If you told the Bruins that they were going to hold the red-hot Devils offense to one goal in regulation while playing without their No. 1 defenseman and No. 1 center, they would have taken it in a heartbeat.
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The Bruins did that Wednesday night in New Jersey. Unfortunately for them, they also scored just one goal themselves and wound up losing, 2-1, in overtime.
All things considered, the Bruins have to at least be content – if not happy – with the one point. They did lead 1-0 entering the third period, but the Devils also came out flying to start the third and tied the game early in the period. They kept the Bruins on their heels for the next few minutes, but eventually the B’s stabilized and even had a couple chances to win the game in regulation.
Boston coach Jim Montgomery was pleased with the way his team stepped up with Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha out.
“You lose two guys out of your lineup that play 20 minutes a night, you’re gonna feel it,” Montgomery said. “But I loved the way we competed. I loved the way the guys who got the extra minutes competed. I liked how the guys who were inserted into the lineup competed. So, there were a lot of good things that we liked about the game.”
Here are three takeaways:
Swayman comes back strong after layoff
Thanks to an illness late last week and a lighter stretch in the Bruins’ schedule, Wednesday night was Jeremy Swayman’s first start in 10 days. The hope was that he would pick up where he left off, because he had allowed just one goal on 51 shots in his last two starts before that, both wins.
He did. Swayman stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced in regulation, and then made five saves in a one-sided overtime before Jack Hughes finally beat him for the winner.
The only goal Swayman allowed in regulation was a bit of a wacky one. A Devils shot got deflected over the net, then kicked back to the front. Former Bruin Erik Haula hit the post and then Dawson Mercer knocked that rebound in out of mid-air.
Natural Stat Trick had the Devils at 3.93 expected goals for the game, so Swayman basically cut that number in half. He saved five of the six high-danger shots he faced.
Swayman’s next start will likely come Saturday night against the Rangers, assuming Linus Ullmark gets Friday night against the Islanders.
Geekie steps up
With Zacha out, it was Morgan Geekie who got the promotion to first-line center between David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk. He certainly made the most of the opportunity, playing a season-high 17:48 and scoring the Bruins’ only goal in what was probably his best game of the season so far.
Oddly enough, that goal didn’t come during one of his many shifts with Pastrnak, but instead during a shift with James van Riemsdyk and Danton Heinen. Geekie won multiple 1-on-1 battles to keep plays alive during a monster shift, then won position at the net-front, where he collected a rebound off a van Riemsdyk shot and tucked it past Vitek Vanecek.
Geekie helped create chances with Pastrnak and DeBrusk, too, mostly by continuing to win battles, but also by flashing some skill with the puck on his stick a couple times. Pastrnak landed seven shots on goal, some set up by Geekie and some set up by DeBrusk, who also had a strong game.
The goal was just the third for Geekie in 21 games, but he does now have two points in a game and a half of playing in a bigger role. The Bruins were hoping Geekie would tap into more offense than he did in a fourth-line role in Seattle, so it’s encouraging to see him do just that when given the opportunity.
It remains to be seen where Geekie’s long-term home on the roster will be, but it’s good for the Bruins to know that he can play up in the lineup in a pinch.
Quiet night for Marchand, Coyle
The DeBrusk-Geekie-Pastrnak line did its job. The third line of James van Riemsdyk, Matt Poitras and Danton Heinen created some good chances, too, even if they didn’t score.
The one line that was too quiet, though, was the second line of Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. During their 9:34 together, the Bruins got out-attempted 9-5 and outshot 6-2.
That continued something that’s been a trend this season: Marchand and Coyle just don’t appear to be clicking together. They’ve now played 121:22 together at 5-on-5 this season. During that time, the Bruins have been outshot 66-50 and have an expected goals share of just 44.2%.
In theory, it should look better. Marchand and Coyle are both smart, hard-working, 200-foot players who hang onto pucks. The chemistry just hasn’t been there, though. That doesn’t mean it never will be, but it’s not there right now.
The best line for Coyle this season has clearly been with Frederic and van Riemsdyk. The Bruins have outscored opponents 7-2 with that trio on the ice. An easy switch could be reuniting those three and putting Marchand with Poitras and Heinen.
Those three looked good in their one game together against San Jose a couple weeks ago, but Montgomery has been reluctant to go back to it. Giving it a longer look would also allow him to keep DeBrusk with Pastrnak, as those two have played well together whether it’s been Zacha or Geekie between them.