When Jeremy Swayman skated off the ice after allowing six goals to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon in a 6-1 Game 4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at the TD Garden, he had a word or two for his teammates. It wasn't something that he hid.
After the way they played in front of him, who could blame them for that? Nobody, really. At this time of the year, emotions run high, and things are said. On Monday, Swayman addressed it and said everyone moved on. They had to. They were facing elimination at the hands of the Sabres on Tuesday night in Buffalo.
Not many believed after what they watched on Sunday afternoon that the Black and Gold could have gone to Western New York and kept their season alive. They did, and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman didn't beat around the bush about Swayman's performance in Buffalo.
Elliotte Friedman lauds Jeremy Swayman for Game 4 performance against Sabres
The only way to respond to what happened was to back up the talk in Game 5. Swayman did with 25 saves on 26 shots in a 2-1 overtime victory. The shot to get by him was a Rasmus Dahlin first-period power-play goal. Freidman explained how big Swayman's performance was.
"When you do what he did at the end of Game 4, you have to deliver the next time out,'' said Friedman. "When you go after your teammates like that, and you make it public, and you make it obvious, even if you're justified, you have to deliver the next game. I thought the Bruins had a really good first period, and then I thought the ice absolutely tilted in the other direction, and Swayman was fantastic.
"To me, that's the number one storyline of the game. He saved Boston's season, and you know, after doing what he did, he stood up strong, he held his end of the bargain.''
Elias Lindholm tied the game in the second period, and David Pastrnak won the game in overtime, and now we're heading back to Boston for Game 6 on Friday night. There are several reasons as to why the series is coming back to Boston, but Swayman is certainly at the top of the list.
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