Jeremy Swayman hasn’t dealt with many rough patches in his NHL career, which is a testament to the consistency that he’s given the Boston Bruins in net. He did go through a small stretch of poor performances in November, though.
The 25-year-old goalie made five appearances (four starts) from Nov. 11 through Nov. 27, and the Bruins went 1-2-2 in those games (1-1-2 in his starts). Swayman posted a lackluster .888 save percentage and 3.60 GAA during that span. In fairness, the Bruins’ defensive game was poor in this stretch of games. Boston was allowing way too many shots and quality scoring chances, thus making its goalies’ jobs much tougher.
It’s not uncommon for young goalies to let a difficult stretch snowball and get worse. But to Swayman’s credit, he has righted the ship in a major way over his last four starts.
Swayman has a .958 save percentage with a 1.26 GAA in those games. His expected goals against was 12.51 in that span, and yet he allowed just five. The Bruins picked up six of eight points in that stretch, including four of a possible six points from three games against quality Metropolitan Division opponents (Rangers, Devils, Islanders).
Swayman made 34 saves in a fantastic outing versus the Devils last Wednesday. During the second intermission on the TNT broadcast, legendary goalie Henrik Lundqvist did a great job breaking down Swayman’s skill/movement in the crease.
“There are a couple things I really like about his game. He’s really compact and very efficient in the way he moves,” Lundqvist said. “He’s got a big upper body, so he keeps his glove real tight to his upper body and every time he moves he keeps his back straight. You saw on that last save when he went from side to side, a lot of guys fall forward, but he has a lot of strength holding up his chest, which allows him to make the save with his chest instead of reaching with his glove.
“The other thing I really like about him is his quick movement. A lot of times when you go from A to B as a goalie, you see some guys kinda move half speed, but if you go quick every movement, it allows you to have more time to analyze every situation. I think going from post-to-post he’s quick all the time and very powerful, small movements, and that allows him to have rebound control because he gets there early, gets set and can read the shot. Even if there’s a rebound, he’s right there because he’s always in control. I’m very impressed with his game.”
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