Swayman Shuts Out Bolts To Help Bruins Flip Switch

The NHL trade deadline shook the Boston Bruins to their core. Jeremy Swayman stabilized them.

Behind a nearly unrecognizable lineup, Swayman stopped all 26 shots he faced Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena to pick up his fourth shutout of the season and help the Bruins snap a three-game losing streak in a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s unbelievable,” Swayman said. “We’ve been building for a while now. It feels like we just haven’t been getting results. For today, to get the result after everything that happened yesterday, just goes to show what we have in this locker room, even with the new faces. They know what they’re doing here, putting on the Bruins Jersey. That’s a huge testament to the guys that were here for longer than I have been.”

A scoreless tie at the end of the first period was, in a strange sense, a small victory for the Bruins, all things considered. So, too, was Mark Kastelic’s scrap with Emil Lilleberg, a fight that was nearly two months in the making after the Lightning defenseman put him into concussion protocol back in early January.

It wasn’t until the midway point of the second period that Cole Koepke broke the stalemate for Boston with his first goal of the game, flying into the attacking end as the Bruins created a turnover and slipped a shot past and slipped a shot past Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy. Having spent most of the year on the fourth line for the Bruins, the recent roster changes elevated Koepke up to the second line, where he skated next to fellow Minnesota natives Vinni Lettieri and the newly acquired Casey Mittlestadt.

“I knew Casey, playing against him all the time growing up, and then knew Vinni a little bit before this year,” said Koepke. “Three Minnesota guys coming full circle, playing together in the NHL is pretty cool.”

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An empty-net goal from Nikita Zadorov, followed by Koepke’s second of the game and ninth of the season, sealed the win for the Bruins, which was just their second in eight games since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

“We were on our toes, and we were assertive in our game,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “To me, that’s a sign of a team that’s ready to play, which is good. I didn’t sense any hesitation. I didn’t sense that we were passive with our forecheck. We just went out there, and we played, and we executed a pretty good game.”

The win improved Boston’s record to 29-28-8 and, for now, keeps it in the playoff hunt, just three points back of the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

After the fire sale by the front at the trade deadline, a postseason berth feels far-fetched at this point for the Bruins. But as there is a chance, the players who remain are going to fight for it.

“It’s a really different room in here right now, and that’s okay,” Swayman. “But again, we’re not going to just let it go like we don’t miss those guys. We miss those guys a lot, and we wish them nothing but the best. We know they’re going to help their teams have success, so it’s our job to stick to the process and represent the Boston Bruins the right way and lead by example.”

The Bruins host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

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