BOSTON — Jeremy Swayman has been the Boston Bruins’ best player. In the pockets, here and there, when opponents have pushed the Bruins back, the team’s ace has held his ground and pulled goals off the scoreboard. Swayman has given his teammates time to catch their breath and find their game without damage. You need only look at Swayman’s 10.2 goals saved above expected, per Moneypuck, which ranks him third-best in the league.
So at 8:14 of Thursday’s second period, coach Marco Sturm signaling to Swayman that his night against the Montreal Canadiens was over was unusual. The starter’s line: 13 saves on 17 shots in 28:14 of action.
“Overall, we were just not good enough, me included,” Sturm said after the 5-2 loss. “Goalie, players, you name it. Today was not good. Four-nothing, you usually try to do something. I think we all could be better.”
The Bruins were lousy. They had no offensive jump at the beginning except the top line of JJ Peterka, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrňák. They lost pucks. They chased the game. None of this was on Swayman.
But one downside of pulling on a mask and pads is the acceptance that a goalie sometimes pays the price for a team’s downfall. Changing goalies is one of a coach’s tools. When a coach exercises that option, the goalie just so happens to have to complete the skate of shame to the bench and trade his mask for a baseball cap. It is not a fun way to exit a game.
“It’s on us. We all know it’s not on him,” Pastrňák said. “You feel bad for him. We let him swim in there. We were sloppy on too many. Even though we got going, we forgot about defense. With their speed and their skill, they took advantage of us and punished us.”
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The Canadiens buried two breakaways. In the second period, after Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler punched out Frédéric Brunet’s slot shot, the Bruins got caught with four players deep in the offensive zone. Josh Anderson hit Jake Evans for a solo chance. After gaining a step on Mason Lohrei, Evans slipped a backhander through Swayman’s pads.
Later in the second, Pastrňák fumbled the puck in the offensive zone. Cole Caufield jumped on the turnover and raced away alone. Caufield fired the puck past Swayman’s blocker to give the Canadiens a 4-0 lead. Swayman’s game was over.
“It’s definitely not on Sway,” said Brunet. “It’s just plays in front of the net. It’s some breakaways. There’s just nothing you can do sometimes. We’ve got to be better and give him some shots that are not Grade-A’s. That’s on us. The fact that he got pulled is probably to change the momentum and try something different. But it’s definitely not on him. We’ve got to be better for him. He’s been saving some games for us. He deserved better.”
Swayman didn’t have much of a chance on Josh Anderson’s first-period goal. Mike Matheson sent a floater from the point, which Evans redirected on net. Swayman adjusted to get in front of the deflection, but couldn’t cover the puck before Anderson banged in the net-front rebound.
On his only so-so goal allowed, Swayman had to deal with friendly traffic. In the first period, Kirby Dach carried the puck around Mikey Eyssimont and in tight around the right post. Swayman played Dach’s shot aggressively, going into his overlap to prevent anything from squeaking in. With Swayman taking away the strong side, Dach swung around the net. Swayman tried to slide over, but Charlie McAvoy, who was defending Alex Newhook, was in the goalie’s way. As he pushed, Swayman ran into McAvoy. By then, the puck was in the net.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Swayman was expected to allow 1.63 five-on-five goals. The 2.37 delta between actual and expected was his largest of the season.
Getting pulled, however rare, still stings.
“You never want to do that,” Swayman said. “You care so much, especially when you’re feeling good, which I was. I trust Marco 100 percent in his decisions. At that time, it was the right call. We responded well. We had a good push. Whatever it takes to get that push is what we needed.”
