BSJ Game Report: Penguins 1, Bruins 0 - Swayman stands tall but B's can't break through against Pittsburgh

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 1-0 loss to the Penguins in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

After three straight games against the cellar-dwelling Sabres, it was a breath of fresh air to see the Bruins suddenly embroiled in a playoff-like bout against the Penguins on Sunday, with both clubs not giving up an inch when it came to Grade-A ice in their respective zones.

But after two periods of play in which both Boston and Pittsburgh failed to light the lamp against Jeremy Swayman and Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh finally broke through — with Jake Guentzel rifling a puck into twine at 4:03 in the third to lift the Penguins to an eventual 1-0 victory.

Boston has now dropped two games in a row and fall to 27-14-6 on the season — with the Rangers (who are currently battling the Sabres) sitting just six points behind the Bruins for the fourth and final spot in the East Division.

Now, despite a 1-0 final in which Jeremy Swayman turned in another strong performance (28 saves on 29 shots) and the B's D corps kept a high-powered Pens offense at bay for most of the evening, the shot totals from the matchup were a bit misleading when it came to how close Boston was to securing an equalizer against Jarry. Even though Boston outshot Pittsburgh, 30-29, the B's didn't make Jarry work all that much in this one, with the Penguins holding a commanding 30-13 edge in scoring chances and an 11-2 advantage in high-danger looks.

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Both teams played a structured, stingy game in this one — but Boston isn't going to win many of these hard-fought games in the postseason if they can't get inside more.

Cassidy shuffles up lines again: Patience has been prescribed for the Bruins' forward corps since the trade deadline, with only an injury to Patrice Bergeron on Friday prompting Bruce Cassidy to shuffle up his lines since Taylor Hall has arrived and shorted the B's top-six unit. But on Sunday, something had to give — with Cassidy putting his usual set-up of Ritchie-Coyle-DeBrusk / Kuraly-Lazar-Wagner in a blender after another slow start from the third line.

For most of the afternoon, Cassidy opted for ...

DeBrusk-Lazar-Coyle
Ritchie-Kuraly-Wagner

... but it unfortunately did little to spark Boston. You could make the case that the switcheroo hampered that fourth line, which was holding its own in matchups against Sidney Crosby line in the early going with Lazar in the middle. But after an icing from Ritchie gave Crosby and Co. another chance in Boston's zone, it led to Guentzel's tally just seconds later. Meanwhile, both Coyle and DeBrusk seem completely rudderless — with Pittsburgh holding a 6-1 edge in scoring chances when that duo was on the ice together.

ONE UP

Jeremy Swayman: Well, at least Swayman showed up for this one — shutting down a number of Grade-A looks to keep Boston in this one. Among the 70 goalies in the NHL that have logged at least 350 minutes of ice time this season, Swayman ranks first with a .915 save percentage on high-danger shots. At this point, it's getting harder and harder to keep the kid out of Boston's goaltender rotation.

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TWO DOWN

Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk: A whole bunch of Bruins forwards really labored in this one, especially when it came to fighting inside and generating chances — but man, both Coyle and DeBrusk are dragging this team down right now. After experiencing a bit of a breakthrough on Thursday against Buffalo, both forwards have gone quiet once again. If Boston isn't going to start getting some consistent scoring punch from its bottom six, the ceiling on this B's team come the postseason is going to be a lot more limited.

Jeremy Lauzon: Lauzon had himself a rough afternoon — especially in the early going of Sunday's game, with the Penguins holding a 6-0 edge in high-danger scoring chances when the defenseman was out on the ice. Lauzon owes Swayman a beer or two for bailing him out after a number of failed keep-ins and puck-watching in the D-zone, while a timely backcheck from Taylor Hall also helped avoid disaster in the opening 20 minutes.

PLAY(S) OF THE GAME

A great stop by Swayman and a great backcheck from Hall here.

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PARTING THOUGHTS

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their road trip on Tuesday when they battle the Penguins again at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.