Back in goal after a loss for the seventh time this season, it was Swayman who helped power the Bruins to a 4-1 win over the reeling Devils, and with a strong 29-of-30 performance in the Boston crease. With the win, Swayman improved to 5-2-0 with a .943 save percentage in starts following a loss this season.
In what was one of their more balanced offensive attacks of the season, the Bruins got goals from three different lines in this one, beginning with Fraser Minten’s game-opening tally at the 17:42 mark of the first period.
It was Minten’s first goal since Nov. 8 in Toronto, and came with assists for both Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic, and it was Kastelic who picked Simon Nemec’s pocket in the corner to feed the puck to Minten right in the sweet spot.
And though the Devils responded with a Timo Meier strike before the end of the period, Morgan Geekie put the Bruins back in front early in the second period.
The Bruins clung to that one-goal lead — and leaned on Swayman to make some big saves along the way — until they got some much-needed breathing room behind a Casey Mittelstadt finish with some great passing from Viktor Arvidsson and Pavel Zacha on the way to Mittelstadt’s sixth goal of the year.
For the Bruins, the victory was Boston’s second straight, giving the Black and Gold consecutive victories for the first time since Charlie McAvoy left the lineup.
The Bruins are back in action Tuesday night when they visit the Blues.