Frederic's Third-Period Outburst Propels Bruins in L.A.

LOS ANGELES - Nick Foligno hasn't been around Trent Frederic for all that long, but what he's seen from the young forward over the past year and a half has been significant.
"He's a hell of a player," said Foligno. "I've really enjoyed playing with him. It's really fun, even in my short time here, to see how he's grown as a player. He's gonna be a heck of a player in this league."
Frederic was a heck of a player on Thursday night as he paced the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at crypto.com Arena with a two-goal third period and a spirited bout with Brendan Lemieux in the second that showed the breadth of the St. Louis native's game.
"He can make a difference in so many different ways," added Foligno. "That's what makes him special…he's not just valuable with his fists, he's valuable with his presence on the ice and his ability to score, his ability to create space for everybody else."

With the game tied, 2-2, midway through the third period, Frederic struck for two goals in 34 seconds to quickly open up lead for Boston. The first tally came at 10:36 of the final frame when he tipped home Brandon Carlo's point shot from just outside the crease.
"I was just trying to get a stick on it and was lucky enough to go in," said Frederic. "There's a lot of times you top them and they don't. It was nice to see that go in. It kind of stayed on the same level…usually they go down. It was kind of like a bunt."
Frederic was right back at it later in the shift when he took a behind-the-back feed from Foligno from behind the net and patiently dangled around Kings goalie Pheonix Copley with a nifty forehand-backhand finish over the netminder's glove to put Boston ahead, 4-2, with 8:50 remaining.
"I haven't had anything like that, two goals in a shift," said Frederic. "I was actually ready to change after the first one. Too much on the celly. Lucky enough I stayed out there and got the other one."

The two-tally showing lifted Frederic's goal total to nine for the year, surpassing his career-high of eight set last season. The 24-year-old credited coach Jim Montgomery for helping to unlock some confidence in his offensive game.
"I'm playing free. He's just a great guy to be around. He's a great hockey guy. I think we gel well in that," Frederic said of Montgomery, who added that it was "awesome to hear" such praise from the forward.
"I could keep going on and on complimenting him, but also my linemates made really good plays. I'm just the guy who gets to put them in right now."
Frederic also used his hands for a different type of duty on Thursday evening. Midway through the second period, Frederic dropped the mitts with Lemieux, who had delivered a big hit on Charlie McAvoy earlier in the frame. It was a spirited bout between the heavyweights, who have now fought three times, one each in the past three seasons.
"He was kind of running around. I think it was his first game so he had a lot of energy," Frederic said slyly. "Good for him, I guess…I don't know him. Why not [keep fighting him]? I'll keep doing it if he wants to."
Foligno said he sees a bit of himself in Frederic as players who are better understanding their value to the team and the best role for them to thrive in.
"You can see how engaged he is, and I think he's understanding exactly who he is now. He has the ability to fight…it's when is the right time? It's when is it needed to spark the team? when does he need it for himself? We're kind of similar in that regard, where he's really understood what he means to this team when he plays the way he's playing, how good he is as a player for us.
"I was thrilled for him. He stepped up and fought a really tough kid. It seemed to kind of spark him and the team. He gets two huge goals for us. That's the Trent Frederic that I think everyone sees and he's really showing it consistently now."

The Winning Rolls On

With their victory against the Kings, Boston extended its point streak to 12 games (9-0-3) and secured its 30th win of the season in 38 games (30-4-4), marking the third time in NHL history a team has accomplished that feat (1929-30 Bruins, 30-4-1 in 35 GP; 1944-45 Canadiens, 30-5-3 in 38 GP).
"I think we're just excited about the chance we have to do something special here…we're just focused on getting better every game," said Foligno. "I think we were really excited tonight about having one of our best 60 minutes we've had in a long time. I think for our group, that was more of an encouragement than anything. We obviously know what our record is, but it's about we have room to grow, which is exciting and scary and a motivator for a lot of guys in this room.
"We're trying to do something special with the group that we have here. We know the opportunity we have in front of us and the type of team we are and we just have to get to that every night."
Montgomery echoed Foligno's sentiments, pointing out that he believed the Bruins' effort against the Kings was their best and most consistent across a whole game in some time.
"Just the pace of our play, the transition to offense, was instant, our forwards were re-loading, our D-men were tight gaps," Montgomery said of what he liked about the Bruins' game. "I thought the pucks were moving quickly, guys had their heads up. I think by far the best game we've played in a while."
The Bruins' three-goal third period gives them a league-leading 57, to go along with a plus-34 goal differential, over the final 20 minutes.
"I think it's the belief that we're gonna pull things out," said Montgomery. "I think other teams are aware that - I don't know, what are we plus-40 in the third? It's pretty significant and it's pretty remarkable what these guys have done."

Swayman Stands Tall

Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves to extend his personal point streak to five games (3-0-2), while improving his record for the season to 8-3-3. The netminder's best period came in the second when he stopped 14 of 15 shots, including scraping the puck off the goal line with his stick after a shot trickled through his pads.
"I think Swayman's really confident right now," said Montgomery. "Ever since, I don't know if it's six straight starts in a row now where he's been really good for us, he's given us opportunities to either win or we drop a game in overtime or we win the game."
Per the NHL, Swayman and Copley also became the first pair of Alaskan-born goaltenders to appear in the same game in league history.
"So special. It's something you never forget coming from Alaska," said Swayman. "I know Pheonix, I know what it took to get here. It's such an incredible state on the biggest stage. It's pretty incredible. Really, really excited to be a part of that with him. Obviously happy with the two points."
Swayman said that with Copley being six years older and from North Pole, Alaska, some seven hours away from his native Anchorage by car, the two have not really come across each other very often.
"We haven't really crossed paths unfortunately. Hopefully one of these summers we get to and that will be a special thing to talk about when we do," said Swayman. "He's older. He left when he was young too. He's from a different part, he's from North Pole. I've only been there a couple times and he lives up there, so that's awesome. We both know where it comes from so it's special to share this with him."

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