BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Avalanche 1 - Bruins post statement win against Colorado

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-1 win over the Avalanche, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES 

Best win of the season

What a difference a couple of periods of play can make.

Just a few days ago, the Bruins seemed to be mired in an unenviable no-mans land — with a desire to contend hampered by a middling product on the ice. 

But after trudging through an ugly stretch of games against the Islanders and Senators, the Bruins (sans Brad Marchand once again) picked a great time to put forth their best performance all season.

While the writing seemed to be on the wall that the Bruins were in for a long afternoon at TD Garden, Bruce Cassidy’s club delivered a statement win against the Avalanche, posting a decisive 5-1 victory against the NHL’s top team (points-wise). 

Be it Boston’s offense finally breaking through at even-strength action and on the power play (goals for David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle), Jeremy Swayman standing tall in net (28 saves on 29 shots) or Boston’s defense shutting down a high-octane Colorado offense, this was about as complete a win as you could want from this roster.

Bruins might have a difficult decision when Marchand returns

The Bruins will gladly welcome Marchand and his offensive capabilities back into the lineup on Thursday against the Kraken, but No. 63’s return does create an interesting conundrum for Cassidy when it comes to balancing out the rest of his lines.

While the easy fix is reuniting 63-37-88, it sure seems like the Bruins need to keep David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall together moving forward — especially if it gets more O-zone juice out of Hall.

Craig Smith does seem like a potential candidate to slot up with Marchand and Bergeron, as was the case when Cassidy did his first real lineup reshuffle at the start of January, but with this line of Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle and Smith really stringing together some solid games in a row, the Bruins might want to keep that trio intact as a physical, puck-possession third line for the time being.

So who slots in on the Bergeron line? Oskar Steen? Jake DeBrusk on his weak side? It’s a good problem to have. 

SIX UP

David Pastrnak: Don’t look now, but it seems like Pastrnak is heating up once again. After going through one of his toughest stretches (down both ends of the ice), Pastrnak seems to be getting his scoring touch back, with the B’s top right winger burying three goals in his last two games. The Bruins will certainly take any and all offensive contributions from Pastrnak.

Frederic-Coyle-Smith line: The Bruins might have something brewing here with this heavy middle-six trio. They might not have etched their names on the stat sheet, but a dominant O-zone shift from this line opened the door for Pastrnak’s first goal at 17:30 in the first.  Coyle scoring on the power play with a bank shot off of Darcy Kuemper’s back at 4:04 in the third was just icing on the cake for this grouping. 

Jake DeBrusk: Pastrnak’s recent scoring surge has come at a much-needed time for Boston, but DeBrusk is also starting to wake up and add some pop to Boston’s fourth line. For the second game in a row, DeBrusk lit the lamp for Boston, with the winger moving his feet all game while making the most of his new north-south role. As we’ve said countless times before, it’s a good thing for all parties if DeBrusk is raising his stock and scoring regularly.

Taylor Hall + Patrice Bergeron: Yes, Pastrnak might have been the one that buried most of the chances, but I’d be remiss to not give both Bergeron and Hall their due in a game like this. It was a classic Bergeron stat line - 17:26 of ice time, one goal, a 74 percent showing in faceoffs and seven shots on goal. Hall meanwhile added three helpers in the win, and continues to look more and more comfortable on Boston’s top power-play unit. 

Jeremy Swayman: Yes, Boston did a fantastic job of keeping the Avs to the outside and limiting the number of Grade-A looks that Colorado was generating in the offensive zone. Still, any time you close out a game against the Avs with just one goal allowed, it’s quite impressive. In his last four games, Swayman is 3-0-1 with a .968 save percentage. 

Defensive effort: We’re casting a wide net here, but the Bruins deserve plenty of praise for clamping down against an Avs team that can bury you in a hurry. Be it slowing them down in transition or keeping Colorado’s big guns to the outside, Boston put together a winning formula against one of the premier teams in the league. 

ONE DOWN?

I mean … I got nothing. Considering all of the tough sledding that the Bruins have been trudging through over the last few weeks, we’re not knocking a team that put up arguably its best win of the season. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

Slick feed from Hall here to set up Bergeron’s tally. 

QUOTE OF NOTE

“I love afternoon games.” - David Pastrnak 

LOOSE PUCKS 

Uhhhhh.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will now head out on the road for a six-game trip out West, starting with a matchup against the Kraken on Thursday night. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m. in Boston’s first-ever trek out to Climate Pledge Arena.