Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman makes a save after Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin deflects a shot in front of him during the first period of Monday’s game in Boston. Winslow Townson/Associated Press
Slowly but surely, Jeremy Swayman is making his push to be the No. 1 goalie for the Boston Bruins.
After nailing down the overtime victory in Ottawa on Saturday, Swayman got the call again for the tough assignment of facing the explosive Colorado Avalanche on Monday. It turned out to be a good decision.
While he did not have to be the Bruins best player in the 5-1 victory, Swayman was certainly a calm, steady presence whenever the Avs did manage to penetrate the Bruins excellent defensive zone coverage, stopping 28 of 29 shots. Over his last four games, Swayman is 3-0-1 with a .968 save percentage.
With Boston heading out on a six-game western swing starting in Seattle on Thursday, both Swayman and Linus Ullmark will get playing time. But it sure looks like Swayman is pulling ahead in the internal competition.
It’s quite a change from a month ago when it looked like Swayman was going to finish the season down in Providence with Tuukka Rask making a return, ultimately cut short by Rask’s physical ailments.
The fact that Swayman wasn’t thrown off track is a testament to his personality and focus.
“I think it’s all thanks to the experience I’ve had this year. It’s obviously a lot of experiences going up and down and different things not going your way sometimes,” said Swayman. “I’ve definitely learned to adapt and make sure I’m staying in the moment, making sure the next day is a new day, taking the positives from the day before and forgetting about it, good or bad days, making sure I’m doing everything I can to capture the day at hand and make the most of the opportunity.”
Swayman was thrilled to get the chance to play the Avs, not just because it was a plum assignment, but in 2015-16 he played for the Pikes Peak Miners U-18 team out of Colorado Springs.
“It was pretty special,” said Swayman. “It was kind of dream to play against the Avs one day – and definitely beat ’em. It was fun to do.”
Swayman has developed a strong working relationship Ullmark, as evidenced by their exaggerated hug after wins, no matter who is in net.
“Any time me or Linus go into the net, we both want what’s best for the team and we want to win. Absolutely, I love being in net and love getting points for this team, so it’s a good day and we’re happy with the win,” said Swayman.
The young netminder gave kudos to his defenders in front of him who kept the Avs firepower in check.
“It’s been an upward trend of good communication, boxing out, doing their job and I’ve got all the trust in the world in them,” said Swayman.
AFTER DAVID PASTRNAK scored the winning goal in overtime against Ottawa on Saturday, Coach Bruce Cassidy said he felt that his sniper needed that one. Now it seems as if that four-game period in which he not only went pointless but handled the puck like it was a skunk is a distant memory.
Pastrnak had two goals and an assist, and again looked mighty confident with the puck. He’s now up to 27 goals this season.
“Sometimes, that’s what it takes, You just need to get one to kind of flush whatever happened before and today was kind of a game where I felt good going into the game. I love afternoon games. Definitely the goal the other day helped me. I’ve been fighting it lately. It was a good bounce-back,” said Pastrnak.
Pastrnak’s line with Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall accounted for 18 shots on net – eight from Pastrnak, seven from Bergeron and three from Hall, who is beginning to flex his playmaking muscles with Pastrnak. Hall has 16 assists since he was united with Pastrnak on Jan. 1.
“He’s a great playmaker, I must say. It’s something I didn’t know about him before, to be honest. But he’s obviously a great skater and the playmaking abilities are good. We have some chemistry. He tells me what he wants me and I just listen,” said Pastrnak.
THE LINE OF Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Craig Smith did not score but it was a tone-setter once again. Its dominant shift late in the first period helped set up Pastrnak’s goal that made it 1-0.
Cassidy hopes to keep it together when Brad Marchand returns on Thursday. Smith had been skating with Marchand and Bergeron before Marchand’s suspension.
“Someone is probably going to be a little unhappy, someone’s going to have to get moved around. It’s just the way it is. We’ll sort through that when we practice Wednesday in Seattle and put the best plan together,” said Cassidy.
Jake DeBrusk would be a candidate to jump up and play with Marchand and Bergeron on his off wing.
AVS’ SUPERSTART NATHAN MacKINNON should be hearing from the Department of Player Safety for some abuse of an official on Monday. Whether he will or not is another thing entirely.
After Coyle scored the Bruins fifth goal at 4:04 of the third period, MacKinnon lined with Tomas Nosek for the center dot faceoff. MacKinnon did not like something either Nosek or linesman Michel Cormier did on the drop. When the puck left the area, MacKinnon appeared to give Cormier a two-hand chop to the shin. There was no penalty called on the play.
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