BSJ Game Report: Bruins 7, Kings 0 - DeBrusk’s scoring outburst continues, Swayman posts 3rd shutout in rout over LA

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 7-0 win over the Kings with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES 

DeBrusk stays hot

The Bruins suddenly have a fantastic problem on their hands.

As we’ve said countless times on this site, the easiest way for both Jake DeBrusk and the Bruins to come out of this trade-saga drama as winners is for the disgruntled winger to raise his stock ahead of the March 21 deadline. 

He’s done that and then some now, with DeBrusk continuing his O-zone surge on Monday with his first career hat trick and four-point game (3 goals, 1 assist).

DeBrusk completed his natural hat trick in just over six minutes of ice time at Crypto.com Arena, giving Boston a 3-0 lead at 0:53 in the second and sparking Boston to an eventual 7-0 blowout win over a red-hot Kings team.  

While this would seemingly fall right in line with Boston’s plans of maximizing DeBrusk’s value ahead of an eventual trade, you do wonder if Boston might be starting to have a few reservations about such a deal — at least if the B’s winger continues to put forth production like this on Boston’s top line.

Unlikely? Yes. But it does give the Bruins something to think about as they look to find a return that’s to their liking for DeBrusk. 

The Bruins are rolling right now

Beyond DeBrusk’s continued resurgence on the scoresheet, this was about as encouraging of a win as you can ask from Boston — especially on the road against a Kings team that had won five in a row and seven of eight games entering Monday night. 

Let's run down the list of positive takeaways from this one:

Jeremy Swayman? Stout as ever - with the rookie netminder continuing his dominant run with a 34-save shutout. 

Boston’s top line is as good as ever — with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand chipping in with three and two points, respectively. 

The second line of David Pastrnak, Erik Haula and Taylor Hall also toyed with the Kings, combining for six total points on the night, with Haula lighting the lamp twice in the third period.

Even a Bruins power play that has been struggling a ton as of late finally cashed in during the second period via a Bergeron deflection tally. 

Don’t look now, but with this top-six unit hitting its stride and Swayman continuing to entrench himself in the No. 1 spot in net, this Bruins team is gaining some momentum ahead of what could be a busy trade-deadline season. 

FIVE UP

Jake DeBrusk and Boston’s top line: DeBrusk is picking a great time to put together the hottest offensive stretch of his career. The winger’s stock is soaring right now with seven goals and nine total points over his last five games. His neutral-zone drive that set up Haula’s second goal of the night might have been his best play of the evening. At this point, Don Sweeney has to be fielding some pretty strong offers for DeBrusk, right? … Right? 

At this point, the Bruins might want to keep DeBrusk on this top line with Bergeron and Marchand for a bit longer. In their 10:31 of 5v5 ice time tonight, the Bruins outscored the Kings, 2-0, and held a 15-6 edge in shot attempts. 

Taylor Hall: The first line has been on a roll since Marchand returned and DeBrusk slotted up at right wing — but it was good to see the B’s other top-six forward grouping also land a few punches — including a Hall tally on the rush. Hall is now up 12 points in his last 11 games.

Penalty kill: This game could have gone sideways in the early minutes of the second period, with the Kings handed a 5-on-3 opportunity for over a minute following calls against Jesper Froden and Derek Forbort. But Boston’s PK was up to the task, with the Kings limited to three shots on goal over that extended look on the man advantage. Good stuff from both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo to keep Boston’s three-goal lead intact. 

Erik Haula: Haula’s power-play tally might have come in garbage time in the third period, but there were plenty of individual milestones checked off with this goal. For Haula, it was the 100th goal of his NHL career, while both Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith recorded their 200th career assists on the strike. Haula added his 101st goal just a few minutes later. 

Jeremy Swayman: Yes, DeBrusk remains red hot and Boston’s big guns all landed plenty of welts against a good Kings team. But in the midst of all that, Jeremy Swayman continues to look fantastic in net. With his 34-save shutout on Monday, Swayman is now 5-0-1 in his last six games with a .971 save percentage.

ONE DOWN

Jesper Froden: The effort was certainly there for the 27-year-old rookie, but he’s not going to land in Bruce Cassidy’s good graces by committing O-zone penalties like the holding call levied against him in the second period. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

Quite the snipe from DeBrusk here. He’s feeling it right now. 

LOOSE PUCKS

DeBrusk continuing to light the lamp may not have been a big surprise given his scorching scoring streak as of late, but the most predictable outcome I could’ve called ahead of puck drop was Trent Frederic and Brendan Lemieux dropping the gloves. These two HATE each other.  

Oh, Jack. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their six-game road trip on Tuesday with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks. Puck drop is set for 10:00 p.m. EST.