Swayman makes 36 saves, Bruins blank Jets

WINNIPEG --Jeremy Swayman made 36 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Thursday.

It was Swayman's second shutout in his past seven starts and third of the season.
"'Sway' had to be terrific, and he was terrific," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "That might have been his best game of the year and he's had a lot of good ones, just for his tracking, his control. He didn't let any rebounds out."
Trent Frederic, Pavel Zacha, and Tomas Nosek scored for the Bruins (51-11-5), who had lost three of four (1-3-0) but moved 11 points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes atop the Eastern Conference.
"It's definitely not acceptable for a group like this that we have, and just the depth we have line for line," Swayman said. "We expect a lot of ourselves each night, and it's really special to get this bounce-back win and get a response for our coaches."

Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves for the Jets (38-28-3), who went 0-for-5 on the power play. They have lost four of their past six games (2-3-1) and 11 of 15 (4-9-2).
Winnipeg trails the Colorado Avalanche by five points for third place in the Central Division after Colorado won 5-4 at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
"It's really disappointing; we need these points," Jets forward Adam Lowry said. "They're so critical right now, and we're almost scoreboard watching every night right now. So, it would have been nice to see a few of those go in. I thought for the most part we played a really solid game, and obviously you're playing the best team in the League."
Frederic gave Boston a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the first period on a one-timer of Tyler Bertuzzi's pass from behind the net. It was Frederic's 15th goal of the season.
Zacha made it 2-0 at 13:22. He skated from his own blue line on the right wing and ripped a wrist shot from the circle past Hellebuyck.

Winnipeg outshot Boston 13-7 in the first.
"[Swayman] was really important, especially in the first period when they outshot us pretty badly there," Zacha said. "He held us in the game, and our penalty kill too helped us a lot. There was a great team effort overall and we're happy to win."
Nosek scored an empty-net goal with six seconds left in the third period for the 3-0 final.
Swayman preserved the shutout with 12 saves in the third.
"A couple of goal posts, we missed a couple tap-ins around the net … yeah, it could've [gone either way]," Jets coach Rick Bowness said. "But we have to put those pucks in the back of the net. The opportunities were there. Their goalie was really good. We didn't capitalize on the chances they gave us."
Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort did not play in the third after he blocked a shot late in the second period.
Boston continues its five-game road trip (1-2-0) Saturday at the Minnesota Wild.
"I think we're going to get him evaluated tomorrow morning again just to see what exactly it is, but we know he's not going to be a player for probably the rest of this trip," Montgomery said.
NOTES:Swayman, 24, has eight shutouts in 75 career NHL starts. Frank Brimsek (16) and Tuukka Rask (11) are the only goalies in Bruins history with more before the age of 25. … Boston's 51 victories matches its win total from last season with 15 games still to play. … The Jets allowed a goal in the opening minute of the game for the third time this season and were shut out for the fourth time.