Jeremy Swayman’s Gem Should Earn Bruins Goalie Game 4 Start
Jeremy Swayman has made 63 combined saves in two postseason games against the Toronto Maple Leafs to help propel the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 series lead in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 25-year-old netminder from Anchorage, Alaska, made 35 saves in Boston’s 5-1 Game 1 victory and stopped 28 Toronto shots in the Bruins’ 4-2 come-from-behind Game 3 win over the Leafs on Wednesday night.
Many players would be extremely exhausted facing that many shots in two games, but Swayman has not stopped smiling since he stepped on the TD Garden ice for Game 1 last Saturday and he wants to keep playing.
“For me personally, I don’t want rest,” Swayman told reporters after Boston’s win at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I just want to keep playing. I think no matter when I get the call, whether it’s back-to-back or every other game, I want to make sure my body is ready and I’m ready to perform at my best.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has stuck with the goalie rotation that earned Boston 47 wins in the regular season, but Swayman’s performance against the Leafs may force the bench boss to ride the hot goalie, at least for the rest of the series.
“Any time I get a chance to play, I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win,” Swayman said. “Whether it’s back-to-back or every other game, I’m just really grateful every time I do get a chance, and that’s all I worry about.”
More Bruins
Over the past two seasons, Swayman is 6-0-0 against the Leafs with a .959 save percentage and 1.31 goals-against average, but still feels he has more to learn between the pipes.
“I’m excited. I think it’s something all the experience from this year and past years have accumulated,” Swayman said. “But, I still got a lot more to learn for sure. I’m looking forward to that.”
Even though Swayman has probably shown the Bruins brass enough to name him as the Game 4 starter, he doesn’t expect to automatically get the nod.
“Never. I’m never going to expect anything,” Swayman said. “I’m going to earn it. It’s all I care about.”
It’s not that Linus Ullmark didn’t play well in the Bruins’ Game 2 loss Monday night, but given the success Swayman has had against Toronto and having two days off before the next game, it may be time to move away from the goalie rotation and ride the goaltender with the hot glove.
Swayman was the best penalty-killer for the Bruins in the Game 3 win, making six saves while shorthanded. Yes, he gave up two goals in the win, but the first was a spectacular feed from Mitch Marner to Matthew Knies that left him no chance at stopping the puck and the second deflected off his own defender into the back of the net. That wasn’t on him either.
“He’s been terrific. I just love his compete level and his quickness,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “When it went 3-2, right after that there was a barrage of rebounds, (Tyler) Bertuzzi had two of the chances, but he was just squaring up, and he finds (the puck).”
He is the embodiment of the hot goaltender. How do you move on from him?
Puck drop from Scotiabank Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night. NESN has you covered with all the action starting with a half-hour pregame show.