Jeremy Swayman's first Olympic period was a disaster of epic proportions

Team USA's only objective in their second game of the Olympics was to run up the score on a weak Denmark team to help their chances of getting the first seed heading into the playoffs. The USA's lack of competition in their pool has them planning a first-place finish, but Denmark gave them all they could handle with two goals in the first period to escape with a 2-1 lead.

The second USA game was also going to be a great sight for Boston Bruins fans, as Jeremy Swayman jumped Jake Oettinger on the depth chart to get the start with Connor Hellebuyck as his backup. However, Swayman was fighting the puck in the first period like it was an Andrei Vasilevskiy left hand, letting in two questionable goals to put the USA in a hole.

The first was a mix of lackadaisical goaltending and poor puck protection in their own end. Zach Werenski rimmed the puck around the boards onto the stick of a Danish defenseman, and then accidentally kicked it into his own net after Swayman allowed an ugly rebound toward the slot. It was a bad hole to get into, had Matt Boldy not tied it shortly after to settle the nerves.

Swayman's nerves, though, weren't settled. Nicholas Jensen (not to be confused with former NHLer Nick Jensen, who is also on the team) let a floating wrist shot go from outside the red line towards Swayman with 8:36 remaining in the period. For some reason, Swayman read that the puck was going toward his glove hand, and instead, it beat him cleanly over his blocker.

Swayman's dream of starting a game for the United States in the Olympics had a terrible start. It was shocking to Bruins fans, who have seen him backstop the team under far more pressure all season long. It's also surprising to USA fans, given his success at last year's World Championship.

The first order of business for the United States will be to get itself back into this game and escape a devastating loss. The next order of business for Bruins fans will be to hope that this confidence-breaking game doesn't hurt Swayman beyond the Olympics. If Boston's starter leads the team to a win in this game, all should be forgotten.