Fabian Lysell made his NHL debut in the win.
The Boston Bruins blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0, on Saturday night at the TD Garden as the team responded after being beaten by Columbus the previous night on the road.
Jeremy Swayman earned his second shutout of the season with the win and 18 saves.
“We generated offense here tonight by playing, for the most part, good defensively,” Interim head coach Joe Sacco said. “We got some key saves from our goaltender, but it’s just that this is a collective buy-in from the group, and that’s how we have to be as a group if we want to have success.”
The Bruins got off to a strong start as Justin Brazeau found the back of the net picking up a loose puck in the crease and then Mark Kastelic dropped the gloves the next shift with Mathieu Olivier to keep energy high.
Roles were reversed as Columbus had momentum to begin the second period after a bad turnover led them to sustain offensive-zone time.
While the fourth line was out on the nice for that time, the Bruins kept their opponent to the outside not allowing anything to happen while they couldn’t clear their own defensive zone.
But then the Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak line got to work and extended the Bruins’ lead in the second period with a pair of goals in less than two minutes. Geekie, who’s begun to string together his offense as of late, beat Daniil Tarasov’s glove with a wrist shot before sending David Pastrnak on a breakaway.
Before the mid-way point of the second period, the Bruins were up 3-0.
As the Bruins carried the play, Kastelic was assessed four minutes for high-sticking which the team successfully killed off.
Cole Koepke widened the scoring gap capitalizing on a turnover which sent him on a 2-on-1 to score with a wrist shot.
The Bruins held on to the four-goal lead, blocking shots by Columbus as the game came to a close for a final score of 4-0.
Here are the highlights!
First period:
After D-to-D passing from Mason Lohrei to Brandon Carlo, Carlo fired a long wrist shot on net. Out front, Justin Brazeau found the loose puck in the crease and sent a backhander into the net at 2:29 of the first period. 1-0 Bruins.
Second period:
Morgan Geekie extended the lead with a wrist shot from the top of the right-wing circle past Daniil Tarasov’s glove at 6:29 of the second period. 2-0 Bruins.
Geekie sprung Pastrnak loose for him to skate in on Tarasov, stick handle a bit and throw an in-close wrister top-shelf past Tarasov’s glove at 8:18 of the second period. 3-0 Bruins.
Third period:
On a 2-on-1 after a turnover, Cole Koepke sent a blast of a wrist shot past Tarasov’s blocker at 6:06 of the third period. 4-0 Bruins.
Game notes
- “You don’t want be sitting back on a 1- or 2-0 lead,” Sacco said postgame regarding how his team was able to extend its lead and hold onto it throughout Saturday’s game. “You have to continue to play your game without taking chances, without taking too many risks. I thought we did that tonight. In this league, if you sit back, you’re asking for trouble.”
- There wasn’t a moment tonight were it felt the Bruins weren’t in control of the game. Yes, there were a couple bad turnovers, but generally it was a dialed-in effort from throughout the lineup. The Bruins saw scoring from throughout that lineup with secondary scoring getting the team going early and continuing to press in the third. They were also blocking shots in the final minutes of the third to close out the game and help secure the shutout.
- Pastrnak said postgame that he felt they really controlled the 60 minutes outside of one bad shift. But he said a couple shots later after it had ended, they scored the first of two big goals and it was a big momentum swing for the team.
- Pastrnak said he changed his mind at the last second on how he was going to shoot the puck on his breakaway goal. On his second breakaway of the game, he tried to go blocker, he said, and hit the post.
- Fabian Lysell made his NHL debut tonight after being recalled from Providence this morning. He slotted into the lineup with Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau and was on the ice for the first goal of the game. He ended the night logging 11:32 TOI. Sacco said he could see Lysell was trying to be responsible away from the puck. “Those are things he needs to continue to build in his game,” Sacco said.
- After the game, Lysell talked about the day. Lysell said his whole family was at the game. They were in town for Christmas and take in a few Providence games. He said his debut was more for them as they were the ones who got him this far: “Crazy how fast things can happen,” he said. “I woke up this morning, didn’t think of this, and then we get a call and then you’re up here. It’s just unbelievable and definitely special for me and my family for sure and everybody that’s helped me along the way.”
- Brad Marchand’s point streak came to an end at 11 games tonight as he didn’t register any points in the win.
- Geekie now has four goals in his last seven games and seven points overall in that time.
- The Bruins will next play on New Year’s Eve on the road against the Washington Capitals at 12:30 p.m.