Bruins should stick with Jeremy Swayman in Game 2 vs. Leafs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Jeremy Swayman is a problem for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Bruins goalie made the first Game 1 start of his playoff career in Saturday night’s first-round matchup at TD Garden, and he gave one of his best performances of the season in a 5-1 win.
“Dream come true,” Swayman said postgame when asked about his huge smile during the national anthem. “It’s such a privilege to play in this league and for this city. Taking that first lap, hearing the fans, seeing the towels, it’s a pretty emotional feeling. You just understand how hard it is to get here and what a great opportunity it was. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the whole night. Pretty spectacular.”
The Leafs, based on the amount and quality of their scoring chances, were expected to score 4.74 goals, per analytics website Natural Stat Trick. But they scored just once because Swayman was locked in from the opening puck drop.
Swayman turned away 35 of the 36 shots he faced, with the only goal he allowed coming early in the third period when the Bruins were leading 4-1. The 25-year-old netminder was especially effective early in the second period when the Leafs had a power play. He made several quality saves during that sequence to keep Toronto off the scoreboard.
“I thought his athleticism allowed him to make some really good bouncing-puck rebound saves,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame. “He made a couple point-blank saves early in the first. And then I thought we got to our game, so it was really important he made those saves.”
The Bruins’ Game 1 starter was a mystery until the pre-game warmups when Swayman led the team onto the ice. All week Montgomery wouldn’t reveal which goalie he was going to start. Why did he ultimately decide on Swayman?
“Swayman hadn’t had the opportunity to start a series before in the last couple years,” Montgomery explained. “We wanted to see him start a series, see how he’d handle it. He did really well.”
Another reason to go with Swayman was his recent performances versus the Leafs. He went 3-0-0 with a .959 save percentage in three starts against Toronto during the regular season, including a pair of 4-1 wins — one on the road and one at home — back in early March.
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