Marchand doesn’t mince words about Swayman’s tough night

Bruins

“I don’t think anyone can look in the mirror and say they played a good game.”

The Bruins took a significant step back on Tuesday night in Winnipeg.

Buoyed by a four-game winning streak, any momentum Boston had built was wiped out by the Jets en route to a lopsided 8-1 loss.

It was an ugly night for Boston’s entire roster, with a parade of penalties, defensive breakdowns and an inability to capitalize on opportunities against Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (13 5-on-5 high-danger shots for Boston) resulting in an uncompetitive result .

Among those likely to want to burn Tuesday night’s tape is Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman.

Boston’s No. 1 goaltender turned in one of the worst performances of his NHL career at the Canada Life Center, scoring a career-worst eight goals in the loss.

According to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, this was the first time a Bruins goaltender had conceded eight goals in a single game since Dan Vladar in April 2021, and it was only the fifth time this had happened since 2003.

“You have to stay sharp for 60 minutes and they punished us,” Swayman said after the game. “This is unacceptable and we had to move forward and fortunately we have the group to do it.”

After the loss, Bruins captain Brad Marchand was asked if Tuesday was a “night to feel for your goalie” since Joe Sacco did not replace Swayman for Joonas Korpisalo when he was beaten up in the third period.

Such a question is usually answered with the clichéd retort that the field players in front of the goalkeeper don’t do enough to support him in one-sided defeats.

But even though the Bruins’ D-zone coverage was ugly on Tuesday, Marchand didn’t want to let Swayman off the hook despite a lackluster performance.

“Not really,” Marchand replied. “Everyone had a bad night. He was part of it. It is not highlighted. I don’t think anyone can look in the mirror and say they played a good game. So he is part of the group. He is part of the heavy loss.”

Swayman had several goals that he would like to get again, especially at 5-on-5.

Despite scoring three power-play goals against Boston, Winnipeg landed just five dangerous shots against Swayman in nearly 48 minutes of 5-on-5 play. This lack of good scoring opportunities corresponded to an expected goals ratio of 1.84 in 5v5 play.

But Swayman still conceded five 5-on-goals in the loss, with the 26-year-old goaltender now tied for last in the NHL in more goals saved than expected this season (-11.6), according to MoneyPuck.

“Some of the goals I’ve allowed, I know I can stop them,” Swayman said after the game. “And that’s something that I see as a benchmark myself, and if you allow that to happen, it’s not a great feeling. I want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again and I want to stay vigilant and play my game. I know I can stop these goals. So that’s what I’m going to do and push forward.”

Before Tuesday’s loss, Swayman appeared to be back on track after a rocky start to the 2024-25 season – going 4-2-0 with a .918 save percentage following Sacco’s promotion to interim coach.

The Bruins will look to maintain balance on Thursday against the Seattle Kraken, with Boston possibly turning to Korpisalo (5-1-1, .927 save percentage in the last eight games) in hopes of getting back on track come.

“It’s the NHL – any team can beat anyone on any night, and tonight we didn’t capitalize on the momentum we built,” Swayman said. “It will allow us to do it again. I know it’s not a good feeling right now, but I know this group can do it and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

“We played four more games on this road trip. We’ll take it one game at a time and I’m looking forward to it.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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