Swayman gets 3rd shutout of season, Bruins defeat Devils

BOSTON -- Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season with the Boston Bruins, a 3-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden on Monday.

"Shutouts are a team shutout, every night," Swayman said. "Tonight was obviously a great example of that. Guys filling lanes, blocking shots, making my life easy so I can see every puck. And I had clear rebounds, so I think it's definitely a team accolade."

David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Brad Marchand had two assists for Boston (26-8-9), which returned from a four-game road trip to win its second in a row after losing three straight via overtime or the shootout.

"That's not an easy game for us after being in three different time zones," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "Momentum from the last game, the second and third period, the way we played, I think carried over into the first [win]. I think we were running out of fumes, but we really managed the game well."

Nico Daws made 33 saves for New Jersey (22-16-3), which has lost three of four (1-2-1).

"It's just soft [goals]," Daws said. "I have too much confidence in myself. I know I can save those shots. I just misplayed them both a little bit, and players in this league are good enough [that] when you make a little mistake, it's [going to] be in the back of your net."

James van Riemsdyk appeared to open the scoring for the Bruins at 7:37 of the first period, but the Devils successfully challenged the play for offside.

Charlie Coyle gave Boston a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the second, backhanding Marchand's centering feed past Daws.

"It's always a momentum push," Devils captain Nico Hischier said. "I think we responded pretty well to it and had some chances of our own. We just couldn't find the back of the net."

Devils forward Nathan Bastian had a prime net-front chance at 19:20 of the second, but Swayman made a huge pad save to maintain the one-goal lead.

"Just his overall presence in the crease," Montgomery said. "He's always had a swagger and confidence to him, but now he really seems to be dialed in as to tracking and his depth in the crease."

Pastrnak made it 2-0 at 3:22 of the third with a one-timer from the left face-off circle while on the power play.

"I think the first period set the tempo for the rest of the game," Pastrnak said. "We had one of the better starts that we didn't for a while, so we just tried to make sure we keep going."

Trent Frederic scored an empty-net goal at 18:42, diving with his outstretched stick to beat Simon Nemec to the puck and push it across for the 3-0 final.

"We had some opportunities around the front of the net that I think if we would have gone up, we would've been able to score," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "But we knew it was going to be tight. We kept it tight. We gave ourselves a chance late."

NOTES: Swayman's 12th NHL shutout tied him with Tiny Thompson for the third most by a Bruins goalie 25 or younger (Frank Brimsek, 22; Tuukka Rask, 13). ... Pastrnak has 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists) in 43 games this season, the third time he's reached 60 points in 43 games or fewer (42 in 2019-20 and 43 in 2022-23). Three other players in Bruins history have done so at least three times: Bobby Orr (six), Phil Esposito (six) and Bill Cowley (three). ... Devils defenseman Brendan Smith left at 6:06 of the first with a leg injury. Ruff said he needs to be evaluated further before providing any updates.