Jeremy Swayman, Third Star of the Week, has been better than even Linus Ullmark since start of new year
BOSTON -- For the past three months or so, it's been very clear that Linus Ullmark is the runaway favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's most outstanding goaltender. That much hasn't changed ... but Ullmark also hasn't been the best goaltender on his own team for several months running.
That's not even a mark against Ullmark, who's been reliably consistent for the entire season. It is, however, merely recognition that Jeremy Swayman is playing some truly unbelievable hockey for the Boston Bruins.
Swayman has accentuated this stretch with four shutouts since mid-January, twice as many as any other NHL goalie in that span. His most recent shutout came Sunday, when he turned aside 26 Buffalo shots to record his second shutout in as many starts.
As a result, Swayman was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week.
With four shutouts on the season, Swayman is tied for having the third-most on the season. That's despite ranking 38th in starts with just 27.
Swayman's performance has involved much more than the shutouts, though, as he's been the best goaltender in the NHL since the calendar flipped to 2023.
In 16 appearances (15 starts) since the new year, Swayman is 11-3-1 with an NHL-best .937 save percentage and 1.81 goals-against average. He also has a .941 even-strength save percentage, which is best in the NHL and is one point better than ... Linus Ullmark.
"I think he's been really good. I don't know what the date was, but he's been phenomenal for a long stretch," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after Sunday's win. "I think he's just more in a rhythm as well because of how many games we've been playing in March."
With back-to-back shutouts, Swayman has now stopped 71 consecutive shots, dating back to the second period of his start in Detroit last Sunday. That game was a rare ugly one for Swayman, who allowed four goals on just 25 shots. Despite that stain, and despite the five goals he allowed in Seattle in late February and the four goals he allowed in Florida in late January, his highs have easily outweighed the lows over the past 11 weeks.
In his 15 starts, he has the aforementioned four shutouts, plus three starts with one goal allowed, and four starts with two goals allowed.
OCT. 12 TO DEC. 31
Ullmark: 20-1-1, .938 save %, 1.90 GAA, 2 shutouts
Swayman: 7-3-3, .897 save %, 2.68 GAA, 0 shutoutsJAN. 1 TO MARCH 20
Swayman: 11-3-1, .937 save %, 1.81 GAA, 4 shutouts,
Ullmark: 14-4-0, .932 save %, 2.06 GAA, 0 shutoutsNHL RANKS, OCT. 12 TO DEC. 31
Ullmark: First in save percentage, first in GAA
Swayman: 37th in save percentage, 19th in GAANHL RANKS, JAN. 1 TO MARCH 20
Swayman: First in save percentage, first in GAA
Ullmark: Third in save percentage, third in GAANHL RANKS, ENTIRE SEASON
Ullmark: First in save percentage, first in GAA
Swayman: Fourth in save percentage, third in GAA
In some ways, Swayman finding his footing has buoyed the Bruins' record-setting season. While Ullmark was clearly the best goaltender in the NHL through December, he was getting a bit more work than the Bruins would have likely preferred. Through the first two and a half months of the season, Ullmark had made 23 starts to Swayman's 12, a pace that would have had Ullmark making 54 starts on the year. Ullmark entered the season having never made more than 39 starts. Yet with Swayman surging, the workload has lessened for Ullmark, who's now made 41 starts to Swayman's 27. Ullmark's now on pace to start 49 games, but given the way Swayman has played, that number may even come down a little as the Bruins prepare for a postseason run.
As for that postseason run, Swayman has at least opened the door for an outside conversation about a goalie platoon in the playoffs. Last year, Ullmark started Games 1 and 2 against Carolina, before Swayman took over in Game 3 and remained the starter for the remainder of the seven-game series. It would be borderline unfathomable for a Vezina winner to be splitting time with anyone in the postseason, and Ullmark -- the third-best goalie in the NHL since New Year's Day -- hasn't done anything to indicate that he's fading. So that remains an outside conversation.
In the meanwhile, though, Montgomery indicated he plans on happily riding the platoon for the final 13 games of the regular season.
"Yeah well we don't think we need to stray from it right now," Montgomery said of the rotation. "We'll look at -- I always talk to Goalie Bob [Essensa] and [GM Don Sweeney] about what we think we should be doing to get our goalies in the best position to be ready. We'll continue to do that, but the rotation has been working really well. You don't have to fix anything that's not broken."
With two of the four best statistical goaltenders in the NHL taking the ice every night, it's a rather good spot for the Bruins to be.
