Bruins
“There was one save that I looked back and I was like, ‘Thank goodness for sweet Jeremy Swayman.’”
Brandon Carlo assumed the worst as the Maple Leafs fired salvo after salvo from Grade-A ice at Scotiabank Arena.
Despite the cacophony of boos that rained down from a disheartened Leafs fan base after 40 minutes, Carlo and his Bruins teammates knew a pushback was all but inevitable in Game 4.
That manifested in an impressive backhand tally from Mitch Marner at 5:43 in the third period — cutting Boston’s lead to two and sparking energy in Toronto’s dormant barn. A desperate Leafs team staring at a 3-1 series deficit ramped up the pressure.
William Nylander mimicked Marner’s goal with a backhand attempt near the crease, while Joel Edmundson uncorked two blistering shots from the slot into a mass of blue, white and gold sweaters.
All quality attempts.
All turned aside by a netminder who was far from a lock to start on Saturday — and now has Boston just one win away from a spot in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It’s incredible,” Carlo said after Boston’s 3-1 win on Saturday night. “I mean, there was one save that I looked back and I was like, ‘Thank goodness for sweet Jeremy Swayman.’”
The 25-year-old netminder was not taxed as heavily on Saturday as he was in Games 1 and 3 against Toronto — two wins where he posted a whopping 7.8 goals saved above expected (per Money Puck).
But Swayman made the stops when he needed to in Game 4, including the expected flurry that surged from Toronto after Marner lit the lamp.
“He’s pretty incredible,” Carlo said. “I mean, he had some big-time saves there in the third. His composure is pretty impressive. I enjoy just being on the ice with him. I can hear him constantly laughing, he’s smiling, and just having a good time. And it reminds me to do the same. So I love his composure. The way that he’s playing right now is speaking for itself.”
The stats do speak for themselves when it comes to Swayman and his affinity for snuffing out Toronto’s scorching offense.
With Saturday’s win, Swayman is now 6-0-0 against the Maple Leafs this season, sporting a .957 save percentage. Still, it was far from a guarantee that Swayman was going to man the net up in Toronto for a second straight game.
“I was really grateful,” Swayman said of getting the start on Saturday. “Really grateful and excited to go back to Boston now.”
Even with Swayman’s sterling showing in Game 3 on Wednesday, Jim Montgomery and the Bruins kept their cards close to their vest when it came to the team’s plans in net.
Prior to Saturday’s showdown at Scotiabank Arena, the Bruins had alternated between Swayman and Linus Ullmark for 28 consecutive games.
Boston dropped its lone game of this series with Ullmark between the pipes, but the reigning Vezina Trophy winner was far from the reason why Boston’s netfront coverage splintered in a 3-2 defeat in Game 2.
Ullmark had even more momentum on his side going into the postseason, sporting a 6-3-0 record with a .935 save percentage since the trade deadline.
Considering Boston’s hesitancy to deviate from its plan in net over the past two-plus months, the Bruins would have been justified in giving Ullmark another look on Saturday — with Swayman stepping back in for Game 5 to serve as either a potential series closer, or a trump card amid a 2-2 deadlock.
But as Montgomery noted postgame, Boston’s steadfast commitment to a goalie rotation needs to be malleable when the right situation arises.
And in this first-round series — particularly against this opponent — Swayman has done little to warrant a spot on the bench.
“Well, he was really good,” Montgomery said of Swayman’s play in Game 4. “What went into the decision was we rotated the first two games and then Swayman played so well — we’re gonna go with the hot hand.”
In what figures to be a recurring trend for however long this Cup run carries on, the Bruins will face yet another conundrum on Tuesday as it pertains to their goaltending.
Granted, it’s a good problem to have for Montgomery and his staff when it comes to choosing between two goalies who both should give Boston a sizable edge against Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll.
With two days off between Games 4 and 5, the Bruins can choose to roll with a rested Swayman yet again in Game 5 in search of that decisive knockout punch. Or, with a 3-1 series lead in place, the Bruins could try to get Ullmark back into the fray to see if he can get some momentum back on his side.
Whichever path the Bruins take, don’t expect to hear it from Montgomery.
“I don’t know,” Montgomery said of Swayman and Ullmark’s respective odds of starting Game 5. “We’ll find out on Tuesday.”
We won’t know until late Tuesday night whether or not Montgomery and the Bruins’ latest lineup gamble paid dividends.
But on Saturday, Boston made the right call in sticking with the hot hand — and pushing its Original Six foe to the brink of elimination.
“Always, I’ve wanted more for myself,” Swayman said of putting himself in this spot in a first-round series. “It’s really fun to take a step back and have that gratitude for the situation and the moment. And I’m just really grateful for this experience.”
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