Coming off a four-game road trip out West in six days where they went 1-0-3, the Boston Bruins had a quick turnaround, less than 48 hours after beating the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, in overtime on Jan. 13 when they hosted the New Jersey Devils on Monday afternoon (Jan. 15). Usually the first game back after a lengthy road trip can be a difficult one for the home team, but that was not the case for the Black and Gold.
Boston put together a work-man-like performance after a tough road and shut out the Devils, 3-0, at the TD Garden and moved four points ahead of the Florida Panthers, who lost at home in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks. Here are three takeaways after the Bruins improved to 26-8-9 and won their second in a row.
Bruins Top-Line Supplies the Offense
Boston’s top line of David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, and Brad Marchand supplied most of the offense that they needed for the victory. Coyle started the scoring 30 seconds into the second period when he scored on a backhander between the near post and Devils goalie Nico Daws.
In the third period, Pastrnak gave the Bruins some breathing room when he one-timed a Charlie McAvoy pass past Daws going side-to-side for a 2-0 lead. Marchand had a big hand in the goal when he won a puck battle at the side of the net and did not allow Daws to freeze the puck, which led to the goal. Pastrnak finished with a goal and an assist, Marchand had two assists and Coyle had a goal. They also combined for 10 of the 36 shots the Black and Gold had on the net.
Jeremy Swayman Was Perfect in Goal
The good news for the Bruins before the game was that injured goalie Linus Ullmark skated with some of his injured teammates and looked like he making progress in getting back between the pipes. For the third straight game, Jeremy Swayman got the start and he turned back all 31 shots New Jersey threw at him.
In the second period, the former University of Maine netminder stopped New Jersey’s Kevin Bahl with a kick save, then he made his best save of the game later in the period when he stopped Nathan Bastian along in front with a pad save. In the third period right after Pastrnak’s power-play goal, he stopped Michael McLeod’s attempt in close to keep the two-goal lead for his teammates. He looked confident with each save he made and moved very well side-to-side and squared up to the shots. It was his third shutout of the season and his most impressive one to date.
Bruins Play Strong Third Period
If there has been one issue that has haunted the Bruins this season, it’s been protecting third-period leads and closing out games without having to go to overtime or a shootout. Going to the extra sessions has been an issue for Jim Montgomery’s team and they have lost 10 of the 15 games that have been extended past 60 minutes.
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Against New Jersey, they allowed 12 shots in the final period, the Devils’ highest amount of any period, but there were not a lot of high-danger chances and they did a good job with their zone exits. Their passing was good over the final 20 minutes and took advantage of a power play chance to give them some breathing room. They need more of that as the season goes along as points are going to be at a premium the remainder of the season.
Bruins Quick Takeaways
- The Bruins’ fourth line of Trent Frederic, Oskar Steen, and Jakub Lauko didn’t light up the scoresheet, but they had a strong game doing the little things. They were relentless on the forecheck, had some good offensive zone cycles, and titled the ice in terms of momentum. Frederic sealed the win with a great individual effort diving and pushing the puck into an open net between two New Jersey players.
- Boston went 1-for-4 on the power play with Pastrnak’s goal in the third period being the only one, but they did have a goal by James van Riemsdyk called back in the first period after the Devils challenged it for offside. Leading 2-0 in the third period, they had a chance to put the game away, but New Jersey had a successful kill and never really gave the Bruins a scoring opportunity.
- On the flip side, Boston was called for only one penalty in the game in the third period. Frederic was sent off with the Bruins leading 2-0, but the penalty kill, which has been good all season long killed the penalty and took two minutes off the clock and getting it to under five minutes remaining leading 2-0.
- Jesper was moved around the lineup against his former team and won two of his three faceoffs in 13:27 in time on the ice.
The Bruins kicked off the homestand with a solid performance against a New Jersey team that was thin with several key players injured. They get two days off before they host the Colorado Avalanche 10 days after they lost to them in a shootout in Denver.