Bruins Take Care of Business in Win Over Rangers

BOSTON - The Bruins knew they were welcoming a weathered opponent to Causeway Street on Thursday night. The New York Rangers arrived having dropped four straight, including an emotional, fight-filled grudge match with the Washington Capitals just 24 hours prior - a loss that came on the heels of the club's front-office shakeup.
Boston made sure to take advantage of the situation, putting forth a mistake-free team effort with a 4-0 victory over the Blue Shirts at TD Garden, behind goals from Patrice Bergeron, Charlie McAvoy, Jake DeBrusk, and Brandon Carlo.
Brad Marchand and David Krejci also added two assists apiece, while Jeremy Swayman made 15 stops for his second career shutout.

"We're trying to build our game towards the playoffs," said Bergeron, who has now scored in four straight games. "[The Rangers are] a good team that skates well, that has a lot of talent. But tonight, was about us making sure that we're playing the way we want to play and everyone contributing. And I thought we did that."

Another Swayman Shutout

Swayman did not see much action at his end of the rink, but nevertheless made stops on all 15 shots he did face for his second shutout of the season. The 22-year-old is now 7-2-0 with 1.44 goals against average and .946 save percentage in nine games.
"He's having a blast and he's playing well," said McAvoy. "Seeing his attitude, the way he does it and how he carries himself - he loves to have fun at the rink. It's awesome. It's contagious. For him to come in and play the way that he has, it's a testament to where he is in his career, one year removed from college.
"Just seeing him come in and make the impact he has, has been great. His attitude is awesome, it's off the charts. He's always smiling, he talks a lot on the ice which is helpful for the D-men. He's having a heck of a time and playing awesome."
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy complimented the club's strong defensive effort in front of Swayman, led by a fully healthy D corps that featured McAvoy, Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Mike Reilly, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kevan Miller all in the lineup together for the first time.
"Defended well. Didn't play reckless. Pairs seemed to work well together," said Cassidy. "Reilly-Carlo is one [pairing] we hadn't seen. Got to that a bit in Jersey, liked what we saw, so figured we'd follow up. And then Lauzy and Grizz may toggle depending on opposition, how the games going, time and score. They both played with Charlie, Lauzon not as much with Miller. But it could be a tough pair to play against, obviously.
"That's what we're looking at right now. That's why we went that way tonight. I thought they moved the puck well for the most part and if they could just start reading off each other as we go down the stretch here - and again, some chemistry has been there and some of it is going to be developed here on the fly late.
"We did a real good job in front of our goaltender. We did not give up much tonight. Obviously, we had a team come in here that went through an emotional process [on Wednesday]. But still, you still have to play the game and I thought we did a real good job in front of him.

Carlo Goes to the Bank

Carlo has looked strong and confident in his first two games back from an oblique injury that cost him over a month, and he got rewarded with a fortunate bounce in the third period. The blue liner, who had a season-high five shots on goal, pinched down the wall after a Krejci faceoff win and sent the puck toward the net front from the goal line.
Craig Smith was waiting at the left post, but the puck never made it there as it clanked off Shesterkin and in for Carlo's third goal of the season just 1:07 into the finale frame.
"BC's a huge part of our back end," said McAvoy. "He's so good defensively and to see him the last few games get pucks on net, making plays in the O-zone, it's awesome to see his confidence where it's at. He's a tremendous player and means a lot to this group. To have him back and to see him playing well and be a big part of it is awesome."
Carlo, who played 20:15 of ice time, had Reilly as his partner for the first time.
"Brandon's eager to play, get back in the mix," said Cassidy. "He's closing as well as anybody, he's a little fresher. Liked his offensive instincts tonight. Obviously, the faceoff goals, the D-dive play we run a lot, but just being up in the play. Reilly moves the puck well, he's been off the ice a little bit, so for him it's keeping his legs under him, getting the battle level where it needs to be for playoff hockey in the next week.
"All in all, they both have good attributes in terms of size and good sticks. Obviously, Brandon's more the defender and Reilly the puck mover, but they can both complement each other oppositely there as well.
"Reilly is a decent defender, and Brandon - when he's skating - I think moves the puck well. I like what they brought tonight. Again, small sample size but it's a positive step."

McAvoy Blasts One

McAvoy has not seen much time with the No. 1 power-play unit of late, but he made sure to take advantage of his opportunity with them on Thursday night. With Grzelcyk off for a change, McAvoy hopped on, took a Marchand feed, and blasted a one-timer past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin from the tops of the circles for his fifth of the year and a 2-0 Boston lead with 1:25 left in the first period.
"Usually, it's me and Grizz changing for each other. There's times when he played the shift before and there's a penalty and you've got to get back out there and go, you know that you're coming quick," McAvoy explained. "Regardless of what unit you're out there with, you want to be stable up top and distribute the puck well. I was just trying to do that. We caught a bit of a fortunate break. I think they had lost a man and maybe even a stick. Was kind of just reading the play from there, the ice that I had."

DeBrusk Breaks Through

Following Thursday's morning skate, DeBrusk met with the media and acknowledged that the game is not as fun for a goal scorer when the puck isn't going in the net. For the winger, it had been 13 games since he'd put one past the goalie, but he broke through against the Rangers with a silky finish on a breakaway in the second period that gave Boston a 3-0 lead.
"We're trying to get him to help us win," said Cassidy. "The goal tonight, good read by him to get behind their D on a turned-over puck in D-zone coverage. Good job, good stick, started with [Taylor] Hall. Krejci saw Jake go…good move by Jake.
"He had a similar opportunity the other night in Jersey, the goalie made the save. But at the end of the day, if he can pitch in with some goals and help us win in other areas of the game, I'll have more fun coaching and hopefully he'll have more fun playing."