The Boston Bruins began their three-game road trip on the right foot on Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 shootout win over the Washington Capitals. It was the first win for the Black and Gold away from the TD Garden since Jan. 17 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Yes, there was a three-week Olympic break in between that should be noted.
As for the win over the Capitals, it was a good sign for Marco Sturm's club, which twice rallied from a one-goal deficit to win. The shootout, however, lasted almost as long as the scoreless five-minute overtime session. It took nine rounds to decide the winner, and not until the 18th shooter, Boston's Fraser Minten.
As for goalie Jeremy Swayman, who made 25 saves, it was just a matter of taking it one shooter at a time while trying to keep Washington off the scoreboard until someone could get one by Logan Thompson down the other end.
“One shot at a time. It’s fun to win games like that at this stage of the year,” Swayman said. “It is exactly what we wanted to start this road trip off with, is a win. We know how big these points are. No matter how it gets done, that’s all we care about.”
Now it's just a matter of using this moment and taking it into Monday night's game against the New Jersey Devils and Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Four huge points are on the table.
Bruins prospects advance to TD Garden
The James Hagens watch was on Friday at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill when the Boston College Eagles hosted the University of Maine in their Hockey East quarterfinal. A loss in front of general manager Don Sweeney and Hagens could have inked his NHL Entry Level contract and joined the Black and Gold.
Instead, the Eagles rolled to a 5-0 win to advance to the Hockey East semifinals and will play UConn at the TD Garden on Friday night in the second semifinal. The first game will pit UMass and Merrimack. For BC to get to the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks, they'll need to win the championship, which might be a tall task.
Bruins get no scoreboard help
After beating Washington, the Black and Gold were able to kick back and scoreboard watch on Saturday night. The results in terms of teams around them in the Eastern Conference playoff race were not very helpful.
The Columbus Blue Jackets moved within a point of the Bruins with a shootout win, 2-1, over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Detroit Red Wings rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit to grab a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. Entering play on Monday night, the Bruins and Red Wings are tied for the two wild-card slots, while the Blue Jackets are just one point back.