DETROIT — Jeremy Swayman made 42 saves on 44 shots in Boston's 4-2 victory in Detroit on Saturday. The goaltender's performance included 14 high-danger saves without allowing a goal.

"It's the best I've seen him play since I've been around. He was unbelievable and kept us in the game, won us the game," said Marco Sturm, Boston Bruins head coach. Bruins coach Marco Sturm and his staff started Jeremy Swayman in net for Saturday's road game.

Entering Saturday's primetime road game against the Detroit Red Wings, Boston and Detroit were tied in the NHL standings with 84 points apiece. A regulation win for Boston in Detroit would have raised Boston's playoff odds to 78.8 percent, an increase of over 10 percentage points, according to MoneyPuck. A regulation loss would have reduced Boston's playoff odds by 11.3 percentage points to 57.3 percent, according to MoneyPuck.

In the third period, Swayman saved four Grade-A scoring chances by Detroit on the power play shortly after Elias Lindholm tied the game. After Nikita Zadorov gave Boston the lead, Swayman stopped a point-blank shot by Detroit forward Emmitt Finnie. With less than a minute remaining on a 6-on-5 advantage, Swayman dove to his right to block a potential shot.

"He was unbelievable to watch. He was making insane saves. He kept us in the game the whole game pretty much," said David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins forward. David Pastrnak scored his sixth goal in his last eight games.

In the game, Morgan Geekie recorded three assists and Elias Lindholm recorded one goal and one assist. Nikita Zadorov scored the game-winning goal, his first goal since October 16. "It's been unbelievable. He's been our best player all year," said Nikita Zadorov, Boston Bruins defenseman.

At 5-on-5 play, Detroit generated 12 high-danger scoring chances and Boston generated five, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Red Wings had an expected goals rate of 4.17 during the game, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Since the Bruins returned from the Olympic break, Swayman had a 6-2-1 record with a .930 save percentage. Swayman's season save percentage was .908. Swayman appeared in 47 games this season.

The Bruins ranked last in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes with a rate of 3.59, according to Natural Stat Trick. Boston ranked 30th in the NHL in shots allowed per 60 minutes with 29.53, according to Natural Stat Trick. Boston ranked 30th in the NHL in high-danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes with 13.72, according to Natural Stat Trick. Swayman ranked second among NHL goaltenders in goals saved above expected with a total of 27.1, behind Washington's Logan Thompson with 27.9, according to MoneyPuck.