The Bruins needed a big win in Detroit, and Jeremy Swayman made sure they got one. 

The Boston Bruins (39-23-8) scored three times in the third period en route to a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings (38-24-8), but those three goals were only a part of the equation. Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves, including key third-period stops. 

David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist; both were milestones. His power play goal was the 132nd of his career, putting him ahead of Patrice Bergeron for fourth all-time in franchise history, and his assist was the 500th of his career.

“Obviously, you don’t really focus on it as a player right now, just trying to help the team win,” Pastrnak said after the game. “Obviously, I recognize what kind of organization I am playing in, and how much history [there] is, so definitely don’t take that for granted.”

Elias Lindholm scored the game-tying goal in the third period. It is his first 5-on-5 goal since the Olympic break, and it was the Bruins’ only 5-on-5 goal from a forward line on Saturday. 

“It’s great to see,” Marco Sturm said about Lindholm. “He had chances. Hit the post early on. That line was good again today. They had a penalty shot there too, from Reichs, and overall, they have been pretty solid.”

Lindholm has been skating on the third line with Morgan Geekie and new linemate Lukas Reichel. They were the only Bruins’ forward line to generate more scoring chances than they allowed, per NaturalStatTrick. 

Geekie finished the game with three assists, recording his fifth, sixth, and seventh points since the Olympic break.

“He feels it, obviously, when he’s around the net, not scoring,” Sturm added about Geekie. “Talking to him this morning, too, I liked his game last game because of it. And today, he does those little plays, the details. Especially on the wall, getting pucks in, getting pucks out.”

Nikita Zadorov turned on the jets for the game-winning goal, coming at the 9:42 mark of the third period. It is his first goal since October 16 in Vegas. 

“I think the whole bench was like ‘Shoot!’ and he actually did it,” Sturm said about Zadorov’s goal.

Did Zadorov hear it?

“No.”

“It’s been tough with the goals this year, not many go in,” Zadorov added. “I feel like I have an ability to score up to 10 goals every year with my shot. Kind of after the break, start focusing on [getting] more shot volume in my game. And I mean, a good thing happened today, it was a big goal.”

Despite scoring three times, the Bruins still had to defend heavily in the third period. And one of the goaltender’s best performances of the season came at the right time for the Bruins. 

“Also, Sway,” Marco Sturm said when talking about the win. “I mean, the best I’ve seen him play since I [have been] around. He was unbelievable. Kept us in the game, won us the game.”

Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves on 43 shots Saturday night, 21 coming in the third period. He finished with 2.17 goals saved above expected and stopped all 14 high–danger shots he faced. 

“He was unbelievable to watch today,” David Pastrnak said about Swayman. “He was making insane saves. Kept us in the game the whole game, pretty much. So, you know, when you have Sway playing like that, we are very confident playing a tight game, and we are going to pull it in.”

Since winning the gold medal in Milan, Swayman is 6-2-1 with a .930 save percentage and a 1.87 goals against average. He has 28 wins this season, continuing to extend his career-high. 

“He’s been unbelievable,” Nikita Zadorov added about Swayman. “He’s been our best player all year. We are really confident when we play with him.”

This is his third 40-plus save performance this season, but this one came at a crucial time and against a playoff team that entered the night with the exact same record as the Bruins. 

There will be plenty more playoff teams ahead for the Bruins. 

“Obviously, the East standings are insane,” Nikita Zadorov said after the game. “Everybody’s losing on the West, but everybody’s winning on the East. So, it’s definitely big points for us, and set us up pretty good so far.”

The Canadiens (38-21-10) picked up a 7-3 win over the Islanders (39-26-5) on Saturday. Both Boston and Montreal have 86 points, but the Canadiens have a game in hand, so they rank third in the Atlantic. With the Islanders’ loss, the Red Wings, who have 84 points, still remain in the second wild card, one point ahead of New York. 

The Bruins will have a set of back-to-back games this upcoming week, starting on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs (29-29-13) on Tuesday, then the Sabres (44-20-6) on Wednesday.

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