Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman has been a fan favorite at TD Garden so far in his career, soliciting cheers after every game in Boston, and there's a good reason for that -- he has never lost a regular-season match in front of his home crowd.
With Swayman backstopping the Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night, he maintained his perfect regular season record on home ice, going 7-0-0 in Boston since he entered the Bruins' lineup last April.
It's a fact that caught Swayman by surprise.
"I actually didn't know that, that's good," he said with a laugh to the media after his postgame press conference.
After realizing he had in fact never lost at home, Swayman credited the hometown crowd for their motivation: "I love playing at home. Best arena in the NHL. It's the best atmosphere you could ask for, so it's fun coming home and winning in front of these fans."
When asked about Swayman's performance Tuesday night, teammate Derek Forbort said, "Awesome. He made some huge saves in the third there. He's been great all year, and was awesome tonight."
Swayman started his home win streak as a Bruin in his first game at the Garden last season, earning a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on April 13. Of his four home wins in the 2020-21 season, two were shutouts, with Swayman securing a 3-0 win over the Islanders and a 4-0 win over the Rangers late in the season. This season he has allowed four goals through his three home wins (a goals against average of 1.33).
Swayman's stats show just how big a difference playing at home has meant so far in his young career.
The best stat to demonstrate that is his regular-season save percentage numbers, where at home he has an impressive .947 save percentage, compared to his road save percentage of .917.
To put those numbers into perspective, that home save percentage figure matches the second-best save percentage in the league this year (from Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky), but his career road save percentage would put him 25th in this year's rankings.
Dominating at home isn't a new thing for Swayman. In his final year at the University of Maine, Swayman had only one home loss. He amassed a 13-1-3 record at his home rink that season. Only five of his 18 wins came on the road.
Compared to his home record, Swayman's away record in Boston is a less impressive 3-5-0, with no road wins yet this season. Swayman's two road losses this year came against Philadelphia (a 6-3 loss) and Carolina (a 3-0 loss).
Though he has never lost at home in the regular season, Swayman was assessed a home loss in the playoffs, when he came in for only 18 minutes in the third period in relief of Tuukka Rask, who had given up four of the five goals in what ended up being a 5-4 loss to the Islanders.
The Bruins play at home next against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, though coach Bruce Cassidy has yet to decide on who's starting in net.
