The Boston Bruins took a redirection in leadership, and so far under interim head coach Joe Sacco, the page has begun to turn.
Boston made a brief trip to visit the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night and came away with a 2-1 victory at Little Caesars Arena, showing a multitude of improvements. However, nobody exemplified that flip-of-the-switch better than goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who saved 19-of-20 shots to lead the Bruins to their second straight win.
Swayman entered the night having allowed 12 goals in two showings but felt an internal change of direction for the 10-9-3 Bruins.
“It’s one game at a time and taking positives out of each game,” Swayman told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I think we’re doing a good job of that, and this room’s coming together the right way. It starts with our leaders, and everyone’s coming out of their shell a little bit, and it’s been fun to watch each individual become of their own.”
Swayman added: “We’re taking steps in the right direction every day.”
The Bruins broke a scoreless deadlock on the power play in the first period, and supplemented Swayman’s elite effort by holding the Red Wings scoreless on their four power-play opportunities. Taking advantage of those power play chances, of course, has haunted Boston all season long but in the Motor City, the vibes were fully positive.
Striving to maintain poise rewarded the Bruins in the third period when Brad Marchand re-energized the group with a go-ahead goal. From there, Detroit pulled its desperation move in emptying its net but that wasn’t enough to overcome Boston’s defense.
“I think the commitment for our guys is protecting the front of the net first,” Sacco said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “And we’re doing a better job of that. We’re trying to keep the play to the outside; that’s where we’re at our best. Same thing defending the rush. I still think we can get better, but there’s steps in the right direction.”
Here are more notes from Saturday night’s Bruins-Red Wings matchup:
— Swayman kept the Red Wings scoreless throughout the second and third periods, collecting a few clutch saves along the way after Detroit emptied its net and acquired its fourth and final power play opportunity in the final seconds of regulation.
“Just looked more confident there,” Sacco said, per NESN. “To me, it’s square to the puck. I’m not an expert on the goalie but certainly looked like he had some of his swagger back in his game tonight. So that’s a good sign for us.”
— Sacco, now unbeaten through his first two games at the helm for Boston, became the eighth head coach in Bruins history to begin his stint 2-0.
Boston is 3-for-15 on the power play in its last three games, totaling 25 shots. During its previous six games ahead of that stretch, the Bruins were 0-for-17 in power-play scoring chances.
Marchand’s third-period goal tallied the 36-year-old’s 80th career game-winner. The 15-year-old veteran has up to 18 goals, 24 assists, 13 power-play points, and six game-deciders in 42 career matchups against the Red Wings.
“There’s some good things that we can take out of this game that we can build on,” Marchand said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Like I said, it’s not easy to win in this league, and you have to be happy about it. So we’ll be excited, but we have a lot of work to continue to do and continue to get better.”
The Bruins will next host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET.
