Bruins rally, beat Stars in shootout 4-3

The Boston Bruins came back from behind multiple times, then won a marathon shootout over the Dallas Stars for a much-needed 4-3 victory on Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

The shootout went nine rounds, with Charlie McAvoy backhanding the eventual game-winner and goaltender Jeremy Swayman closing the door with a clutch shootout save. Swayman stopped a career-high 43-of-46 (.935) Stars shots in regulation and overtime.

Monday’s back-and-forth affair started with the Bruins on top. The Stars battled back to take the lead in the second period, then re-take it in the third. David Pastrnak tied the game on his 35th goal of the season with just 1:45 left in regulation and Swayman pulled, setting the stage for OT and the shootout.

Jesper Boqvist gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period after finishing a net-crash and a well-timed centering feed from Anthony Richard, notching his second goal of the season. Richard's assist gives him a point in consecutive games.

The Stars got the first equalizer off the stick of Wyatt Johnston, who deflected a fluttering attempt by Thomas Harley out of midair and through Swayman for a 1-1 game. That’s what the scoreboard would read heading into the first intermission.

Late in the first period, Brad Marchand dropped the gloves against the Stars’ Joel Hanley. The Bruins honored Marchand before the game for recently passing the 1,000 games played milestone.

Stars veteran defenseman Ryan Suter briefly got his team on top early in the second period with a seeing-eye shot through Swayman, who appeared to never see the puck. But just 28 seconds later, Bruins newcomer Justin Brazeau wasted little time getting on the board. The 6-foot-5 Brazeau escaped the defense for open ice, then Boqvist found him for the one-timer in the slot and a 2-2 game.

The Bruins were fortunate to get to the second intermission tied, as the Stars out-shot them 22-11 in the middle frame. Dallas continued to pepper Boston with shots into the third period, and finally broke through on their 45th of the game on a 2-on-1. Esa Lindell beat Swayman straight-up for his fifth goal of the season to give the Stars a 3-2 lead.

Pastrnak simply finished a one-timer for his tying goal. He has now scored at least 35 goals in six of his last seven seasons, the lone exception being the shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Up Next: The Bruins’ marathon homestand is finally over. They’ll try to keep the positive momentum going on Wednesday night, when they hit the road for the first time since Jan. 27 in a matchup with the Edmonton Oilers.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt's content.

The Boston Bruins, even before their recent slump, were a team with more than one need.

But the problem for B's general manager Don Sweeney has been a lack of capital. And in more ways than one.

After repeated 'win now' moves and home run swings — his biggest coming last year between deadline deals for Dmitry Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi, as well as bonus-laden deals for Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci signed with the intentions of maximizing their options for 2022-23 — the Bruins are short on both draft picks to trade and cap space to add.

So, for the Bruins, it's about exhausting every internal option before looking elsewhere. And the Bruins added a new option to that list Sunday with the signing of P-Bruins forward Justin Brazeau to a two-way contract.

Brazeau, who had been skating with the Bruins only an AHL-only contract (and thus ineligible for a recall to Boston), will make a league-minimum $775,000 at the NHL level on this contract, which runs through next season.

Down in Providence, Brazeau has posted a career-high 18 goals and plus-24 rating through 49 games this season, while his 37 points are just eight points away from matching last year's career-high of 45 in 67 games.

Brazeau's 18 goals with the P-Bruins are tied with Georgii Merkulov for the second-most among all Providence skaters (Anthony Richard leads the team with 19 goals), while his 37 points are the fourth-most on the team behind Merkulov (44), Fabian Lysell (40), and Richard (38).

When it comes to Brazeau, the first thing that pops off the page is his size.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Brazeau immediately becomes the biggest forward in the B's organization.

Considered a project when the Bruins first signed him, 'skating' was the biggest knock on Brazeau, according to those I talked with regarding the intriguing prospect. But by now, it's clear that the Bruins have seen enough progress in that department to feel that Brazeau could be an effective NHLer.

It's only fair to assume that — even with those statistical improvements — they wouldn't have converted his deal to a standard, NHL contract had they not been satisfied with those developments this season.

It'll also be interesting to see just how quickly the Bruins get the 26-year-old up to Boston for a look.

Unless the Bruins got word that another team was going to sign Brazeau to an NHL contract had the Bruins not done so first, it stands to reason that the Bruins signed Brazeau when they did so that they could get him up to Boston for an NHL run. Boston's decision to put Oskar Steen on waivers on Sunday, especially with Jakub Lauko currently dealing with an upper-body injury and a questionable status for Monday, only adds to that belief.

Brazeau would also fit a potential (or glaring, depending on who you ask) need for a space-creating, big-bodied wing who throw his weight around and answer the bell in the Black and Gold's bottom-six forward group.

This has been a need for the Bruins since they lost Milan Lucic to an injury and a domestic violence incident that will keep him away from the club for the rest of the season, really. And while Brazeau is not of the Lucic mold as a heavyweight fighter (Brazeau uses his frame and size as a physical threat more than his fists), he does allow the Bruins to go back to a fourth-line look that's more speedster-speedster-bruiser, which was Jim Montgomery's ideal mix when he created the effective Lucic-Beecher-Lauko line to start the 2023-24 season.

Brazeau, who spent time in the Maple Leafs organization before coming over to the Bruins, has recorded 49 goals and 113 points in 167 games with Providence over the last three seasons.