Swayman earns 2nd straight shutout, Bruins score 7 against Sabres

BUFFALO --Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves for his second straight shutout, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-0 at KeyBank Center on Sunday.

It was Swayman's fourth shutout of the season, which is tied for second in the NHL behind Darcy Kuemper of the Washington Capitals and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders (five). He made 36 saves in a 3-0 win at the Winnipeg Jets on March 16 and has not allowed a goal in 144:52.
"It's special," Swayman said. "I haven't done that before. But again, just a quick memory. Forget about it as soon as I leave the locker room and just want to put myself in a position to perform next game. And again, it wouldn't be possible without the guys taking initiative in the defensive zone and blocking big shots all the way to the end. That's special to see with a group like this."
Jake DeBrusk had a goal and three assists, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (53-11-5), who have won three in a row.
"A little more concerted effort being five people connected," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "When we're playing connected like that, we all know where each other are in our spots. It's fun to watch them go."

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves for the Sabres (33-30-6), who have lost three straight and nine of 11 (2-7-2).
Buffalo remained six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We believe we're still in it, but we've got to actually go out and play," Sabres forward Dylan Cozens said. "It's not going to be easy games. Everyone wants to win at this time of the year. It's just unacceptable by us this last stretch."
Bergeron scored 15 seconds into the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, scoring from the slot off a pass that Brad Marchand sent from behind the net through Luukkonen's legs.
"A lot of times you cannot have those good starts and you kind of play a little too loose," Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. "But we wanted to make a priority to do that and not necessarily score off the shift. But it's always nice when you do that, but do it the right way, get rewarded right off the bat, and we kind of rolled from there."
Garnet Hathaway made it 2-0 at 9:01, beating Luukkonen short side from the right circle, and DeBrusk extended it to 3-0 at 11:40 off a backhand pass from Coyle near the right post.
Hampus Lindholm pushed it to 4-0 at 7:48. DeBrusk circled around the back of the net before sending a pass to Lindholm, who finished from the slot.
"We're giving too much time to players, and with all that time they get in the defensive zone they're making plays," Cozens said. "Guys are too good to have that much time and make plays off it. We need to pressure them more."

David Pastrnak scored a power-play goal to make it 5-0 at 10:37 of the third period. It was his 48th goal of the season, tying his NHL career high.
Coyle made it 6-0 from the slot at 11:33, and McAvoy scored from the bottom of the right circle at 17:59 for the 7-0 final.
"We're in a situation where there's a lot more stress on guys for the first time," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "… Stress going into the game and maybe a little anxiety going into the game, whatever it is. You have to deal with it and make sure you don't react differently. ... It may be stress of the grind or stress of fatigue or stress of playing through some things that can inhibit you from playing to your full capacity.
"But adjusting the right way. And again, we're in a very heightened situation, more of a microscope. What they've done to this point in the season has earned them that unfortunate pressure. Now it's learning to manage it and deal with it better."
NOTES: Swayman is the first Bruins goaltender to record consecutive shutouts in the regular season since Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas each did so in 2011-12. … It was Bergeron's 242nd career multipoint game, three shy of tying Rick Middleton for fifth in Bruins history. … DeBrusk has 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games this season, an NHL career high. … Bruins forward David Krejci was scratched due to soreness, Montgomery said. … Dmitry Orlov was scratched as part of Boston's rotation at defenseman. … The Sabres have allowed 17 goals in their past three games and at least five goals in four of their past six.