With a half-dozen consecutive losses in their back pocket and the Colorado Avalanche coming to town, you could forgive Bruins fans for having low expectations for this afternoon’s game.
Instead, the Bruins
got a stellar performance from Jeremy Swayman, a better team-wide effort, and a bit of luck to go their way in what ended up a 3-2 regulation win over the Avalanche.
Swayman made 31 saves in the win, while his teammates blocked 34 shots in front of him, giving you a decent idea of which team controlled possession.
The Bruins got two goals in under a minute during the second period, with Viktor Arvidsson breaking his drought first and Mikey Eyssimont cashing in next.
Morgan Geekie scored what would stand up as the game-winning goal late in the second period.
To the highlights!
Colorado got the scoring started early in the first period when Artturi Lehkonen found himself in approximately 42 square miles of open space and buried a great pass from Nathan MacKinnon to make it 1-0 Avalanche.
Arvidsson would get his first around ten minutes later, showing a great willingness to stick with the play before eventually banking the puck in off of Scott Wedgewood, making it a 1-1 game.
Speaking of nice passing plays, Eyssimont had himself a tap-in after a great pass from Tanner Jeannot, making it 2-1 Bruins.
Geekie’s goal would prove to be the big one for the B’s, as he showed some hustle and caught Wedgewood napping to make it 3-1 Bruins with just five seconds left in the second period.
Lehkonen would get his second on a beautiful net-front tip with 20 seconds left in the third, making it 3-2 Bruins — but that was as close as they got.
The Bruins managed to kill the rest of the clock, got in a nice post-whistle scrum, and skated off the TD Garden ice with their first win in close to two weeks.
Game notes
- Sometimes you just need a bounce or two or five to go your way, right? The Arvidsson goal came off of a flubbed Mason Lohrei shot, then was banked in. The Geekie required a brain fart and a bit of luck. Hey, you’ll certainly take it, but those were the kinds of bounces that weren’t going the B’s way during their losing streak.
- It’d be a bit of an exaggeration to say Swayman stole this game, but he was excellent throughout and was a major reason the Bruins earned two points.
- If we point out the bad games, we also have to point out the good: Lohrei assisted on all three Bruins goals today.
The Bruins will be off on Sunday, aside from traveling to Ottawa. Enjoy the weekend!
