OTTAWA — After a 6-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday, the Boston Bruins wanted to right the ship early in their game Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.
And they did.
Trent Frederic scored 45 seconds into the game and Curtis Lazar added another first-period goal to account for all the scoring as the Bruins took a 2-0 win over the Senators.
“We were ready to play, we were on our toes and it showed," said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. "Great way to start and probably something we needed. I’m not saying we needed to score on the first shift but we needed to be on time today, be in the game early and build some momentum off of that and obviously we were.
“We were clearly the better team in the first period and the game kind of levelled out after that but we did enough to win the game.”
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bruins (27-16-3) and marked Jeremy Swayman's second shutout of the season.
The 23-year-old goalie made 30 saves on Saturday and now has four clean sheets in his NHL career.
At the other end of the ice, Matt Murray made 35 saves as the Senators (16-24-4) were outshot 37-30.
Murray has stopped 77 of the 80 shots he’s faced over the past two games, both 2-0 shutout losses.
Ottawa's offence has dried up completely in recent outings.
Including their 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, the Senators have gone 157 minutes and six seconds without scoring.
“We weren’t ready. I mean, obviously, the first shift they score. They tap one in from a foot in front of our net and that sets us off on the wrong foot. They were coming off a 6-0 loss and they were hungry,” Senators coach DJ Smith explained.
Ottawa's last goal came three games ago when Chris Tierney gave them a 4-0 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes at 2:54 of the second period.
“We’re six periods without a goal, so you have to get more pucks to the net," Smith said. "There are guys that score and some are not playing now, and some that are cold that are playing. We need scoring from other areas. A (defenceman) scoring, or a depth forward scoring and that’s not happening right now.”
The Senators had chances in the third on Saturday, outshooting the Bruins 14-9 and playing with Murray on the bench in favour of an extra attacker for most of the final four minutes.
The Bruins were quick out of the gate scoring just 45 seconds into the game as Frederic collected his third of the season. After Murray made a sprawling pad save off Charlie Coyle, Frederic jammed the rebound in from the crease as the goalie tried to find the puck.
The advantage was doubled to 2-0 at 13:26 of the first period when Lazar was the recipient of a fortunate bounce. A rebound off an Anton Blidh shot hit Lazar in the leg and went past Murray for his sixth of the season.
“It think it started yesterday in practice,” Lazar said in reference to the quick start.
“We battled, we competed, we skated and that carried over today. Look at our first shift. We kind of set the tone and that built the game for everyone. I thought we did a good job supporting the puck all over the ice and it was a good solid effort for us.”
The Bruins had 11 shots on goal in the opening five minutes and outshot the Senators 22-8 in the first period.
The Sens tightened up defensively and outshot the Bruins 8-6 in the second, but neither team was able to score.
The Senators are in Washington for a matinee against the Capitals on Sunday while the Bruins are off until Tuesday when they pay a visit to the New York Rangers.
NOTES: The Senators reassigned forward Parker Kelly to Belleville in the American Hockey League on Friday. … Forward Clark Bishop and defenceman Victor Mete were scratches for the Senators Saturday. Forward Patrice Bergeron and defenceman Mark Grzelcyk were scratches for the Bruins, and Brad Marchand missed the game while serving the second of his six-game suspension. … Kyle Rehman and Gord Dwyer were the referees Saturday. Brandon Gawryletz and Travis Toomey worked the lines.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2022.
Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press
