Jake DeBrusk, Jeremy Swayman lead Bruins to victory in Nashville

Any of these games could be Jake DeBrusk’s last as a Bruin. And if Thursday’s tilt in Nashville was indeed the last for the on-again-off-again goal-scorer, he left B’s fans a lasting taste of what could have been.

DeBrusk, with a trade request issued to Boston management, scored one of the two Bruins goals, a pure snipe, to help the B’s to a 2-0 victory over an edgy Nashville Predators team at Bridgestone Arena.

And while DeBrusk’s goal may or may not have been a parting gift, Jeremy Swayman gave B’s followers an idea of what still could be. The rookie netminder made 42 saves, some very good ones, to nail down the shutout victory. It was the B’s best goaltending performance of the season.

“He was tracking pucks very well tonight,” said assistant coach Joe Sacco, filling in for Bruce Cassidy (Covid protocol). “It was certainly one of his better games tonight. We needed him and he came up with some big saves.”

The Predators tried to go after Patrice Bergeron all night, Filip Forsberg at one point bloodying the bridge of the captain’s nose, but the B’s chose to beat them where it mattered — on the scoreboard.

“It certainly wasn’t an easy game. We got the 2-0 lead and they pushed hard, but I like the way we competed. We were blocking shots when they had time in the zone. We just battled,” said Sacco.

Not only did Swayman make the 42 saves, his teammates blocked 20 shots in the game. The team seemed to be as locked in and focused on getting the right result as they have been all year.

“It was fun to watch,” said Swayman. “Guys were taking pride in the defensive zone and also in the offensive zone. I had the best seat in the house watching them work, play together, a lot of talk out on the ice. A fun game to be a part of.”

After managing only one goal in their loss to Detroit on Tuesday despite 42 shots on net, the B’s came out with the determination they needed on the first few shifts to create some glittering scoring opportunities.

On the first shift of the game, Erik Haula, playing better since his healthy scratch on Sunday, hit the crossbar with a backhander. David Pastrnak later hit a post, and former Predator Craig Smith was robbed by goalie Juuse Saros on a great glove save.

But the Predators had their push, as well. Luke Kunin had a partial breakaway but Swayman stopped his five-hole attempt. On another chance, Derek Forbort did a good job of clearing a dangerous rebound out of harm’s way.

The B’s got the only power play of the first period when Yakov Trenin interfered with Jakub Zboril at 12:39. And with one second left on the advantage, the most talked about Bruin of the last few days got them on the board.

On Monday, it was revealed that DeBrusk had requested a trade and that the B’s would try to accommodate him. But in the meantime, DeBrusk had to continue to play for the undermanned B’s and they needed some quality play out of him.

“I don’t know what his issue is, I just know as a staff, we just work with Jake and try to prepare as best we can to make sure when it’s game-time that he’s ready to help the team any way he can,” said Sacco before the game. “That’s all we want from all our players. We want to make sure that they’re helping their team as much as possible to win hockey games. That’s what we expect from Jake. He’s got to show up, he’s got to be a good pro, he’s got to hold up his end of the bargain. And we have to hold up our end of the bargain and make sure we coach him and make sure he’s trying to help the Boston Bruins win hockey games.”

And DeBrusk did what he can do. As the power play was winding down, Smith made a nice cross-ice pass to DeBrusk on the left wing and he beat Saros with an absolute snipe inside the near post for the 1-0 lead. It was DeBrusk’s fourth goal of the season.

“I think Jake played pretty good tonight. He had a good game and hopefully he can build off that, too. Like we said before, we just wanted him to help our team any way possible, and he helped with a big goal tonight,” said Sacco. “I thought he skated well and he competed.”

The B’s started the second period just like they did the first, except with more immediately fruitful results. Charlie Coyle won a puck battle along the left boards and got it to Haula in some open ice. Haula dished a backhand pass to Brandon Carlo for his second goal of the year, giving the B’s a 2-0 lead 30 seconds into the period.

But the B’s buzzard luck continued to hover. Just under five minutes into the period, Zboril took a heavy but fairly routine hit from Tanner Jeannot. Zboril’s right knee buckled against the boards and he crumpled to the ice. He would need help to get off the ice as he could not put any weight on the leg. Sacco had no update after the game.

It not only looked like a serious injury, but seriously heartbreaking for Zboril, the 2015 first-round pick who had been slow to develop but appeared to be finally establishing himself as an everyday NHLer in his 10th straight game in the lineup. Moving forward to Saturday’s game against the Lightning, the B’s will be down to their last available player, Connor Clifton, who could slot back into Zboril’s spot. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak in Providence, they can not bring any players up from their AHL affiliate right now.

But of more immediate concern was that the Zboril injury also put the B’s down to five defensemen with a whole lot of game left to play. Swayman saw 14 shots in the second period, though his teammates did a good job of keeping most of them to the outside and the B’s went into the third with a 2-0 advantage.

As the B’s protected the lead, the Preds threw 16 shots at Swayman in the third, but the defense played well in front of him. Charlie McAvoy led in the way in minutes with 28:45 while  Carlo (22:59) and Derek Forbort (20:24) played arguably their best games of the season. It was inarguably Swayman’s best night of the year.

“I felt between my posts, I wasn’t chasing pucks,” said Swayman. “It was a good week of practice with the two games I didn’t start, so I was focusing in on that and I thought i came out in the play tonight. It was nice.”