It’s just past mid-February, but if there was ever a must-win game for the Boston Bruins , it was on Monday afternoon (Feb. 19) at the TD Garden against the Dallas Stars.
Never mind the fact that the visitors were a hurting team missing key players, but the Black and Gold were looking to end their frustrating homestand on a winning note after going 1-3-2 in their first six games.
Trailing 3-2 late in the third period, the Bruins tied the game with 1:45 left on a David Pastrnak goal, then after a scoreless overtime, the shootout went nine rounds until Charlie McAvoy, who set up Pastrnak’s third-period goal, scored in the final round before Jeremy Swayman stopped former Bruin Craig Smith for the 4-3 win. Here are three takeaways after Boston improved to 33-12-11 as they head out on a four-game road trip through Western Canada and Seattle.
Bruins Fourth-Line Supplies Key Offense
During the seven-game homestand, one issue the Bruins have been having is their fourth line and their lack of productive shifts. Second-year head coach Jim Montgomery has tried different players, mixing and matching, and lost Jakub Lauko to an upper-body injury, and ahead of the game, they signed Justin Brazeau to a two-year, two-way contract. He was inserted into the fourth line and made an immediate impact.
Anthony Richard set up the Bruins’ first goal with a nice cross-ice pass to Jesper Boqvist who beat Stars’ goalie Jake Oettinger in the first period. In the second period after Dallas took a 2-1 lead, 28 seconds later Brazeau scored his first career NHL goal when he scored from the slot off a pass from Boqvist. Pretty impressive debut for Brazeau.
Derek Forbort’s Struggle Continue
Another game, another 60 minutes of bad decisions in the defensive, neutral, and offensive zones. During the homestand, it has become an all-too-common theme. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, and Stars made them pay for it.
Against the Kings, Derek Forbort made an ill-advised clear up the boards late in the game with a 4-3 lead, and the visitors on the power play the puck quickly ended up in the back of the net when Anze Kopitar was alone in front and redirected a shot from the point by Linus Ullmark. Los Angeles ended up winning the game in overtime. Against Dallas, Forbort made an ill-advised pinch midway through the third period in the offensive zone that led to an odd-man break the other way and led to an Esa Lindell goal.
The Bruins were able to score late with a David Pastrnak goal to tie it and win in a shootout, but the play of Forbort and the defense during the homestand is a cause for concern going forward. The Bruins left-shot defenseman finished the game with a plus/minus of minus-2 in 14:55 of time on ice.
Jeremy Swayman Steals the Game for the Bruins
The only reason the Black and Gold are boarding the plane for Edmonton to kick off their road trip on Wednesday night with a win is because of Swayman. He was under fire all afternoon long and he made several big-time saves at big moments to help his teammates end the homestand on a winning note.
In the first period, Matt Grzelcyk had a careless turnover in the defensive end that led to a wide-open opportunity for Joe Pavelski and Swayman was able to make a save. In overtime, the former University of Maine netminder got a part of his blocker on a Thomas Harley shot that ended up hitting the post. He wasn’t done as seconds later, he stopped a wide-open Tyler Seguin to get the game to the shootout.
Swayman ended up with a career-high 43 saves and almost half of them came in the second period when he made 21. He had 33 saves through two periods and needed to only make 10 through the third period and overtime. In the shootout, he matched Oettinger save-for-save until he made the final one on Smith. The puck squeaked between Swayman’s body, but it landed on the goal line near the post to secure a much-needed two points.
Bruins Head West
Boston now heads to Western Canada and Seattle for four games in six days against the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken. With the struggles they just went through, maybe getting out on the road may be the best thing for them if they are going to turn things around. One thing is for sure, they did not play many 60-minute games during the homestand, but it’s something they must do over the next week if they hope to secure any points in the standings.
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