Swayman, Bruins Blank Kraken (11/3/24)

Talk about "Anything you can do, I can do better." One day after Joonas Korpisalo shut out the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman posted a shutout of his own over the Seattle Kraken. The Bruins defense held Seattle to just 23 shots in the game while the Bruins offense was limited to just the first period. Justin Brazeau scored just 3:23 into the game and seven minutes later, Charlie Coyle scored on the power play. That was all the offense that would be scored for both teams the rest of the way. The Bruins and Kraken matched a lot of penalties the rest of the game, but the Bruins defense suffocated the Kraken. Besides a fight breaking out between Trent Frederic and Adam Larsson, nothing else exciting happened as the Bruins beat the Kraken 2-0 at TD Garden.

                                                                  This is the Sway

Just 54 seconds into the game, Brad Marchand passed to a wide open Charlie McAvoy but Kraken goalie Joey Daccord saved the shot. 20 seconds later Marchand himself was denied by Daccord. Then just 3:23 into the game, McAvoy got the puck down low. He passed to Nikita Zadorov at the point. His shot was deflected in by Justin Brazeau to give the Bruins the lead. Two minutes later, Andrew Peeke's shot was gloved by Daccord. 7:21 into the period Oliver Bjorkstrand gave the puck right to Marchand at the point. Brad's shot deflected right to David Pastrnak but Daccord saved that one too. With 12:10 left in the period McAvoy's blast was kicked out by Daccord and 10 seconds later, Brandon Montour was whistled for cross checking. With the puck still in their possession on the delayed penalty, McAvoy's shot was saved by Daccord. With 10:15 left in the period, Elias Lindholm passed to Marchand. He sent it to an open Coyle who deeked out Daccord for his second goal of the season to increase the lead. One minute later, Pavel Zacha and Brazeau had a two on one but Brazeau couldn't jam it home. With 8:54 left it looked like Zacha had scored on a deflection but Kraken coach Dan Bylsma challenged the play was offsides to begin with. Replays showed Zacha's baby toe was behind the line and the refs signaled for no goal. Then with 8:42 left in the period, Jordan Eberle hooked Brazeau who managed to get the puck to McAvoy. Zacha took the McAvoy pass but Daccord saved the shot as the whistle blew for the penalty. With 8 minutes left in the period, Pastrnak used Elias Lindholm as a screen but Daccord saved the shot anyway. Trent Frederic couldn't jam it home either and with 6:17 left in the period, Zadorov couldn't shoot it in. With 5:08 left, Ryker Evans got bagged for holding to put the Bruins on yet another power play. Daccord denied Coyle and McAvoy on the power play and the Kraken FINALLY got a shot on goal with four minutes left in the period. The Kraken got another shot when Chandler Stephenson passed to Eeli Tolvanen. Eeli was denied down low by Swayman and the Bruins rode out the period up 2-0.

                                                              Bruins take the lead

The Bruins got the first chance of the second period when Coyle was denied just 21 seconds into it. The Bruins got the next power play 8:11 into the period when Larsson went off for interference, but the Bruins did nothing on it. With six minutes to go in the second period, the Bruins were outshooting the Kraken 22 to 7. Zacha and Brazeau were both denied at the doorstep by Daccord immediately after. Then Seattle got a power play when Mark Kastelic was whistled for high sticking with 4:32 left in the period. The Bruins killed off the penalty then Bjorkstrand was kicked to the box for high sticking with 1:146 left in the period. Yanni Gourde walked in alone on a shorthanded bid and somehow Swayman stopped the shot. With 5 seconds left, Geekie shot the puck that squirted behind Daccord. Somehow Frederic failed to tap it in and the score remained 2-0 going into the third.

                                                    How did Frederic miss THAT?

3 minutes into the third period, the Bruins were outshooting the Kraken 31 to 11 when Geekie fired on net. Daccord made the save but Larsson dropped Frederic with a check. Frederic said "its go time" and rumbled with him. Freddy pounded him but the linesmen broke it up with Trent getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Halfway through the the third period, Swayman stopped Larsson's shot attempt but got lucky with 8:39 left in the game when Stephenson's shot beat him clean....off the post. With 8 minutes left in the period, Koepke got denied by Daccord as well. Brandon Tanev and Stephenson were stopped by Swayman and the Kraken pulled the goalie. With 45 seconds left, John Beecher hit the post on the empty net shot attempt. Marchand also missed the empty net but the Bruins won the game 2-0 anyway.

                                                         Bruins win

Reaction:

This was boring to watch with barely any offense or that many attempts by the Kraken. Still, Swayman needed a game like that to get his mojo back, coming off the heels of Joonas Korpisalo's shutout yesterday. Brazeau and Coyle scored again but once again Pastrnak, Marchand and Zacha were held scoreless. Still, after getting their brains beat in on Halloween night, they haven't allowed a goal since. Back to back shutouts by Korpisalo and Swayman are just what the doctor ordered. Now if the offense would get a jolt, things would go back to normal real quick. Toronto lost tonight so they're not exactly running away with the Atlantic Division either. Hopefully October is behind them and they can start dominating November. The win improved the Bruins to 6-6-1, good for 13 points in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins now head to Toronto for a re-match with the Maple Leafs. The game begins this Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena.