On a night when 22-year-old rookies Johnny Beecher and Mason Lohrei both scored their first NHL goals, it was 24-year-old goalie Jeremy Swayman who stole the show in the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Stars in Dallas on Monday, just as he has in all six of his starts this season.
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Swayman stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced and is now a perfect 6-0-0 this season. His .952 save percentage and 1.49 goals-against average both lead the NHL among goalies who have made at least five starts.
Last year around this time, it was Linus Ullmark who was off to a red-hot start, with an identical 6-0-0 record and nearly identical .945 save percentage. Ullmark, of course, would basically not slow down all season en route to winning the goaltending triple crown and the Vezina Trophy.
Could Swayman be laying the foundation for something similar this season? That is obviously a lofty expectation to put on anyone. It might be unfair to even make the comparison or ask the question at this point.
But… it’s also hard to ignore the similarities. And when ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski dropped his first “NHL Awards Watch” of the season on Monday morning, it was hard not to notice that Swayman was one of the Vezina finalists among the PHWA voters that he polled.
Swayman was third behind co-leaders Thatcher Demko of the Canucks and Jake Oettinger of the Stars. It just so happened that Swayman got to go head-to-head with Oettinger Monday night. It was a duel Swayman would win.
Swayman faced the tougher workload Monday night, with the Stars landing 13 high-danger shots on net compared to six for the Bruins. He turned aside 12 of those chances, making one point-blank save after another.
His biggest save of the night came on a shorthanded breakaway for Roope Hintz with a little under eight minutes to go. The Bruins still led 3-1 at the time, but a goal there could have made for a hairy rest of the night. Instead, the Stars were unable to break through for a second goal until there were just 28 seconds left in the game. Both goals that Swayman allowed came on deflected shots that he couldn’t have done much about.
Stopping high-danger shots has been perhaps the most impressive part of Swayman’s hot start. He is facing more of them than last season (9.41 per 60 minutes this season vs. 8.23 last year). He was already very good at stopping them last season, finishing second in the NHL with an .862 high-danger save percentage. This year, he’s up to a ridiculous .912 so far. Only Demko has been better, at an even more ridiculous .965.
“I think he looks bigger in the crease,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Swayman during his postgame interview with NESN Monday night. “I think he’s more poised in there. … His awareness, his confidence and controlling the game from the crease is remarkable.”
Demko should be considered the early Vezina favorite at this point. He’s made three more starts than Swayman and has similar numbers (.948 save percentage, 1.61 GAA). He improved to 7-2-0 Monday night by stopping 40 of 42 shots in a win over the Oilers. He leads the league in goals saved above expected using both Evolving-Hockey and MoneyPuck’s formulas. Swayman is second on both sites.
It would be hard for Swayman to make a serious run at the Vezina as long as he and Ullmark are splitting starts 50/50, but, as Ullmark proved last year, it’s not impossible. The rotation seems likely to continue for the time being. Despite giving up four or more goals in two of his last three starts, Ullmark is 4-1-1 and continues to rank in the top 10 in save percentage and goals-against average.
If Swayman keeps playing like this, though, and if Ullmark struggles a bit, then it’s possible Swayman might start to get more than 50% of the games at some point.