Jeremy Swayman is making the most of being the new full-time goaltender for the Boston Bruins.
Starting his third straight game since goalie tandem partner Linus Ullmark was injured, Swayman stopped 31 shots for his third shoutout of the season to lead the Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
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“It’s nice to be able to see him have this opportunity,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “If Linus wasn’t injured, we wouldn’t have seen it. But his makeup is someone that wants the net every night. Linus has that, too. The swagger that he brings, it feels like he never gets tired.”
Swayman, who was named to the NHL All-Star roster on Saturday, had been splitting time with Ullmark, with each goalie starting 20 of the team's first 40 games. But the reigning Vezina Trophy winner had to be helped off the ice in an overtime loss to Arizona on Tuesday, and Swayman has been in the net ever since.
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Ullmark was skating before Saturday's game and was considered day to day.
“Something I take it seriously is whenever I’m in the net, I’m going to compete and give a team a chance to win every night,” Swayman said. “No doubt my mind Linus is going to be back in no time. He’s a Swedish Viking; we all know that he’s a stud. He’s going be back, and I can’t wait to have him back.”
David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored for Boston, and Trent Frederic added a diving empty-netter to help the Bruins to their first regulation victory in five tries. The previous four games — all on the road and all in six nights — went to overtime, with Boston losing the first three before snapping the streak on Saturday against St. Louis.
“That’s not an easy game for us after being in three different time zones in nine days, playing five games,” Montgomery said. “I think we were running out of fumes, but we really managed the game well.”
Coyle scored 30 seconds into the second period on a backhander, and Pastrnak made it 2-0 on a power play early in the third. Brad Marchand had a pair of assists, and Pastrnak also assisted on Coyle’s goal to give him 61 points on the season, third-most in the NHL.
Frederic’s empty-netter came with 78 seconds left when he out-dove a defender to tip the puck off the post and over the goal line.
Swayman improved to 2-0 since being announced as a selection through fan voting for the Feb. 3 All-Star Game in Toronto. The honor came just six months after the Bruins filed for arbitration even after he and Ullmark split time in a record-setting, 65-win season.
“It doesn’t matter what happens away from the rink. It’s all about what happens when you step through the doors every night,” Swayman said. “That accolade belongs to this team. So very grateful, and moving forward all we care about is Bruins hockey."
Nico Daws made 33 saves for New Jersey.
Boston appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a first-period power play when Marchand fed James van Riemsdyk in front, but a replay ruled that Pastrnak was offsides entering the zone.
So it was still scoreless when the Bruins scored off the second-period faceoff, with Marchand backhanding it from the left boards to a streaking Coyle, who put a backhand of his own past Daws.
Pastrnak made it 2-0 three minutes into the third period on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Charlie McAvoy.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host Montreal on Wednesday night.
Bruins: Host Colorado on Thursday.
