No Brad Marchand, no Patrice Bergeron, no problem for the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins took care of business Saturday afternoon in Ottawa, blanking the Senators 2-0 at Canadian Tire Centre to earn a much-needed win after being routed 6-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman was excellent in net, stopping all 30 Senators shots to record his fourth career shutout. Boston's offense also stepped up without Bergeron (injured) and Marchand (suspended), as Trent Frederic and Curtis Lazar both scored in the victory.
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The Bruins remain in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 57 points (27-16-3), while the Senators drop into a tie with the Buffalo Sabres for the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference (36 points, 16-24-4).
Here are three takeaways from Boston's bounce-back victory:
Jeremy Swayman gets his groove back
Swayman has had a rough go of it in 2022, allowing nine goals in four appearances since Jan. 1. But in his first game since Tuukka Rask's official retirement, the 23-year-old reminded fans of his potential.
Swayman made 30 saves -- his third-highest total of the season -- that included several timely stops to hold the Senators at bay.
Ottawa is no offensive juggernaut with just 2.72 goals per game (23rd in the NHL). But Swayman looked comfortable and confident in net, which is a great sign for a Bruins team that will rely on him and Linus Ullmark down the stretch now that Rask is out of the picture.
Fourth line provides rare offensive jolt
Someone has to score with Marchand and Bergeron sidelined, right?
The fourth-line duo of Curtis Lazar and Anton Blidh rose to the challenge in the first period when Lazar made a hard net drive to clean up Blidh's shot from the right circle.
Lazar and Blidh appeared to team up for another goal in the third period, but Blidh's score was waved off due to goaltender interference.
Any offense from the fourth line is a bonus. Case in point: The Lazar-Tomas Nosek-Blidh combo entered Canada with just three goals together on the season. But Bruce Cassidy needed a little more from his back-end trio Saturday, and they rose to the occasion.
The Bruins rely heavily on their top trio of Marchand, Bergeron and David Pastrnak, so they'll need more efforts like this out of the bottom six -- even Trent Frederic got involved with his first goal since Jan. 4 -- to stay afloat until Marchand and Bergeron return.
B's have some room to work with
The bad news is Boston will be without Marchand for four more games and Bergeron for an undetermined amount of time. The good news is that Cassidy's club is pretty locked into its current spot.
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The Bruins sit seven points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings in the final Wild Card spot and four points behind the Washington Capitals in the first Wild Card position. Four of their next six opponents are below .500 -- the New York Islanders, Senators, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks, so if the B's can take care of business, they shouldn't lose much ground with Marchand and Bergeron out.
Boston also has three games in hand on both Washington and Detroit, so it's hard to see the club slipping out of the second Wild Card anytime soon.
The Bruins face a stiff challenge Tuesday in the 30-13-4 New York Rangers, however.