Jeremy Swayman stops 18 shots, David Pastrnak scores on breakaway as Bruins beat Columbus, 4-0

Updated Dec. 28, 2024 9:40 p.m. ET

Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Jeremy Swayman stopped 18 shots for his second shutout of the season, David Pastrnak scored on a clean breakaway and the Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Saturday to split consecutive-night, home-and-home games between the teams.

Morgan Geekie, Justin Brazeau and Cole Koepke also scored for the Bruins, who won for the fifth time in seven games. Swayman is 7-1-1 in his last nine starts.

Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy took a hard check from Mathieu Olivier that banged his head into the glass. After being on the ice for a while, he went to the locker room before returning a few minutes later.

Pastrnak collected a pass from Geekie near center ice, broke in alone and shifted the puck before beating goalie Daniil Tarasov (24 saves) with a wrister inside the right post to make it 3-0 at 8:18 of the second period.

Columbus had won three of four games.

Takeaways

Blue Jackets: Had outscored the Bruins 11-3 in the first two meetings this season, but had trouble generating scoring chances.

Bruins: Following an embarrassing loss on Friday, they responded with the type of tight-checking defensive play that’s helped them go 12-5-1 since interim coach Joe Sacco took over for the fired Jim Montgomery.

Key moment

Geekie’s unassisted goal gave the Bruins control with a 2-0 lead 6:29 into the second. He collected defenseman Damon Severson’s blind, backhand pass in the slot before firing a rising wrister inside the right post.

Key stat

Columbus had just one shot on goal during a four-minute power play when Bruins center Mark Kastelic was given a double-minor for high-sticking midway through the second. The Blue Jackets went 3 for 3 on the power play for the first time in franchise history in a lopsided win on Friday.