Recap: Swayman has 42-save shutout in Bruins win over Preds

When you’re on, you’re on. And Jeremy Swayman was certainly on for the Boston Bruins Thursday night.

The 23-year-old rookie goaltender posted a 42-save shutout for Boston against the Nashville Predators in the team’s 2-0 win. It was his first shutout of the season and the third in his NHL career.

It was as about a complete a 60-minute effort that this Bruins team has put forth this season. Jake DeBrusk and Brandan Carlo had the two tallies as Boston improved to 12-8-0 on the year.

1st period

The black and gold got out to a great start, with former Predator Erik Haula ringing the crossbar 30 seconds into the game.

Boston certainly came out looking to prove Tuesday was a fluke. They went to work on the power play towards the back half of the period and with one second left on the man advantage, DeBrusk cashed in.

It’s a win-win for the Bruins for DeBrusk to be playing well. He’s contributing to the team and upping his trade value. Heck, if he plays well enough, he may choice to stay.

The power play stays hot the Bruins and helped take a 1-0 lead into intermission.

2nd period

All that the Bruins needed was 30 seconds in the second period to double the lead.

Great work in on the forecheck by Charlie Coyle. Puck eventually finds Haula who just tossed it into some open space for Carlo. The defensemen ripped it by Saros for his second goal of the season.

The period didn’t come without some bad news. Jakub Zboril took a hit from Tanner Jeannot, left and did not return. He wasn’t putting any weight on his leg as he left the ice.

Couple of chances on both sides, but nothing doing. 2-0 B’s going into the final 20.

3rd period

You want to talk about snakebitten? Haula hit iron again in this game, coming on a breakaway. He beat Saros with his shot to the blocker side but rang it off the post.

Nothing else doing on either side. Saros made some key stops to keep the Preds in the game, but it was Swayman who took over. He made multiple stops on scrums in the crease, looked as calm and collected as possible.

Coyle nearly made it a 3-0 game when he fired a shot at the empty net in the last two minutes, but that too hit the post. The Bruins settled for the 2-0 win.

Notes

• Jeremy Swayman, come on down! What a performance. Far and beyond his best of the season. He was so relaxed in the crease, didn’t give up bad rebounds (I recall maybe one in the 2nd but it was immediately cleared by a Bruins defender) and got whistles when Boston needed it. Nashville tested him especially in the third, but he held strong. Boston needs more of that going forward
• The two ex-Preds Craig Smith and Haula both with primary assists tonight. A good showing from both them. Haula easily could have had a goal or two, but the puck luck is not with him right now
• Brandan Carlo certified sniper
• Three games in a row with a power play goal. Not too shabby
• Bruins remain perfect when they hold the lead after the first, moving to 9-0-0 on the season
• If Zboril is out, that’s not good news. He’d been playing some of his best hockey yet and was looking like one of the top defenders on this team
• To make matters worse, Boston has one extra skater right now which is Connor Clifton. It helps that Zboril had taken his spot, so Clifton isn’t filling in a role he’s not used to. But the Bruins have no help coming from Providence any time soon and Marchand is still out another game
• Taylor Hall, please. I beg you. Shoot. Shoot the puck. Listen to the drunk guy up in section 305 belting out “SHOOOOOOOOOOOT!” He may be onto something. Twice, Hall was in a grade-A shooting spot and elected to pass. Pass didn’t get through and no shots on goal happened
• Filip Forsberg was out to make enemies tonight. Hit Bergeron high and quite a few members of the Bruins took exception
• For as much as Swayman was the reason Boston held their lead, Juuse Saros deserves credit for keeping Nashville in the game. He had the posts working in his favor a couple of times, but he was strong for the Preds. Could have easily been 4-0, 5-0 at some points if not for his play

That’s what we’re talking about now! A great team effort and win. A couple of lapses where the Predators controlled play, especially towards the end, but that’s expected.

Next up is a big test with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Bruins are going to need this effort again. t doesn’t matter that Tampa is without Nikita Kucherov or Brayden Point, they are one of the top teams in the league.

Big test, big opportunity to make a statement. Savor this win and take it into the weekend.