Swayman stops 21, Bruins clinch 1st wild card in East with shutout of Devils

BOSTON -- Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves for the Boston Bruins, who clinched the first wild card in the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 win against the New Jersey Devils in their regular-season finale at TD Garden on Tuesday.

“We owed our fans and we’re so excited for the playoffs now,” Swayman said. “They’ve been supporting us all year long and it’s the best place to play in the world. It was good to do it the right way on Fan Appreciation Night.”

The Bruins finished with 100 points and will face the Buffalo Sabres, who won the Atlantic Division title on Monday, in the Eastern Conference First Round. It will be the first time the teams have met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2010 when Boston defeated Buffalo in the conference quarterfinals in six games.

“A very deserving opponent,” Swayman said. “They had a lot of success this year and we’re really excited to get up there. … They have a lot of skill. They get a lot of chances off the rush and they have some powerful forwards and skilled defensemen. We need to isolate and our coaching staff will do a great job of pre-scouting that and then it’s our (job) to make the details and effort work.”

David Pastrnak had an assist for his 100th point of the season, Mark Kastelic scored twice and Morgan Geekie also scored for the Bruins (45-27-10), who finished the regular season with back-to-back wins after losing five straight. Swayman’s shutout was his second of the season and 18th in the NHL.

“There was a lot of growth,” Swayman said of his performance throughout the regular season. “I was where I wanted to be mentally. I was where I wanted to be physically, and it couldn’t have happened without experience up until this point. I did my best to stay in the moment and dive into every game with full attention, full focus and the mindset to get the win. That’s helped a lot and I know we’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’m excited.”

Nico Daws made 22 saves for the Devils (42-37-3), who missed the playoffs for the third time in the past five seasons.

“It’s a frustrating way to end the season, but almost a fitting one for us,” New Jersey forward Connor Brown said. “It’s not the season we had in mind. There’s some major growth that needs to be done, and there are going to be a lot of changes here, but I’m very optimistic we have a lot of pieces to turn this around a lot quicker than people think.”

Boston scored all four of its goals in the first period.

“It was a frustrating one,” Brown said. “They got off to a good start, and they’re a good defensive team, especially on home ice. You can’t give them that type of lead because it becomes really hard to generate anything.”

Geekie gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 53 seconds. After a sustained forecheck, Pastrnak controlled the puck in the corner and found Geekie in the slot for a quick wrister past Daws short side.

Kastelic made it 2-0 at 6:14. Tanner Jeannot eluded two defenders in the corner and made a centering pass to Kastelic, who beat Daws five-hole.

Kastelic scored his second goal of the game at 17:42 to extend it to 3-0. Boston defenseman Mason Lohrei thwarted a breakout attempt, kept the puck in at the blue line, and fed Sean Kuraly at the bottom of the left circle for a one-touch delivery to Kastelic, who beat Daws off the crossbar.

Viktor Arvidsson pushed it to 4-0 with eight seconds remaining in the first. Daws made the initial save on Hampus Lindholm’s shot from the high slot, but Pavel Zacha grabbed the rebound and made a cross-crease pass to Arvidsson, who tapped it in backdoor.

“Full-team effort,” Pastrnak said. “From Day 1 we were saying we were tight and could feel it. It didn’t take us long to get together, get tight as a group and understand we have to play for each other. We had that feeling pretty early on in the season, so it’s easier to go to work every single day with these guys and going into battle with them. The way we came together right away from Day 1 and we deserve where we are right now.”

Zacha exited the game after the first period to attend to a family matter.

While the Bruins prepare for the playoffs, the Devils begin their offseason.

“Hunger,” Brown said of what the team’s focus should be this summer. “Guys have to work hard. We’re going to have a new (general manager) and everyone’s going to want to make a good impression. It’s going to be competitive internally and that’s a good place to start.

“I’m excited about the future here; it’s a tough way to end the season. This one stings, but I believe in a lot of pieces in this room. I believe in this group, and I think it’ll turn around quickly.”

Bruins coach Marco Sturm said he’s proud of what his team accomplished this season.

“Pretty amazing,” he said. “I never even thought about getting 100 points. I know how hard it is to get that amount in this league and it just says the way we played, the way the guys performed every day. The ups and downs we had early on, but after Christmas we really took off.

“I’m so proud of them, proud of my coaching staff for what we’ve accomplished. Again, 100 points is incredible. I’m very happy, very excited to reach that goal and share it with our great fans in Boston.”

NOTES: Pastrnak posted his fourth 100-point season in the NHL, joining Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito as the only Bruins to accomplish the feat. It was also Pastrnak’s fourth consecutive 100-point season, tying Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl for the third-longest such streak by a player born outside North America, behind only Peter Stastny (six) and Jari Kurri (five). … Arvidsson became the first Bruins player since Jarome Iginla (30 goals in 2013-14) to score at least 25 goals in his first season with the franchise.