The takeaway from the Bruins road trip: Swayman’s performance just isn’t good enough originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins just finished a tough five-game road trip. This was probably their toughest road trip of the season considering its length and the quality of the opponents they faced.
The trip couldn’t have started worse for the Bruins as they lost 8-1 to the Winnipeg Jets and 5-1 against the Seattle Kraken. The B’s rebounded with a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks and a 4-3 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames.
The trip ended Thursday night in Edmonton, where the Bruins held a 2-0 lead in the first period but lost 3-2 in overtime. Connor McDavid scored the tying goal with just 2:21 left in the third period.
Taking five points out of a possible 10 isn’t a horrible road trip, especially considering how it started.
The Bruins will be back in action Saturday against the Buffalo Sabers at TD Garden. But first, let’s look at three takeaways from the five-game road trip.
Jeremy Swayman needs to play a lot better
The Bruins won’t get very far this season if number one goaltender Jeremy Swayman doesn’t play at a higher level. Sure, the B’s would probably make the playoffs, but winning a round would be quite a challenge.
The Bruins don’t have a lot of scoring depth. They won’t win many high scoring games. The best path to victory for this Boston roster is in low-scoring games where top-notch defense and goaltending lead the way.
Swayman entered the season as one of the league’s top 10 guards. He hasn’t played at that level thus far, posting an 11-10-3 record, .887 save percentage and 3.13 GAA in 24 starts. To put those numbers into context, Swayman has never finished a season with a save percentage lower than .914. His GAA is currently 0.60 higher than last season.
Swayman started four of five games on this road trip. He finished with a .856 save percentage and a 3.67 GAA. Giving up a career-high eight goals against the Jets in the first game of the trip to Winnipeg didn’t help those numbers, but he also allowed three goals to Calgary and Edmonton.
Connor McDavid’s goal to tie the score late in the third period Thursday was tough for Swayman to give up. He has to make this save.
But it’s even worse.
Swayman has saved a below-expected 12.5 goals this season, which ranks him dead last (86th out of 86) among all qualifying goalies. by MoneyPuck. He ranked 4th in goals saved above expectation during the 2023-24 regular season and 1st in that category during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. So, once again, another sharp decline compared to last season.
There’s still plenty of time for Swayman to turn things around. The fact that he missed all of training camp and the preseason due to a contract dispute certainly didn’t help him or the team. But he has already had 24 starts. There are no more excuses now. The Bruins will not make the playoffs if their $66 million keeper performs well below expectations.
Playoff race tight despite positive results for Bruins
The Bruins entered Friday with a 17-13-4 record and 38 points, which puts them in first place in the playoff wild card in the Eastern Conference standings. They are tied for third in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have played four fewer games.
Here is what the wild card rankings look like as of December 20:
1. Boston Bruins: 17-13-4, 38 points (34 GP)
2. Ottawa Senators: 17-13-2, 36 points (32 GP)
Pittsburgh Penguins: 15-14-5, 35 points (34 GP)
Philadelphia Flyers: 14-15-4, 32 points (33 GP)
Even though the Bruins have won six of their last nine games and taken points in seven of them, they are still in an uphill battle in the playoffs.
The Senators, thanks in large part to the resurgence of former Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark, have been playing much better of late and are back in the playoffs after winning seven of their last 10 games. The Penguins are also 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
The good news for the Bruins is that neither team is running away with the Atlantic. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are tied atop the division standings with 42 points each, just four ahead of the B’s.
The Bruins righted the ship after an 8-9-3 start that cost former head coach Jim Montgomery his job. But there’s still plenty of work left for the Bruins to improve their chances of earning a playoff spot.
The Bs have the seventh most difficult remaining scheduleand their January slate is loaded with matchups against quality opponents, including the Leafs, Oilers, Lightning (twice), Panthers, Jets, Avalanche and Devils. Boston also plays the surprisingly good Washington Capitals twice before New Year’s Day.
The next five to six weeks will be a critical period for the Bruins.
The offense still needs a spark; Is it time to call Matt Poitras?
The Bruins looked a little better offensively at times during the road trip. A 5-1 win over the Canucks and a 4-3 overtime victory over the Flames were impressive.
David Pastrnak led the attack in both games with four points (one goal, three assists) in Vancouver and the winning goal in Calgary. Morgan Geekie is also starting to find his rhythm, with six points (four goals, two assists) in his last seven games. Elias Lindholm has a point in three consecutive games – the first time he has done so since early November.
But the Bruins still struggle to score goals consistently. They generated just one goal in ugly losses to the Jets and Kraken to start the road trip, then scored just twice in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Oilers.
The Bruins rank 27th out of 32 teams with 2.59 goals scored per game. Boston’s power play ranks 31st with a 12.7 percent success rate. Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Cole Koepke and Nikita Zadorov failed to score a single point during the five-game road trip.
The Bruins waived veteran forward Tyler Johnson earlier this week. He wasn’t making an impact, so it made sense to part ways. The B’s claimed the 2018 first round pick Oliver Wahlstrom without waiver last Saturday, but it remains to be seen if he can be a reliable offensive player. He had just four points in 27 games with the Islanders before being waived.
One move that could provide a spark of scoring would be recalling Matthew Poitras from the AHL. The B’s sent Poitras to the Providence Bruins after a slow start to the season. He’s been borderline unstoppable for the P-Bruins as of late with a seven-game goal streak.
Poitras not only has a good shot, he is also a talented playmaker. The Bruins could use him at center or on the wing, and perhaps give him an opportunity to revive their lackluster power play.
Poitras is only 20 years old, and it’s great for the Bruins that he’s building some confidence in Providence. There’s no immediate need to bring him back to Boston, but if the Bruins continue to struggle offensively over the next few weeks, recalling Poitras should be one of the first moves made.
