Bruins trip takeaway: Swayman’s performance just isn’t good enough it appeared in the beginning NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins just finished a tough five-game road trip. It was probably their most challenging road trip of the season considering its length and the quality of opponents they faced.
The trip didn’t get off to a bad start for the Bruins as they are lost 8-1 to the Winnipeg Jets and 5-1 at the Seattle Kraken. The B’s bounced back with a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks and a 4-3 overtime win against the Calgary Flames.
The trip concluded Thursday night in Edmonton, where the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the first half but lost 3-2 in overtime. Connor McDavid scored the tying goal with 2:21 left in the third period.
Taking five points out of 10 isn’t a bad ride, especially when you consider how it all started.
The Bruins will return to action on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabers at TD Garden. But first, let’s take a look at three taken from the five-game road trip.
Jeremy Swayman needs to play a lot better
The Bruins won’t go very far this season if No. 1 goaltender Jeremy Swayman doesn’t play at his best. Sure, the B’s will probably still make the playoffs, but winning the playoffs would be a big challenge.
The Bruins don’t have much goaltending depth. They won’t win many high-scoring tournaments. The best way to win for this Boston program is low-scoring games where top-class defense and scoring lead the way.
Swayman entered this season as one of the top 10 goaltenders in the league. He hasn’t played anywhere near that level thus far, posting an 11-10-3 record, an .887 save percentage and a 3.13 GAA in 24 starts. To put those numbers in context, Swayman has never finished a season with a save percentage below .914. His GAA is currently 0.60 higher than last season.
Swayman started four of the five games on the road trip. He finished with a .856 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA. Giving up a game-high eight goals against the Jets in the first game of the road trip in Winnipeg didn’t help those numbers, but he also gave up three goals in Calgary and Edmonton.
Connor McDavid’s tying goal late in the third period on Thursday was hard for Swayman to let go. You need to make these savings.
It gets worse though.
Swayman averaged 12.5 goals against this season, which is last (86 of 86) among all eligible players. according to MoneyPuck. He ranked No. 4 in goals against in the 2023-24 regular season and No. 1 in the division during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. So, again, another cliffhanger from last season.
We still have plenty of time for Swayman to turn things around. It certainly didn’t help him and the team that he missed all of training camp and the preseason due to a contract dispute. But he still has 24 starts. There are no excuses now. The Bruins won’t make a deep playoff run if their $66 million goaltender plays well below expectations.
The Playoff race is tight despite some good results for the Bruins
The Bruins entered Friday with a 17-13-4 record and 38 points, which puts them in first place in the Eastern Conference wild card race. They are tied for third place in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have played four games fewer.
Here’s how the wild card standings look as of Dec. 20:
1. Boston Bruins: 17-13-4, 38 points (34 GP)
2. The Ottawa Senators: 17-13-2, 36 points (32 GP)
The Pittsburgh Penguins: 15-14-5, 35 points (34 GP)
Philadelphia Flyers: 14-15-4, 32 points (33 GP)
Although the Bruins have won six of their last nine games and picked up points in seven of them, they are still in a tough playoff battle.
The Senators, thanks in large part to the resurgence of former Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark, have played much better of late and are back in the playoffs after winning seven of their last 10 games. The Penguins also have a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games.
The good news for the Bruins is that no team is running away with the Atlantic. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are tied for the top spot with 42 points each, just four ahead of the B’s.
The Bruins righted the ship after an 8-9-3 start that cost former coach Jim Montgomery his job. But there is still a lot of work left for the Bruins to increase their chances of earning a playoff spot.
The B’s have it the rest of the schedule is a solid sevenand their January slate is loaded with matchups against quality opponents, including the Leafs, Oilers, Lightning (twice), Panthers, Jets, Avalanche and Devils. Boston also plays the surprisingly good Washington Capitals twice before New Year’s Day.
The next five to six weeks are a critical time for the Bruins.
The case still needs a spark; Time to call Matt Poitras?
The Bruins looked their best at times during the road trip. A 5-1 win over the Canucks and a 4-3 overtime win over the Flames were impressive.
David Pastrnak led the offense in both games with four points (one goal, three assists) in Vancouver and the game-winning goal in Calgary. Morgan Geekie is starting to find his groove, too, with six points (four goals, two assists) in his last seven games. Elias Lindholm has scored in three consecutive games – his first since early November.
But the Bruins still struggle to score consistently. They produced just one goal in bad losses to the Jets and Kraken to start the road trip, then scored just two goals in an overtime loss to the Oilers on Thursday.
The Bruins are ranked 27th out of 32 teams with 2.59 goals scored per game. Boston’s power play ranked 31st with a 12.7 percent success rate. Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Cole Koepke and Nikita Zadorov all failed to score a single point during the five-game road trip.
The Bruins waived veteran forward Tyler Johnson earlier this week. He wasn’t the one making the impact, so it made sense to split up. B’s wanted for the first round of 2018 Oliver Wahlstrom disagreed last Saturday, but it remains to be seen if he can be a reliable offensive player. He scored just four points in 27 games for the Islanders before being released.
One move that could provide a scoring spark is calling up Matthew Poitras from the AHL. The B’s traded Poitras to the Providence Bruins after a slow start to the season. He has been unable to stop the P-Bruins recently with a seven-game hitting streak.
Poitras doesn’t just have a good shot, he’s a good player, too. The Bruins could use him at center or on the wing, and maybe give him a chance to jumpstart their lackluster power play.
Poitras is just 20 years old, and it’s good for the Bruins that he’s building some confidence in Providence. There’s no immediate need to bring him back to Boston, but if the Bruins continue to struggle offensively over the next few weeks, calling up Poitras should be one of the first moves made.
