Swayman, Bruins defeat Rangers for 4th straight win

NEW YORK -- Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for the Boston Bruins in their fourth straight win, 3-1 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Swayman has allowed four goals in four starts since Jan. 5, including a 29-save shutout in a 6-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
"He's been fantastic, and he just keeps getting better and better," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "What I like was how he was reading everything and he made really hard saves look pretty easy."
Patrice Bergeron, Pavel Zacha and Connor Clifton scored for the Bruins (36-5-4), who have won six consecutive road games and have a nine-game road point streak (8-0-1). They are 8-1-0 in January. Brad Marchand and David Krejci each had two assists.
"In every position everyone is contributing," Bergeron said. "We trust everyone. Everyone is playing up to their abilities and capabilities, and I think it shows. The four lines are able to get over the boards. We're managing ice time. We trust everyone, and it makes a difference."
Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves and Ben Harpur scored his first goal of the season for the Rangers (25-14-7), who have seven goals in their past four games (2-2-0). They were 0-for-3 on the power play and are 1-for-19 in their past six games.
"We made a lot of good plays and we probably should have had three or four goals tonight," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "You've got to give Swayman some credit. I wasn't disappointed with our chances, I was disappointed with our chances against. That's what disappointed me tonight."
Zacha gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the first period with a deflection in the slot of Krejci's slap shot from the right point.

The Rangers killed the Bruins' 5-on-3 power play for 1:42 that started with 5:33 remaining in the period. But Swayman wouldn't let them take advantage of the momentum.
He made a glove save on Artemi Panarin's shot off the rush from the right face-off circle at 16:35 and stopped Chris Kreider's deflection of Panarin's pass at 19:56.
"I just want to play my part," Swayman said. "The guys are going to put pressure on them, and I just want to make sure I'm keeping our net safe, build momentum for us. A big penalty kill like that can build momentum for the other team, so I knew I needed to come up big if I was tested. That's what I wanted to do."
Bergeron extended Boston's lead to 2-0 at 4:42 of the second period with a shot from the right circle that went in under the crossbar.

There was some internal debate about whether Bergeron would even play after he was struck in the right side of the face by David Pastrnak's deflected shot early in the third period of a 4-1 win at the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
Bergeron returned to the game against the Islanders, but the Bruins weren't sure if the swelling overnight would prevent him from being able to play against the Rangers.
Sporting cuts and bruises near his nose, Bergeron skated in warmups and said he felt good to go.
"It's obviously a little sore, but I felt fine during the game and got through it," Bergeron said. "It was more making sure that everything was fine, depending on the swelling, how it was going to feel today. I was hoping that it was going to stay manageable, and it did. There was no issue for me on the ice."
Swayman again preserved the Bruins lead by stopping Panarin on a breakaway at 13:07 of the second. He made 22 saves in the first two periods, 11 in each.
Clifton scored 28 seconds into the third period, making it 3-0 with a short-side shot from the right circle off a 2-on-1 with Marchand, the result of a Rangers turnover at the far blue line.
"That one early in the third took a little wind out of our sails," New York captain Jacob Trouba said. "We kind of got going again at the end, but it's just not enough."
Harpur scored with a shot from the left point into the top right corner to cut it to 3-1 at 15:37 of the third.
Swayman made two more saves, and the Bruins blocked four shots in the final four minutes to seal the win.
"We've seen what the best is," Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow said. "It's up to us to continue to build our game and get it up to their level."
NOTES: Pastrnak, Panarin and Rangers defenseman Adam Fox were among the
12 players chosen
Thursday in the 2023 NHL All-Star Fan Vote presented by Guaranteed Rate to participate in the Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. ...Boston played the final 38:15 with five defensemen, losing Brandon Carlo to a lower-body injury early in the second period. Montgomery said the Bruins are going to be cautious with Carlo, indicating he might not play in their next game, against the San Jose Sharks at home Sunday. … Boston was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, improving to 15-for-15 in its past three games and 34-for-35 in 11 games since Dec. 28. … The Bruins have gotten five goals from defensemen in their past four games. … Kreider played 18:24 and had three shots on goal in his first game back after missing three with an upper-body injury.