Swayman makes 30 saves as Bruins blank Senators 2-0

Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves, and the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Saturday.

It was the 23-year-old Swayman’s second shutout of the season and No. 4 for his career.

Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar scored for Boston (27-16-3), which was coming off an ugly 6-0 loss to Carolina on Thursday night.

“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,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

“We were clearly the better team in the first period and the game kind of leveled out after that but we did enough to win the game.”

Matt Murray made 35 saves for Ottawa (16-24-4). Murray stopped 77 of the 80 shots he faced over the past two games.

“We weren’t ready,” Senators coach DJ Smith said. “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.”

Including their 2-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Senators have gone 157 minutes and six seconds without scoring.

Their last goal came three games ago when Chris Tierney gave them a 4-0 lead over the 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 (defenseman) 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 favor of an extra attacker for most of the final four minutes.

The Bruins scored just 45 seconds into the game when 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.

Lazar got his sixth of the season at 13:26. A rebound off an Anton Blidh shot hit Lazar in the leg and went past Murray.

“I 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.

WATCHING

Bruins forward Brad Marchand served the second of a six-game suspension for roughing and high-sticking Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

Senators: Visit the Washington Capitals on Sunday.