Boston Bruins: Swayman Can’t Do it By Himself

Boston Bruins rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman has taken the league by storm in his first season in the NHL. Between his play with the Providence Bruins in American Hockey League and his first six games in Boston, the University of Maine product has been very impressive.

But even the veteran goalies like Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak can attest, they can’t do it by themselves.

Sunday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, Swayman stopped 28 of 29 shots fired at him by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but unfortunately for the Swayman and the Black and Gold, Pens goalie Tristian Jarry was better. Jarry stopped all 30 shots by Boston, even though most were not high-danger chances, but regardless, he did what he needed to do and his teammate picked him up.

Scoreless through the first 40 minutes, the Penguins scored the game’s only goal when Jake Guentzel ripped home a slap shot from the left circle off a pass from Sidney Crosby 4:03 into the final period for a 1-0 Pittsburgh victory.

Of course, the goal came after the Bruins were oh-so-close to getting the puck out of their zone, but a play by the Penguins at the blue line allowed the puck to stay in the zone and the Pens took full advantage.

Down the other end of the ice, the Bruins were turned back on by Jarry on every shot. But we have seen this before and seen it too many times this season.

The Bruins get good goaltending, but can’t help out their netminder down the other end of the ice. Prior to Friday night’s 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres that snapped the Boston winning streak at six games, the Bruins were cashing in down in the offensive end for their goalies.

Yes, three of the wins were over the Sabres, but two wins (including a shutout) of the New York Islanders and one over the Washington Capitals, the other two teams ahead of them in the East Division standings along with the Penguins were the other three victories.

The Bruins have a fight on their hands right now for the fourth and final playoff berth in the division. The New York Rangers are four points behind them, but the two teams have a pair of games coming up next week at the TD Garden that will go a long way in deciding who earns the fourth and final playoff berth.

Jeremy Swayman and the rest of the Bruins goalies can’t play between the pipes and score down the other end. A few more nights like this and the Bruins might be in danger of slipping in the standings, something that was not thought possible just a week ago. A lot can change in seven days, but the Bruins need to get back to creating scoring chances like they did during their winning streak.