Bruins

Jeremy Swayman’s ascension as Bruins’ No. 1 goalie a positive from latest playoff run 

"I couldn't be more grateful to have a city, to have a home base that's as supportive as Boston."

By Conor Ryan

May 18, 2024

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Jeremy Swayman struggled to hold back the tears as he skated off the TD Garden ice for the final time this season. 

Such is the expected emotional response whenever an NHL campaign is finally snuffed out — especially from a player who carried the torch for Boston through four weeks of playoff hockey. 

In a game as unforgiving as this one, it’s par for the course that Boston’s best player all postseason was consumed by the short-side, rebound tally that Gustav Forsling snapped home with just 1:33 left on the clock. 

But amid the finality of Friday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Panthers setting in, Swayman’s despair was buoyed by the resolute cacophony of cheers raining down from the Garden rafters. 

It didn’t take long for the cheers of over 19,000 fans to reach its crescendo. 

“SWAY-MAN! SWAY-MAN!” echoed throughout Boston’s barn as Swayman embraced his teammates one final time. 

It was a fitting tribute to the player who pushed an overachieving Bruins team into the second round of the playoffs — and an emphatic stamp on a run where the 25-year-old goalie entrenched himself as Boston’s No. 1 netminder for the foreseeable future.  

“Tears,” Swayman said of his reaction to Friday’s cheers. “I couldn’t be more grateful to have a city, to have a home base that’s as supportive as Boston. And they mean so much more than just fans to me. It’s truly a home for me now.  And to hear that was above and beyond. I’m just so grateful. 

The Bruins’ success over the last few years was built on the steady foundation provided by having two proven netminders in place between Swayman and Linus Ullmark. But it was Swayman’s ascension this postseason that allowed a successful regular-season roster to finally punch its ticket out of the first round for the first time since 2021. 

Swayman ultimately started 12 of Boston’s 13 playoff games this spring, with Jim Montgomery and his staff shredding up Boston’s plans for a goalie rotation as Swayman’s confidence continued to soar. 

It was a drastic shift in strategy for Boston — but one that yielded immediate returns. 

Swayman closed out his first full playoff run as Boston’s No. 1 netminder with a .933 save percentage — tops among all postseason goalies with at least four starts. 

His 11.29 goals saved above average (GSAA) this postseason led all NHL goalies, with New York’s Igor Shesterkin ranking second in the same category at 6.42 GSAA, per Natural Stat Trick. 

“Jeremy Swayman was terrific,” Jim Montgomery said after Boston’s loss. “He gave us an opportunity to win every night, making sensational saves. His competitiveness was something that our players and our team and our bench fed off.”

Had it not been for Swayman, the Bruins likely would have seen their latest season come to an end in the first round for the third consecutive year — a painful result only sharpened had it come at the hands of another reviled foe in the Maple Leafs. 

But Swayman refused to budge against Boston’s Original Six foe — allowing two goals or fewer in all six of his postseason matchups against Toronto en route to a .950 save percentage for the series. 

He once again kept Boston’s season afloat even as the Panthers pushed the Bruins to the brink — with a last-second stop against Sam Reinhart in Game 5 giving his team a chance to bring this series back to Causeway Street. 

Swayman tabbed Forsling’s series-ending tally as “unacceptable” — a rare fault amid a sterling showing from the Alaskan-born netminder. 

That harsh lens through which Swayman viewed his own game was not shared by his teammates. 

“A lot of guys have a lot of respect for him in this room,” Jake DeBrusk said of Swayman. “[He] got us to this point, pretty much won us the Toronto series, kept us in that and then extended this series for us. 

“I know goalies feel like every mistake’s a goal, but sometimes it’s not even a mistake. And he covered for a lot of ours. So, I think what guys are saying is, ‘Just keep your head up, man, you’re a stud. [You] really took your game up in the playoffs and to be proud of that.’”

A roster that Swayman quickly labeled as a “family” postgame will be very different in 2024-25. It remains to be seen if Swayman and Ullmark shared their final joyous embrace as teammates on Tuesday night in Sunrise. 

But as the Bruins put a cap-crunched season in the rearview and prep for sizable renovations this summer, one thing is clear. 

Boston has its franchise goalie in place. And he shouldn’t be leaving the crease any time soon. 

“It’s not about me as an individual,” Swayman, a pending restricted free agent, said of Friday’s ovation. “It’s about our team and to see it all end so abruptly is something they never want to feel. But I’m just so proud of everyone being here and setting the foundation for what’s to come next. 

“Obviously I want to stay in the moment and really embrace what we have in this locker room and what we accomplished this year. But that was a really special moment. I’m very grateful.”