Right smack dab in the middle of a five-game road trip, it appears that frustration is starting to settle in with the Boston Bruins. Following a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night in Southern California, defenseman Nikita Zadorov spoke with the media and may have been trying to send a message to a teammate.
In the second period of the loss, goalie Jeremy Swayman came top center ice to challenge Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper to a fight, which never happened because the officials stepped in. Swayman was defending new teammate Marat Khusnutdinov who was pushed into Kuemper and was attempting to defend himself as Los Angeles players came to their goalie's defense.
The referees stepped in between the two netminders to make sure nothing physical happened, but both were issued a minor penalty for leaving the crease. After the sixth straight Black and Gold loss, first-year Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov was asked about Swayman defending his teammate and dropped a subtle, but likely meaningful response.
Nikita Zadorov drops a subtle comment about Jeremy Swayman
Zadorov was asked by a reporter about Swayman coming to the defense of Khusnutdinov and he had a weird answer. It opened a lot of eyes and it makes you wonder just how fragile things are in the locker room.
“Is that what it is?,’’ asked Zadorov. “I don’t know. I have no comment.’’
So this may not seem like much, but it is. There were a couple of different avenues that Zdaorov could have gone and he chose this one. It points to a locker room that is not all together and that is something that has been an issue all year most likely. Is there friction from Swayman’s contract issue this summer and through camp? His play hasn’t certainly warranted the $8.25 million he’s getting this year.
In his last four starts, Swayman has lost all four games, with a 6.00 goals-against average and a dreadful .815 save percentage, allowing 20 goals. Bad doesn’t begin to describe it and this is just an example of how things have gone this season. Let’s be upfront and honest, Swayman isn’t the only problem that has become the 2024-25 Boston Bruins, but instead of trying to pick a fight, I don’t know, maybe focus on making some saves. Who knows, maybe, just maybe that’s what Zadorov was trying to say. It just proves that the issues run a lot deeper than just on the ice, but maybe bigger off the ice.