You don’t want to overreact to a couple games, but it’s hard not to get excited about Jeremy Swayman’s first two NHL games in the Bruins’ net.
After the rookie goalie stopped 40 of 42 shots in his debut win over the Flyers on Tuesday, the Bruins went right back to Swayman on Thursday and he delivered again, turning aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced in a 4-2 win over the Capitals.
He once again made some highlight-reel saves, including stoning Garnet Hathaway on a breakaway and Tom Wilson on a shorthanded rush, but mostly he was in such good position that a lot of his saves looked fairly routine.
Along with fellow rookie goalie Dan Vladar, Swayman has been a godsend for a Bruins team that is down its top two goalies -- Tuukka Rask due to an upper-body injury and Jaroslav Halak due to COVID-19.
Swayman didn’t come out of nowhere. There has been buzz around him for a while, as he was a Hobey Baker Award finalist at the University of Maine last year and was 8-1-0 with a .933 percentage for AHL Providence this season. He absolutely has No. 1 NHL starter upside, but that doesn’t mean you expect to see it in his first NHL games, in his first professional season.
So far, though, he’s been everything his new teammates and coaches could have hoped for.
“We heard he was a great goalie,” Brad Marchand said. “Obviously you shoot on him in practice, but it’s a whole different situation in a game at this level. He’s as advertised. He competes very hard. Phenomenal kid off the ice, great to be around. He’s a great goalie. He’s quick, he competes, he just seems to have great position. It’s great that he’s stepping up at a time like this.
“Same with Vladdy. When you have your two top goalies out, for guys to come in and play the way those two have, it’s huge for our group. It gives us confidence to play in front of them. When we have a breakdown, we know they’re going to be there to back us up. That’s what you need. You have to be able to rely on your goaltender to be your best player, and they have been the last few games.”
Patrice Bergeron remarked on Tuesday night that Swayman’s poise was noticeable from the way he prepared in the locker room to the way he played on the ice. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy has seen the same thing.
“Yeah, absolutely. You’re 100 percent accurate in that,” Cassidy said when asked about Swayman’s poise. “Looks that way in the net. Acts that way between periods. Acts that way before games. Listen, you don’t want to jump to anything -- it’s two good hockey games, on the road. No bad goals yet.
All good shots that have beaten him. Has made real high-end saves. Tracking pucks I think has been excellent so far. Washington’s got some big bodies and we’ve got guys crowded around the front of the net, and he seems to be able to find those loose pucks and get himself reset and positioned. We like what we’ve seen so far.”
While Swayman hasn’t given up any bad goals he’s had to bounce back from, he has had to overcome rough stretches for the team in both starts. On Tuesday, the Flyers tied the game with two goals early in the second period, but Swayman saved the other 23 shots he faced in the period, which was heavily tilted in Philadelphia’s favor.
On Thursday, the Capitals cut the Bruins’ lead from 3-0 to 3-2 with a pair of 5-on-3 power-play goals (neither of which Swayman really could have done much about) scored just 19 seconds apart midway through the second. Once again, Swayman didn’t get down or start to crack. He was able to quickly put it behind him and was locked in for the rest of the game -- a “just worry about the next shot” mindset he credits University of Maine assistant coach Alfie Michaud with helping him learn.
If you’ve watched these last two games, you’ve seen Swayman smiling a lot between whistles. He says he’s “just enjoying every second I can while I can” and trying not to get starstruck or overwhelmed by any of it.
While Swayman projects to be in Boston for many years to come, it remains unclear how much longer he’ll be with the big club right now. If Rask and Halak aren’t back by this weekend, he’ll get at least one more start. But if he keeps playing like this, he may force his way into a longer stay.
Regardless, he’s just going to try to keep doing what he’s done these past two games.
“At the end of the day, I play for the Boston Bruins and all I want to do is win,” Swayman said. “That’s all I care about.”