4 takeaways from the Bruins’ surprising win over the Canucks

It may be a stretch to call a game on December 14th “an unconditional win,” but Saturday night in Vancouver felt pretty close to that for the Boston Bruins after a miserable first two games on their Western road trip.

To their credit, the Bruins responded emphatically and dominated the Canucks from the puck drop en route to a 5-1 win. They took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Brad Marchand and Morgan Geekie, outscored Vancouver 16-4 in the first period, and then just kept going from there.

“That was huge,” Charlie McAvoy told NESN after the game. “It really had the atmosphere in the room, almost like a game of life and death. I definitely didn’t want to lose three times in a row. That doesn’t work in this league. Two we wanted to wash away and get behind us. Playing against a good Vancouver team, we really needed that and I think we played desperate. Welcome to the journey.”

Here are four takeaways from the win:

Pastrnak takes over

Teams leave like their best players. On Thursday in Seattle, David Pastrnak set a bad tone when he took a double high-stick minor penalty just 16 seconds into the game, setting up the Kraken’s first goal.

On Saturday in Vancouver, Pastrnak rebounded strongly and led the Bruins to victory with a dominant four-point effort. He assisted on the Bruins’ first three goals and then scored the fifth. It was Pastrnak’s 16th career four-point game and his first since April 9, 2023.

Pastrnak received the second assist on Marchand’s first power play goal, passing the puck to Elias Lindholm, who then hit Marchand’s back door. The next two assists were primary and pretty.

A few minutes after Marchand’s goal, Pastrnak received a pass from Pavel Zacha behind the net, quickly turned to the far post and directed a pass through a defender to Geekie in front for the finish.

At the beginning of the second period, Pastrnak won a battle in the neutral zone and made a nice pass to Pavel Zacha, who extended the lead to 3-0 with a breakaway.

On the first shift of the third period, it was Pastrnak who scored. He took a drop pass from McAvoy, pulled Thatcher Demko out of position and then beat Demko at the far post for a wraparound finish.

The goals didn’t come as quickly as he was used to for Pastrnak this season. He leads the NHL in shots on goal but has a shooting percentage of 8.7%, well below his career average of 13.7%. However, the points start coming. After Saturday, Pastrnak now has 10 assists and 13 points in his last nine games.

Power play breakthrough

It was nearly impossible to find anything positive in Tuesday’s 8-1 loss in Winnipeg, but perhaps the only thing was that the top power-play unit scored for the first time in nine games, and did so during the game reasonably competitive.

On Saturday they scored again, this time opening the scoring and setting the tone for the game. The result was great movement of both bodies and the puck, something this unit just hasn’t had enough of this season.

This game is worth breaking down. Marchand starts with the puck at the left point, throws it to Pastrnak in the left circle and then, instead of standing still, makes a diagonal straight course to the right doorstep.

Pastrnak pushed the puck to Elias Lindholm, who initially started in front of the net before bouncing out to the left doorstep. Pavel Zacha fakes a move into the slot, but then pulls away when Marchand goes through instead.

The end result was a confused Canucks penalty shootout where it wasn’t clear where everyone was going. Lindholm and Marchand end up on a 2-on-1 down low, and Lindholm beats Marchand to score.

That’s what great power plays do. That’s what the Bruins’ 31st-ranked power play needs to do much more often.

Easy night for Swayman

The Bruins needed to get back on their feet as a team, and Jeremy Swayman definitely needed to get back on his feet individually after giving up a career-best eight goals on Tuesday in Winnipeg.

He did that on Saturday, with a lot of help from a much better defensive performance in front of him. Swayman faced just four shots in the first period and had a 3-0 cushion to work with before the Canucks could come close to mounting an offensive attack.

They applied some pressure in the second period, but Swayman was prepared. He made twelve saves during this period, including three from dangerous chances. His best save came a minute after the Bruins’ fourth goal, when he reached out to deny Kiefer Sherwood a rebound chance with his left leg.

Swayman probably should have had the shutout. The Canucks’ only goal came with 9:47 to play on a sloppy “Well, we’re up 5-0” from Lindholm on the breakout. Max Sasson’s shot from a 2-on-1 feed barely made it through Swayman’s five-hole.

McLaughlin makes the case for staying after the addition of Wahlstrom

The Bruins made an interesting move early Saturday, claiming 24-year-old right winger Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers from the New York Islanders. Wahlstrom, a Maine native and Boston College graduate who scored a lacrosse-style goal in a mini one-on-one at TD Garden at age 9, is expected to report on Sunday or Monday before Tuesday’s game Report to the Bruins Calgary.

Wahlstrom was the 11th overall pick in 2018 and certainly has some offensive talent and creativity, but he has really struggled to perform and stay on the Islanders roster in recent years. He managed just two goals and two assists in 27 games this season before being released.

The Bruins are obviously hoping a homecoming and a change of scenery will get him on the right path. They must keep Wahlstrom on their NHL roster or waive him, so sending him to Providence is not an option. The Bruins have enough cap space to keep 14 forwards on the active roster, but whether they do so remains to be seen. It can be difficult enough to get 13 strikers enough playing time, let alone 14.

Which brings us to… one possible move would be to send Marc McLaughlin back to Providence. However, McLaughlin advocates staying in Boston. He scored the Bruins’ fourth goal on Saturday, firing a shot into the net that deflected into the goal by a Vancouver defender.

The Bruins’ fourth line of McLaughlin, Johnny Beecher and Cole Koepke was very good all night. With them on the ice, Boston outscored the Canucks 5-1 and had a 4-0 lead in dangerous chances. This has generally been a good fourth line for the Bruins. In six games together, the Bruins have outscored their opponents 35:25 (58.3% Corsi) on the ice and have an expected goal share of 69.7%. McLaughlin did what was asked of him: He played good defense, put pucks in the net when he had chances and brought some physicality.

Using him as the fourth line also allowed Joe Sacco to line up Mark Kastelic alongside Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic, which gave the third line a boost and helped give Coyle and Frederic a little more impact.

Where, how and when Wahlstrom fits into all this remains to be seen. He’s not a fourth-line player, so he’ll likely need to be on one of the Bruins’ top three lines if he wants to have a chance at success. It’s also worth noting that McLaughlin spending another week in Boston would require waivers to be sent back to Providence, so a decision on him one way or another will come soon.

Instead, if McLaughlin sticks around, I wonder if the signs might eventually show for Tyler Johnson, who just hasn’t been as fit as the Bruins had hoped. Like Wahlstrom, Johnson is a (mostly) right wing who will need to play in a more offensive top-nine role rather than a defensive fourth position. He was a healthy scratch in six of the last seven games and had a minus-4 rating with an offensive zone penalty in the one game he played.