After getting partially goalie’d on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins responded with a partial goalie’ing of their own on Tuesday.
Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves, including going 28-for-28 in the second and third periods, to help lead the Bruins to a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh at TD Garden.
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All three goals in this game were scored within the first six minutes of the first period, with the Penguins outplaying the Bruins for large stretches in the latter half of the game.
Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt scored the Boston goals just 50 seconds apart in the first, turning what had been a 1-0 deficit less than a minute into the game into a 2-1 lead the B’s wouldn’t relinquish.
Erik Karlsson got the scoring started with a wrist shot through traffic to make it 1-0 Penguins.
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Khusnutdinov took a great pass from Mikey Eyssimont and beat Stuart Skinner from the circle to make it a 1-1 game.
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Less than a minute later, it was Mittelstadt cashing in on the rebound of a Nikita Zadorov shot to make it 2-1 Bruins.
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After three goals in the first six minutes, you’d be forgiven for assuming this was going to be a 6-5 barn burner.
Instead, that was the last goal of the game, as the Bruins’ play tailed off a bit but Swayman stood tall to deny the Penguins.
2-1, Bruins win.
Game notes
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Karlsson’s goal actually came on Pittsburgh’s first shot of the game, meaning Swayman started the game 0-for-1 and finished it 34-for-34. Feast, famine, etc.
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Per the NESN broadcast, the Bruins are 6-0-2 in their last eight games following a loss. Tonight’s two points could prove to be big ones, as the Washington Capitals (four points behind the B’s) and Florida Panthers (ten points behind) both lost in regulation tonight.
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Khusnutdinov will get the accolades for the wicked shot to beat Skinner, but he also deserves credit for forcing a turnover along the goal line prior to the goal. Eyssimont’s thread-the-needle pass to find Khusnutdinov in a small space was a thing of beauty as well.
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Speaking of extra effort plays, Pavel Zacha deserves some credit as well. He earned a secondary assist on Mittelstadt’s goal, winning a one-on-one battle for the puck near the corner. Not exactly a “play that doesn’t show up on the scoresheet” since…well, the assist shows up on the scoresheet, but the extra effort to win the puck made the play possible.
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Mittelstadt also made a great extra effort play in the last minute of the game, as he lost his stick but managed to kick the puck out of the defensive zone while Pittsburgh had the goalie pulled.
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In his first appearance in nearly a month due to the Olympic break, Andrew Peeke played pretty well. The defenseman recorded 18:03 TOI, fourth-most among defensemen, and finished the night with two blocked shots and four hits.
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The win was the Bruins’ 11th in a row at TD Garden, their longest streak in four years.
The Bruins will have one more game prior to the NHL trade deadline: in Nashville on Thursday night, in what is a weird, one-game road trip for the B’s.
Will Dealin’ Don make a move by then?
Time will tell.
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