After the Boston Bruins held an optional skate on Tuesday morning at Little Caesars Arena ahead of their game against the Detroit Red Wings, head coach Marco Sturm announced that he was starting Jeremy Swayman again. He explained why.
“He’s too good right now,”said Sturm. “I don’t want him to rest…now, we had two days in between, I think it gives him enough rest to have a few games in him. He’s doing excellent. It’s gonna be a tough game again today, and I think he’s the right guy.”
That quote didn't age well Tuesday night, and Sturm was faced with a tough decision early in the third period and made it.
Jeremy Swayman pulled in Bruins loss to Red Wings
For as good as Swayman had been recently, he wasn't good on Tuesday, and he'll be the first to admit it. He allowed two first-period goals, one to former teammate James van Reimsdyk on a snipe for the game's opening goal. By the time the third period rolled around, he was pulled by his first-year coach when he allowed his fifth goal of the game at 3:55 of the period, which was a power-play goal.
For as good as Swayman had been lately, he was due for a clunker, and that was the case in Detroit. He was huge in the shootout win over the Red Wings on Saturday night at the TD Garden, including three big-time shootout saves. Of the five goals he allowed, there is no doubt that he would love to have some of them back.
Boston rallied to cut the 3-0 deficit to 3-2 on goals from Jonathan Aspirot and Alex Steeves in the second period, but 37 seconds after Steeves' goal, Ben Chiarot regained a two-goal lead for the Wings. Talk about a momentum killer.
Marat Khusnutdinov and Steeves scored in the final five minutes to close the gap to 5-4, but that was as close as they would get. What makes the loss more frustrating is that they lost to John Gibson, who earned his first win between the pipes since Oct. 28 for Detroit. He entered the game 0-5-1 in his last six starts. Yikes.
Boston will return home and play the St. Louis Blues and former coach Jim Montgomery on Thursday night before the New Jersey Devils visit on Saturday night.