Jeremy Swayman Continues To Be NHL's Best Goaltender Over Past Month
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jeremy Swayman is on some sort of run for the Boston Bruins right now.
Coming off a 34-save shutout in Los Angeles, Swayman picked up his fifth consecutive win by stopping 34 of 36 shots from the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. In doing so, he continued his run as the very best goaltender in the NHL since the start of February.
It was Feb. 8 when Swayman returned to the NHL from his brief stop in Providence during Tuukka Rask's attempted return. Swayman had a rough showing in his return, allowing three goals on 24 shots in a loss to Pittsburgh. But he shook that off rather quickly, and he's been almost impossible to beat since then.
From Feb. 12 through Thursday night, Swayman has gone 5-0-1 with a .967 save percentage and a 0.98 goals-against average. That's the best save percentage in the NHL during that time, 14 points better than Igor Shesterkin's .953. The 0.98 GAA is also the best in the league in that span, with Shesterkin ranking second at 1.47. (All with a minimum of three games played.)
NHL SAVE PERCENTAGE LEADERS SINCE FEB. 12
1. Jeremy Swayman, .967
2. Igor Shesterkin, .953
3. Jake Oettinger, .950
4. Anton Forsberg, .941
5. Scott Wedgewood, .940NHL GAA LEADERS SINCE FEB. 12
1. Jeremy Swayman, 0.98
2. Igor Shesterkin, 1.47
3. Jake Oettinger, 1.54
4. Anton Forsberg, 2.12
5. Darcy Kuemper, 2.17
Swayman's 6-0-1 record is also the best among all NHL goaltenders in that span.
It's been a strong run, but it's also been part of a strong season. Overall, Swayman ranks third in the NHL in save percentage (.930) on the season, behind Shesterkin and Ville Husso. Swayman also ranks second in even strength save percentage at .939, one point behind Shesterkin's league-best .940. Swayman is the NHL's GAA leader at 1.95, percentage points better than Shesterkin's 1.98. Shesterkin's done that with 10 more starts, thus putting him on track to win the Vezina.
But the fact that Swayman stands so high in the league provides a lot of promise for the future of Boston goaltending.
Thursday's win also featured a critical save made in highlight-reel fashion by Swayman, who took away an empty net from Reilly Smith with a left to right push and a blocker save to maintain Boston's 1-0 lead early in the second period.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said he believes the team leaned on Swayman a bit too much in the second period, when the netminder turned aside 12 of 13 shots from the home team. But Swayman's been plenty capable of carrying the team when needed lately, with Thursday night's showing merely the latest installment in a tremendously impressive stretch of play from the rookie.
