Bruins punch ticket

In Boston, the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins had a miserable opening two minutes of their game with the Bruins on Saturday.

Trent Frederic and Erik Haula scored 72 seconds apart with less than two minutes gone in the game to give Boston a 2-0 lead.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves and Boston won, 2-1.

“I thought the final 58 (minutes), we were competitive,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought we played a solid game, but the first two (minutes) we weren’t ready to play. It’s hard to spot a team two goals like that in the fashion that we did. It makes it hard to win.”

Boston improved to 46-24-5.

“We talked about it in the room that we have a standard here, so we’re not going to go out and celebrate that we’re going to make the playoffs, but it’s still an accomplishment to be proud of,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s not easy to do it year in and year out in this league. Now we can start building our game for the playoffs, which I think we’ve been doing for the last few months. We’ve just got to get our habits back and hopefully stay healthy.”

Frederic scored with 49 seconds gone in the game.

“I just wanted to play hard, try to help the team, play disciplined, and obviously try to get a win. Anytime we’re winning, that’s good,” Frederic said. “[Smith] made a good play to put it to the net. When our line’s successful, that’s what we do. I just got a good bounce so I could put it in the net.”

Danton Heinen was the lone striker for the Pens.

“It’s special. It’s a really important win for us, especially as of late, in the fashion that we did it, making the small plays and the simple plays,” Swayman said. “Everything was just crisp and on point for us tonight. Just super excited to finally clinch, and to do it at home is the cherry on top.”

Pittsburgh dropped to 43-23-11.

Casey DeSmith made 27 saves. in the Pittsburgh loss.

Tristan Jarry is week to week with an injury.

“I feel for him,” DeSmith said. “After the year he has had, he has been fantastic. I hope he comes back, and I wish nothing but the best for him.

“(It’s) good for me to going into the playoffs to get more games in. If I have to play in the playoffs, I will be that much more prepared. (I’m) just trying to focus on my game.”