100 Points: Breaking Apart Bruins’ Win Over Devils

Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins reached 100 points on Tuesday, and so did David Pastrnak, just in a different way.

The Bruins (45-27-10) closed out the regular season with a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils (42-37-3) on Tuesday night. Jeremy Swayman pitched his second shutout of the season, Mark Kastelic scored twice, and Morgan Geekie and Viktor Arvidsson each added one.

Swayman finished with a 31-18-4 record, coupled with a 2.71 GAA and a .908 SV%. He finished the season with 28.8 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, which is second in the league.

“Yeah, he was amazing,” Marco Sturm said about Swayman. “It was a tough year for him last year, but he needed that, maybe that World Championship. He needed that summer. He maybe needed that coaching change. He needed new guys in the locker room. Because he came in with a very big smile, and he was very focused the whole season long.”

He set career highs this season, bouncing back from last year’s off-year in full stride.

“I think it was a lot of growth, and I think I was where I wanted to be mentally. I was where I wanted to be physically, and it couldn’t happen without experience up until this point,” Swayman said about his regular season. “So I’m doing my best to stay in the moment and really dive into every game with full intention, full focus, and the mindset to get the win. So that’s helped a lot.”

Alongside Swayman’s 21-save shutout, the Bruins were lifted by four first-period goals. Morgan Geekie’s game-winning goal came only 53 seconds in, Viktor Arvidsson scored with 6.4 seconds on the clock, and Mark Kastelic stayed hot.

Kastelic scored twice and finished the regular season with three goals in the final two games.

David Pastrnak, with an assist on Morgan Geekie’s goal, hit the 100-point mark for the fourth consecutive season. He finished the regular season with 29 goals and 71 assists.

All of the players who rested on Sunday returned to the lineup on Tuesday. However, the Bruins were without two of their second-line forwards.

Casey Mittelstadt was not in the lineup, and Pavel Zacha left the game to tend to a family matter. After the game, Marco Sturm said that Mittelstadt “was not available today. Personal reasons, but in a good way.”

“Both will be available [for] game one.”

With the win, the Bruins clinched the top wild card spot and will travel to Western New York for their first two playoff games. They will play the Atlantic Division-winning Buffalo Sabres, who are in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

“A lot of skill, a rush team. They get a lot of chances off the rush, and they have some powerful forwards and skilled D,” Swayman said about the Sabres. “So, that’s something that we need to isolate, and our coaching staff will do a great job of pre-scouting that, and it’s our turn to make the details and effort work.”

Marco Sturm faced the Sabres in the playoffs as a Bruin in 2010. Now, he’ll face them as a head coach 16 years later.

In his first season as an NHL head coach, he guided the Bruins to a 100-point season, a playoff spot, and 29 home wins, which is tied for the most in the league.

“Pretty amazing. I gotta say, I never even thought, to be honest with you, about getting 100 points because I know how hard it is to get that amount in this league. It’s a hard league. And again, that just says it all,” Sturm said after the game. “So proud of the [team]. Proud of my coaching staff, the whole staff to accomplish, again, 100 points. It’s incredible. So I’m very, very happy and very excited to reach that goal and share it with our great fans of Boston.”

When he was asked if he was proud of himself, he answered that he’s a team player.

He then said, “I didn’t know what to expect pretty much early on, coming in[to] this league. A lot of things were new, so I was curious too, which way it’s going to go. But again, [the] guys made it very easy for me. Maybe not off the ice, but as soon as I’m around a rink, I’m a very confident guy. I believe, I always believe in myself. And I know I’m a good coach and can push some buttons.”

“One guy can’t do it. You always need the whole team to do it.”

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