Recap: Dialed-in Swayman, Bruins blank Devils, 3-0

The Bruins keep momentum going their way!

The Boston Bruins shut out the New Jersey Devils, 3-0, this afternoon at the TD Garden on the heels of a 31-save effort by Jeremy Swayman.

It was Swayman’s third shutout of the year and 12th in his career.

The Bruins started off strong from the jump, outshooting the Devils and carrying the play in the first period with quality chances out front. The B’s put everything on net with guys at the paint and in the slot trying to pick up rebounds or passes.

James van Riemsdyk and Danton Heinen were all over the ice and in front of Nico Daws who came up big for the Devils. Van Riemsdyk had a first-period goal called back after the Devils challenged it for offsides and found Pastrnak was indeed, offsides.

After a scoreless first period but momentum on their side, Charlie Coyle put the B’s up 1-0 with a backhanded shot past Daws.

But there was some role reversal as maybe the road trip legs began to catch up to them and the Bruins went on the defensive as the Devils pressed in the offensive zone.

Swayman made a few crucial stops in the second’s final minutes, stopping Bastian out front and keeping it 1-0 Bruins heading into the locker room.

The Bruins had some good power plays leading into the final 20 minutes of play, including the JVR callback, and finally broke through on the man-advantage early in the third period.

Charlie McAvoy found David Pastrnak set up in his office and the B’s led 2-0.

Besides a matching roughing penalty taken by McAvoy in the second period, the Bruins found themselves mostly on the power play side of things with the exception of one penalty on Trent Frederic in the third period.

On the fourth line today, Frederic’s efforts got him an empty-net goal to seal the win.

The Bruins will face the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at the TD Garden as the homestand continues!

Here are the highlights!

First period:

Scoreless

Second period:

The Bruins opened the scoring 30 seconds into the second period.

Along the boards, Brad Marchand backhanded a pass to Charlie Coyle crashing the net who lifted a backhanded shot over Nico Daws’ blocker shoulder. 1-0 Bruins.

Third period:

The Bruins took a two-goal lead at 3:22 of the third period on the power play.

Charlie McAvoy found David Pastrnak in the left-wing circle where he blasted a one-timer past Daws. 2-0 Bruins.

The Bruins scored an empty-net goal at 18:42 of the third period.

Trent Frederic won a race through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone where he poked the puck forward and into the empty net. Final score: 3-0 Bruins.

Game notes:

Just a few game notes here today from postgame!

• It’s not the easiest coming back from a lengthy road trip, but the Bruins managed to find two points today in regulation against a goaltender who was really keeping his team in the game. Jim Montgomery and Charlie Coyle talked postgame about the team’s efforts to build on momentum and not get discouraged when it shifted away from them a bit in the second period.
• Montgomery had Frederic on the fourth line tonight. He credited Frederic’s efforts on being a team player and getting rewarded with the goal. He also said Frederic’s presence to lead the fourth line boosted their TOI and he used them more than in recent games because of No. 11 out there.
• Postgame buzz: Montgomery said Pavel Zacha still wasn’t close to being 100%.
• Also, a stat was thrown out on X that over 11% of Jeremy Swayman’s games have been a shutout. He’s played in 112 games during his career and now has 12 shutouts.