Carlo had the quote of the night when he was asked about Charlie McAvoy’s second game in a row with a goal. “I think he needs to have more babies. I think he’s got two (goals) in two (games) so that’s working out pretty well for him. Rhys (McAvoy’s newborn son) is definitely pushing him a little harder on the offensive side of the puck, and we’ll tell him to keep that chatter up.”
McAvoy opened the scoring with a goal that came on a somewhat odd play for a defenseman. The Bruins had been bearing down on the Wild for an extended time, and David Pastrnak had rotated to the top of the zone (a spot usually reserved for McAvoy). He threw a wrister on net, and McAvoy flew through the slot and redirected it for the game’s opening goal.
McAvoy was all smiles after the game and is clearly having a great time being a dad. “It’s been an amazing week and a couple of days for me. Life is awesome right now. I’m over the moon, me, Kylie, and the baby, and it’s nice to have some wins on top of it.”
The Bruins now have back-to-back impressive wins in a season where momentum has been tough to come by. When asked about the last four games before the 4 Nations break, Carlo said the team is treating this stretch “like a playoff series.” We’ll see if they can keep the wins rolling as the face the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden.
Game Notes
- Morgan Geekie buried the empty netter for Boston to seal the victory. He wired a puck to the top shelf from his own blue line. He’s now up to 16-12-28 in 50 games.
- McAvoy credited the opening goal to a game the team used to play before practice called Bogo (unofficial spelling). He said the team used to play it before practice while Bruce Cassidy was coach, and it involved playing positionless hockey while in the offensive zone. It allows for more creativity from each position and may be something the team considers implementing more (even if it was just a fun pre-practice drill).
- Oliver Wahlstrom had a game he’d rather forget. The forward took two offensive zone penalties and hit a post on a breakaway.
- The Bruins are now 6-3-1 in their last 10 and have an impressive 18-8-3 home record.
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