Swayman Shuts the Gate on the Winless Kings
The Boston Bruins won 4-1 in Los Angeles, but this was not a lopsided hockey game. Shot attempts finished dead even, and both teams created roughly the same quality of looks. The difference came in the crease and around the net.
Jeremy Swayman was the reason. He stopped 25 of 26 shots, including 11 of 12 from the most dangerous areas. The Kings' chances were worth about 2.8 expected goals (how many goals those looks would usually produce), so holding them to one goal saved Boston about 1.8 goals beyond what an average night in net would allow.
At the other end, Anton Forsberg made 24 saves on 26 shots and was about as good as his workload asked. Boston's shooters simply finished: David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov each had a goal and an assist, while Elias Lindholm and JJ Peterka also scored.
The posts got involved too. Samuel Helenius rang one for Los Angeles and Tanner Jeannot did the same for Boston.
For the Kings, now 0-3-2, it is another night of decent looks and too little to show for them. The Bruins move to 6-2-0 atop the Atlantic.
