While it's not yet party time for the Boston Bruins, they still can bask in the satisfaction of beating the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The B's clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Saturday on the two points they claimed via their 2-1 win over the Pens at TD Garden. After missing two opportunities to punch their playoff ticket this week, the Bruins finally finished the job, positioning themselves to chase the cup that bears Lord Stanley's name for the sixth consecutive season and 14th time in 16 years.
Afterward, head coach Bruce Cassidy reflected on Boston's achievement.
"Well we talked about the reward," Cassidy said at a postgame press conference, as seen on NESN's "Bruins Overtime Live." "We have a standard here right so we're not going to you know go out and celebrate that we made the playoffs, but it's still an accomplishment you should be proud of.
"It's not easy to do it year-in year-out in this league. ... The New York Islanders, for example, (went to) two (consecutive) Eastern Conference Finals ... right down to the wire. They're almost needing a miracle now to get in. So it's not automatic, you know, fix out the journey year. For us. It certainly didn't look automatic in November."
Jeremey Swayman, whose 23 saves were crucial in maintaining the Bruins' advantage over the Penguins, also celebrated Boston's playoff berth.
"Well, this is a special year, building off of last year, we lost some key people," Swayman told NESN's Sophia Sophia Jurksztowicz on "Bruins Overtime Live." "... So it's just great to have this new group of guys and leadership we have, all this camaraderie we have. It's just been such a fun year and we're so excited for the playoffs."
Here are more notes from Saturday's Bruins-Penguins game:
-- Trent Frederic scored the opening goal just :49 into the game in an emphatic return to action, following Cassidy's decision to healthy scratch him from Thursday's Bruins-Senators game. He told reporters after Bruins-Penguins how he used the time off to improve his game.
"I just wanted to play hard, try to help the team, play disciplined," Frederic said at a postgame press conference, as seen in a video the Bruins provided. "Obviously try to get a win. Anytime we're winning, that's good.
"It looks a lot easier up there," Frederic joked. "(I watch) just how much more time you have, picking up on little things. I try to watch the wingers, and see what other teams are doing. I think it helps anytime you get up there. (Time off) helped me in college, when I hurt my hand and had to watch for a month or so. I thought it helped my game. We have a lot of good players, so it's hard to be in this lineup every night."
-- Cassidy previewed how the Bruins will begin preparing for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Give the guys credit, they played through some adversity then," he said, as seen on "Bruins Overtime Live." "We ended up finding our game and maybe took us a few more games than we had hoped here recently. ... We're in now and now we can start building our game for the playoffs, which I think we've been doing it for the last few months to be honest. We just got to get our habits back and hopefully stay healthy."
-- The Bruins will return to action Tuesday when they visit the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop from Enterprise Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
