Bruins Ride Team Effort to Shutout Win in Nashville

NASHVILLE - Jeremy Swayman had never been to Nashville before. But you can bet after his stellar showing on Thursday night, he'll be itching to get back to the Music City.
The 23-year-old netminder made a career-high 42 saves to pick up his - and the Bruins' - first shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

"It was fun to watch," said Swayman. "The guys were taking pride in the defensive zone and also in the offensive zone. Had the best seat in the house watching them work, play together. A lot of talk out on the ice. It was a really fun game to be a part of, a great team win."
Assistant coach Joe Sacco, who once again manned the bench in the absence of Bruce Cassidy, concurred with his backstop, saying that he was proud of the effort that everyone throughout the Boston lineup put forth in a tough road environment.
"I think our guys competed really hard tonight," said Sacco. "Wasn't an easy game. When we got that 2-0 lead, they pushed hard. I liked the way we competed. We were blocking shots. They had some time in the zone. They just battled, battled hard tonight.
"The goaltender came up with some big saves. And I really liked the start of our game. We came out and had great energy to start the game. The guys were ready to play and that's important. It feels good. I'm happy that they got the win tonight."

Here's some more news and notes from Boston's victory in Nashville:

Swayman Stands Tall:Boston's rookie goaltender was as poised and composed as he's been all season during his thrid career shutout. Swayman said that he felt he had a strong week of practice as Linus Ullmark made two straight starts on Sunday and Tuesday, which allowed for him to focus on shoring up some parts of his game.
"I felt that between my posts, I wasn't chasing pucks," said Swayman. "It was a good week of practice, the two games I didn't start. I was definitely focusing on that and thought it came out [in my] play tonight. It was nice."
Sacco was similarly pleased with Swayman's effort, saying that it was one of his better performances of the season.
"I thought he was tracking pucks very well tonight," said Sacco. "We needed him. When they pushed, he came up with some big saves…Sway was on top of it tonight."
Per NHL Stats, Swayman became the fourth Bruins goaltender to record 42 or more saves in a shutout, joining Bill Ranford (three times), Tim Thomas (two times), and Jonas Gustavsson (March 8, 2016).

DeBrusk Breaks Through: Despite a tumultuous couple of days following the revelation that he had requested a trade from the Bruins, Jake DeBrusk came through with what proved to be the only goal Boston needed on Thursday night.
With Boston's first-period power play winding down, the winger drifted into the slot and took a feed from Craig Smith before launching a wrister top shelf over the right shoulder of Nashville goalie Jusse Saros to give Boston a 1-0 lead with 5:22 left in the first period.
"I think that Jake played pretty good tonight," said Sacco. "He had a good game. Hopefully he can build off of that too. Like we said before, we just want Jake to help our team anyway possible and he came up with a big goal tonight. I thought he was skating well tonight. I thought he was moving well. I thought that he competed tonight."

A Little Breathing Room:The Bruins picked up some insurance early in the second period when Brandon Carlo blasted home his second of the season from the top of the slot just 30 seconds into the middle frame. The sequence started with a strong forecheck from Charlie Coyle and Smith that freed the puck up for Erik Haula, who delivered a slick backhand dish to Carlo.
"That started with our first forward [Coyle], trying to get in there quick and be physical, second forward [Smith] did a good job of getting in there and was able to support the forecheck," said Sacco. "Then we had good depth with our third guy [Haula], made a nice play on the goal.
"The good thing about that goal was we had someone in front to the goaltender. Smitty did a great job of creating some net-front presence for the defenseman."

Another Building Block:Haula was determined to keep building his game on Thursday night. After a solid effort on Tuesday night in his return from a one-game absence as a healthy scratch, the veteran forward did just that as he put together one of his best games as a Bruin.
In addition to picking up a helper on Carlo's second-period marker and providing the screen on DeBrusk's power play tally, Haula also rang two shots of his own off iron - one a nifty backhand chance off the crossbar on the game's opening shift and another square off the right post on a breakaway opportunity early in the third period.
"Felt good. Felt like that was a solid effort again," said Haula, who also drew a high-sticking penalty in the third. "Was fun playing with Smitty and Chuckie. Feel like we had really good chemistry, created some really good scoring chances. Also kept it out of our zone. I liked our game. Couple in a row now, try to stay consistent and play my game."
Haula was playing the wing for the first time in Black & Gold as he bumped up to Boston's second line to play with Smith and Coyle.
"When I first signed here, I kind of talked about that I pride myself on versatility, being able to play anywhere I'm put," said Haula. "This kind of sums it up. If it's wing, center, whatever it is, just focus on my game is the main thing - puck battles, moving my feet, being dangerous off the rush and creating. I feel like that's a couple games to build off of now and have that as a base and try to keep that level of play up."

Smith's Homecoming: Smith spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Predators and on Thursday night returned to Nashville for the first time as a visitor. The winger donned the 'A' on his sweater and was in the starting lineup for the occasion, which included an emotional tribute video and a standing ovation from the Bridgestone Arena crowd during the first TV timeout.
"I told him to enjoy it," said Sacco. "It's something that doesn't happen very often. If you're fortunate, it doesn't happen very often. This is his first time back on a new team. He got the start tonight and I think the guys were very excited for him tonight. He played with a lot of energy."

Zboril Leaves Early: Jakub Zboril took a crushing hit from Nashville's Tanner Jeannot along the boards in the second period and needed assistance from Bruins assistant athletic trainer Dustin Stuck and his teammates to get to the dressing room as he appeared to struggle to put any weight on his right leg. Sacco did not have an update on the blue liner, who did not return with what the club labeled a lower-body injury.