Daily Bean: Bruins Win, Eastern Conference Playoffs Set, Bowness Press Conference

Daily Bean: Bruins Win, Eastern Conference Playoffs Set, Bowness Press Conference

The Boston Bruins closed out their regular season on a high note, picking up a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils last night.

Jeremy Swayman had a shutout, which is a fitting way to cap his bounce-back season. Morgan Geekie also finished the season with five goals in four games and finished the year with 39, even more impressive when you consider his two slumps this season.

Mark Kastelic also started to heat up at the right time.

Around the league, the Eastern Conference playoff picture formed last night. All eight positions have been locked in, as well as all four first-round matchups.

The Devils are still looking for a GM, and The Athletic conducted player agent polls to examine front offices around the NHL.

Also, Rick Bowness ripped into the Columbus Blue Jackets in his press conference last night.

Happy Wednesday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:

Boston Bruins

BRUINS WIN: The Bruins (45-27-10) closed out the regular season with a 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils (42-37-3) last night on Fan Appreciation Night. The Bruins, led by a Jeremy Swayman shutout, scored four times in the first period.

BREAK APART: The Bruins hit the 100-point mark with their win over the Devils, and so did David Pastrnak. But the win would not be possible without Jeremy Swayman, who finished the year 31-18-4.

Ahead of the game, Marco Sturm said that the Bruins were going back to the old power play units. That was the plan for Sunday, but they did not draw a single penalty against Columbus. The same thing happened on Tuesday.

The Bruins only took one penalty last night; Nikita Zadorov sat two minutes for a trip. He finishes the season with the team lead, and very likely the league lead, with 152 penalty minutes.

7TH PLAYER AWARD: As is tradition in Boston, the NESN 7th Player Award was awarded to the unsung hero of the season. This year, it was Fraser Minten.

FIRST ROUND (UPDATED): The Bruins will now play the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the playoffs. It’s the first time since 2011 that the Sabres are in the postseason, and it will be the first postseason matchup since 2010.

NHL News & National Hockey Now

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils left Nico Daws out to dry last night. One team was getting ready for the postseason while the other was wrapping up its season. The Devils finished in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.

Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers picked up their 26th regulation win of the season with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Two Flyers made their NHL debuts: Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald.

The Flyers finish their regular season on a three-game win streak, while the Penguins finished theirs on a three-game skid. The two teams will play in the first round.

With a loss, the Canadiens will be the road team in their first-round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

There is an arena conflict in Tampa on Saturday, meaning that the series will likely start Sunday. Other than that, the schedule is still not out yet, though there is a lot of speculation.

STANDINGS:

Atlantic:

1. y – Sabres – 108 points, 1 game remaining, clinched Atlantic Division
2. x – Lightning – 106 points, 1 game remaining, clinched second place
3. x – Canadiens – 106 points, 0 games remaining, clinched third place

Metropolitan:

1. z – Hurricanes – 113 points, 0 games remaining, conference clinched
2. x – Penguins – 98 points, 0 games remaining, second place clinched
3. x – Flyers – 98 points, 0 games remaining, third place clinched

East Wild Card:

1. x – Bruins – 100 points, 0 games remaining, clinched top wild card
2. x – Senators – 97 points, 1 game remaining, clinched second wild card

Central:

1. p – Avalanche – 119 points, 1 game remaining, clinched President’s Trophy
2. x – Stars – 110 points, 1 game remaining, second place clinched
3. x – Wild – 104 points, 0 games remaining, third place clinched

Pacific:

1. x – Golden Knights – 93 points, 1 game remaining, clinched
2. x – Oilers – 91 points, 1 game remaining, clinched
3. x – Ducks – 90 points, 1 game remaining, clinched

West Wild Card:

1. x – Mammoth – 92 points, 1 game remaining, clinched
2. x – Kings – 90 points, 1 game remaining, clinched

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY:

Eastern Conference

• A1 – Sabres vs. WC1 – Bruins
• A2 – Lightning vs. A3 – Canadiens
• M1 – Hurricanes vs. WC2 – Senators
• M2 – Penguins vs. M3 – Flyers

Western Conference (not finalized yet)

• C1 – Avalanche vs. WC2 – Kings
• C2 – Stars vs. C3 – Wild (matchup confirmed)
• P1 – Golden Knights vs. WC1 – Mammoth
• P2 – Oilers vs. P3 – Ducks

Frank Seravalli via 𝕏: I might have spoken too soon yesterday when I said the Kings will not see the Oilers in the first round. They can still draw each other as first-round opponents. Frank Seravalli has the scenarios for the Pacific Division.

NBC4 (video via YouTube): Rick Bowness was frustrated after the Blue Jackets’ season ended last night. He did not hold back anything, either.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Going back to Jersey for some of their GM options. Brendan Shanahan was in the mix for the President of Hockey Ops job, but it appears to be “far from a done deal.” For their GM spot, the Devils might be going for someone out of the B’s front office.

The Athletic ($): The Athletic picked up some outside opinion and got information from the top player agents in hockey. They polled over 20 agents and got answers on the best- and worst-run team in the NHL (there’s one team running away in each), as well as the easiest and hardest front offices to deal with.

Today’s NHL Schedule

Stars at Sabres – 7:00 PM (US: TNT, HBO Max)

Rangers at Lightning – 7:00 PM

Red Wings at Panthers – 7:00 PM

Maple Leafs at Senators – 7:30 PM (CA: SN)

Sharks at Blackhawks – 8:30 PM

Kraken at Golden Knights – 10:00 PM

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