The Boston Bruins avoided the dreaded post-road trip letdown on Monday, returning from a four-game western road trip to beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-0, in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at TD Garden.
Jeremy Swayman stopped all 31 shots he faced to pick up his third shutout of the season, which ties him for fourth in the NHL. Charlie Coyle opened the scoring, David Pastrnak added a power-play tally, and Trent Frederic sealed the win with an empty-netter on an all-out diving effort.
"Really happy. Really proud of our group, to be honest," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. "I mean, that's not an easy game for us after being in three different time zones in eight days, and today's the ninth day of playing five games. We get seven out of 10 [points]. Because of the start we had, I think momentum from the last game, the second and third period, the way we played, I think carried over into the first. And then I think we were running out of fumes, but we really managed the game well."
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Bruins dominate early
First game home after a long road trip. Afternoon game after a day off Sunday. Injuries and illnesses abound for both teams. This had all the ingredients for a slow start.
To their credit, the Bruins made sure that didn't happen. They came out flying and dominated pretty much the entire first period. They drew two early power plays, including a brief 5-on-3, and appeared to score on the second.
James van Riemsdyk, who made several great plays to set up early chances, dragged the puck to the top of the crease from the doorstep and roofed a shot past Nico Daws, but the goal was called back after a Devils challenge because the Bruins were offsides in the build-up.
The Bruins didn't let that deflate them, though, and kept the pressure on the rest of the period. They led 10-2 in shots on goal at one point and finished the period with a 16-9 advantage. The score was still 0-0 at the intermission, though.
Again to their credit, they didn't let their momentum fade away during the break, and finally broke through for a goal that counted on the opening shift of the second, thanks to…
Coyle stays hot
The game's opening goal came on a great transition from the Bruins. Matt Grzelcyk collected a rebound in his own zone and immediately hit David Pastrnak going the other way in transition. He fed Brad Marchand on the zone entry, and Marchand then pulled up before feeding the trailer, Charlie Coyle, who finished with a nice backhand shot past Daws.
Coyle continues to roll, as he now has 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in the last 11 games. He's up to 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 43 games for the season and remains on pace to top his career-high point total (56 in 2016-17). Right now, Coyle is on pace for 61.
That would actually be more than the Bruins got from either Patrice Bergeron (58) or David Krejci (56) last season. Coyle obviously isn't as dominant defensively as Bergeron, nor is he as creative of a playmaker as Krejci, but the point here is that Coyle has absolutely met the moment this season and continues to produce like a legitimate top-six center.
We can all still debate whether the Bruins have their other top center on the roster or not, but Coyle is doing his part to fill those giant shoes. For the last game and a half, he has been centering the Bruins' top two wingers in David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, and he has not looked out of place at all.
Zacha returns to lineup
Speaking of Boston's other centers, the Bruins did get one of their walking wounded back on Monday with Pavel Zacha returning to the lineup. Zacha missed Saturday's game with an illness and was considered a game-time decision Monday.
Brandon Carlo, Linus Ullmark, Matt Poitras and Derek Forbort all remained out with various injuries, but coach Jim Montgomery did say pregame that all of them are "trending well."
Zacha slotted in on a new-look second line with Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen, and that trio played well. Through two periods, shot attempts were 12-4 Bruins when they were on the ice and shots on goal were 6-1.
Zacha had a couple good chances that were turned aside by Daws, and he also drew a penalty. Zacha's production has dipped in recent weeks, as he had one goal and three assists in his last 11 games. Getting him going again will obviously be important, but so too will settling on a position.
Zacha had played some left wing during that recent stretch, with Morgan Geekie moving up the lineup to center him and Pastrnak. That line as a whole played pretty well, but Zacha seemed to struggle to get involved offensively at times.
Longer-term, it seems like it would behoove the Bruins to get Zacha comfortable at center again, especially with Geekie sliding back down to the third line recently. Even though his line didn't score, Monday may have been a good step towards that.
