Going into their game against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins got some good injury news with the return of Pavel Zacha. They were still missing David Pastrnak, whose timetable to return is still to be determined.
Both teams were on a back-to-back, and it played out that way in the first period, where the scoring chances were few and far between. After Morgan Geekie scored his first of two goals in the second period, the Bruins took a 2-1 lead late in the third period before the Red Wings tied the game late with their goalie pulled to force overtime.
In overtime, Alex DeBrincat got a hooking penalty called on Elias Lindholm with a nice dive, but the Bruins, behind Jeremy Swayman, killed the penalty to force a shootout to grab a win over the Red Wings in a bounce-back game after Friday afternoon's dud against the Rangers.
Jeremy Swayman steals win for Bruins over Red Wings
Geekie ended up with two goals in regulation, and Casey MIttlestadt scored the game-winner in the shootout, but the story was Swayman. He stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and was a big part of the penalty kill, killing all five of Detroit's opportunities.
Swayman stopped a breakaway in the first period, but it was his three saves in the shootout against Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane, and Alex DeBrincat that sealed the win. His best was the glove save he made on Kane.
This was a big response game for the Bruins after Friday's performance against the Rangers, but Boston needs to get healthy. They can't rely on winning games this way nightly, as the goaltending can't save them every night. Now, after a couple of days off, they head to Detroit for the back end of the home-and-home, and playing Swayman again should be a no-brainer.