Halfway through their first road test of the 2023-24 season, so far so good for the Boston Bruins. Two nights after kicking off their four-game, six-day road trip with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, the Black and Gold did not put together one of their better efforts but grinded out a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night (Oct. 21) at Crypto.com Arena.
There were times when the Kings outplayed the Bruins, but thanks to solid goaltending and timely goals, Jim Montgomery’s team was able to pull out a win without the services of Jake DeBrusk who was a scratch after being late to a team meeting. Here are three takeaways as Boston improves to 4-0-0.
Jeremy Swayman Stands Tall in Net
The schedule through the first 10 days has been spread out with Boston playing just two games in their first eight days. That allowed goalies Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman to split the first two, but it also meant that each netminder would get seven days (or in Ullmark’s case eight days) between games. Against the Kings, the former University of Maine goalie was sharp all night.
Swayman made 32 saves and many were off of high-danger chances. In the first period, he made 14 saves and nearly half of them came while the Bruins were killing a two-man advantage for nearly a minute. In the second period, and the Bruins on the power play, Phillip Danault had a breakaway following a Charlie McAvoy turnover at the offensive blueline, but Danault’s shot beat Swayman and hit the crossbar. It wasn’t a great night at times for the Bruins’ defense as they allowed Kings’ players multiple times to get through their defense down the middle on Swayman and they finally took advantage in the second period when Alex Laferriere tied the game at 1-1. Swayman made 12 second period saves and stopped six of the seven shots he faced in the third period, while making eight saves on the penalty kill. He was the difference in the game.
Brad Marchand Has a Big Night Offensively
There are going to be nights when offense is going to be tough to come by for the Bruins this season. Not having the same firepower they had last season, the Black and Gold are going to need their top players to step up on different nights. Against the Kings, captain Brad Marchand was the offensive hero with two goals and an assist.
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He had the primary assist on David Pastrank’s first-period power-play goal, then in the second period, Morgan Geekie scored his first goal as a Bruin, only to have Marchand score 48 seconds later when his wrist shot found its way through Cam Talbot’s legs for a 3-1 lead. In the third period, Marchand sealed the win when he came off the right boards, ended up in front of the net alone, and scored off a Pastrnak pass. In four games, he has three goals and three assists. Just what the Bruins need from him early in the season.
Bruins Penalty Kill Comes Up Big…….. Again
If there is one downside to the first four games, it is the number of power plays the Bruns have allowed their opponents to have. The Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Sharks, and Kings have combined to have 20 power plays against Boston and a pair of two-man advantages. It’s safe to say that Montgomery is going to like the number of penalties his team has been called for, but his penalty-killing units have come up big.
In the first period, Charlie Coyle was called for interference, and 65 seconds later, John Beecher was called for holding. Boston survived the two penalties, thanks in large part to Swayman. They successfully killed five of the Kings’ six power plays, but Carl Grundstrom finally connected on the man advantage with 1:10 left in the game to cut the deficit to two goals. Derek Forbort (5:13), Brandon Carlo (4:57), Marchand (3:18), Beecher (3:09), and McAvoy (3:03) all led the Bruins in shorthanded time on ice and all were over at least three minutes. As the season goes along, that’s going to put a lot of unnecessary extra workloads on those players, something they can’t afford too much of.
Bruins Quick Takeaways
- Matthew Poitras had a bounce-back night after struggling in San Jose. The 19-year-old was tough along the boards, winning puck battles and creating chances for his linemates. It was game four for the 54th overall pick in the 2022 Entry Draft, which means the ninth game is coming closer and closer.
- Ian Mitchell slotted in on defense for Kevin Shattenkirk and struggled at times. He was called for three icings in the first period on the same shift. he logged just 11:23 in time on ice on 17 shifts. Acquired from the Blackhawks as part of the Taylor Hall trade in June, he’s going to have to perform better than he did against the Kings.
- For the third straight game, veteran James van Riemsdyk found his way onto the scoresheet when he picked up an assist on Pastrnak’s goal. He continues to be a nice net-front presence on the power play and grinding out shifts at even strength.
There is no time to rest for the Bruins as they return to action Sunday night (Oct. 22) in the second game of their first of 12 back-to-backs this season. This time they get the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center and it will be interesting to see how DeBrusk responds to being scratched in Los Angeles.
