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  • Svedberg deserved better in loss to Kings

    Post Game

    Svedberg deserved better in loss to Kings

    Chris Chirichiello December 3, 2014
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    The Boston Bruins dropped their second game in a row on their west coast road trip to the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t because of the effort of their goaltender Niklas Svedberg.

    Svedberg was fairly consistent for the Bruins versus the defending Stanley Cup champions stopping 33 of 34 shots on the night and kept his team in it until the end. The Black and Gold are just having trouble lighting the lamp at this juncture of the season.

    The goaltending hasn’t been the issue to start the trip for the B’s. Twenty-four hours prior to Svedberg’s performance, Tuukka Rask played a solid game against another talented team in the Anaheim Ducks.

    “Again, our goaltenders in both of these games have been good,” head coach Claude Julien said to reporters afterwards. “They’ve given us a chance to win hockey games. Again, we just can’t find ways to score some goals here. It’s hard to get mad at the guys when you see the effort being put in and the commitment and everything else. Just at the end of the night, we didn’t get rewarded with a single point.”

    The 25 year-old goaltender dropped to 3-4-0 on the season and has yet to beat a team other than the Buffalo Sabres or the Columbus Blue Jackets. But with a .922 save percentage on the season, it’s hard to blame your goaltender when he has a performance like he did against the Kings.

    “Sveddie was steady,” Torey Krug said with a smile during his postgame interview with the media. “That’s why he gets that nickname so, he was great for us. He gave us a chance to win a hockey game especially against a great team. He showed up big tonight for us and we were lucky to have him tonight for sure.”

    Gregory Campbell also praised his goaltender for keeping a very talented team at bay for most of the night.

    “Yeah, he did a great job,” Campbell said. “They have a lot of shooters on that team and they make things happen quickly and if you noticed early on especially on those power-plays they just pound pucks on the net. He did a good job. The one goal was the back door goal and there’s not much he could’ve done about that.”

    Patrice Bergeron recalled early on when the B’s were down two men due to penalties and his goaltender standing tall.

    “Especially on that 5-on-3, I thought he made some great saves,” the Bruins assistant captain stated. “You know, like you said, kept us in the game and he did his part.”

    The hard luck loser Svedberg was more concerned about his team grabbing the two points than his stellar performance.

    “Obviously, it’s frustrating when you don’t win games, but I think we need to keep working and try to find ways to win the games,” Svedberg said. “There were a lot of positives, but it’s about winning games so we need to step up a little bit.”

    Jonathan Quick had the upper hand on the night, pitching a shutout stopping all 31 shots thrown on him by the B’s. But Svedberg stood tall and deserved better.

    Svedberg now owns a 2.28 goals against average in his first season with the big club. He is a very formidable backup goaltender. His statistics this season aren’t indicative of the way he is playing between the pipes. The Black and Gold are just having trouble scoring goals, and that’s their biggest concern.

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