Jeremy Swayman's second period performance vs. Golden Knights doesn't tell full story

The box score watchers will see that Jeremy Swayman allowed four goals on his first 16 shots against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night and worry that the goaltender's 2024-25 form was returning. However, if it weren't for Swayman in the second period, the Boston Bruins would've been in a much bigger hole than they were entering the third period. The two goals allowed to give the Golden Knights a 4-2 lead were just terrible bad luck in a 6-5 loss.

The 3-2 goal from Jack Eichel was a slight breakdown from the defense in front of Swayman, as Charlie McAvoy chased a hit behind the net and the forwards left the high slot open. It was a tough change from Mark Kastelic to try to get David Pastrnak on the ice, but the unlucky part was the puck tipping off Morgan Geekies stick as he tried to get his stick in the lane and tipping the puck up and over Swayman. As Elias Lindholm was skating by the puck, he created a screen and Swayman wasn't able to find it.

The 4-2 goal was another unlucky bounce after the Bruins left Pavel Dorofeyev all alone at the backdoor on the powerplay. The puck hit the post, bounced off Swayman's back, and then laid in the crease for Tomas Hertl to crash the net and jam it home. The goaltender nearly got his leg on the puck but it rolled into the net.

Swayman would then stop the next six shots, with some coming on a tough 5-on-3. He was able to keep Boston in the game after the rough start to the period, and it could've gotten much more out of hand as the Bruins left Swayman out to dry for the majority of the period.

After Pastrnak made it 4-3, the Bruins got a man advantage of their own for a great opportunity to tie the game heading into the third period. They proceeded to allow a 2-on-1, which William Karlsson buried, again leaving the goaltender out to dry off a brutal turnover from Casey Mittelstadt.

The Bruins' first game of the road trip hasn't been pretty, with some costly turnovers, shoddy defensive zone coverage, and a brutal penalty killing effort after being perfect through the first four games. While the box score will say Swayman was at fault on Thursday night, the Bruins would've likely been in a much worse position without him.

Some sloppy play from the Bruins was expected in the first game of the road trip, but it was much worse than anticipated through two periods.