Brad Marchand doesn’t mince words about Jeremy Swayman’s rough night vs. Jets

"I don't think anyone can look themselves in the mirror and say that they had a good game."

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

Buoyed by a four-game win streak, any semblance of momentum Boston built was snuffed 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 finish chances against Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (13 5-on-5 high-danger shots for Boston) leading to an uncompetitive result.

Count Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman among those who likely want to burn the tape from Tuesday night.

Boston’s No. 1 netminder had one of the worst performances of his NHL career at Canada Life Centre, coughing up a career-worst eight tallies in the loss. 

Per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson, this marked the first time a Bruins goalie has given up eight goals in a single game since Dan Vladar in April 2021, as well as just the fifth time it’s happened since 2003.

“You got to stay sharp [for] 60 minutes, and they punished us,” Swayman said postgame. “It’s not acceptable, and we had to move forward, and luckily, we have the group to do it.”

Following the loss, Bruins captain Brad Marchand was asked if Tuesday was a “night where you feel for your goaltender,” given that Joe Sacco didn’t pull Swayman for Joonas Korpisalo amid a third-period thrashing. 

Such a question is usually answered with a cliched retort about the skaters in front of said goalie not doing enough to support him in lopsided losses.

But even if the Bruins’ D-zone coverage was ugly on Tuesday, Marchand was also not going to let Swayman off the hook amid a lackluster showing. 

“Not really,” Marchand responded. “Everyone had a bad night. He was part of it. He’s not singled out. I don’t think anyone can look themselves in the mirror and say that they had a good game. So, he’s part of the group. He’s part of the bad loss.”

Swayman had several goals that he’d like to have back, especially at 5-on-5 action. 

Despite scoring three power-play tallies against Boston, Winnipeg only landed five high-danger shots against Swayman during nearly 48 minutes of 5-on-5 play. That dearth of quality scoring chances equated to an expected goals rate of 1.84 at 5-on-5 play. 

But Swayman still gave up five 5-on-goals in the loss, with the 26-year-old goalie now last in the NHL in goals saved above expected this season (-11.6), according to MoneyPuck.

“Some of the goals that I let in, I know I can stop them,” Swayman said postgame. “And that’s something that I hold myself as a standard, and when you let those in, it’s not a great feeling. I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again and staying sharp and playing my game. I know I can stop those goals. So that’s what I’m going to do and push forward.”

Before Tuesday’s loss, Swayman appeared to be rounding a corner after a rusty start to the 2024-25 campaign — going 4-2-0 with a .918 save percentage after Sacco’s promotion as interim head coach. 

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

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

“We got four more games this road trip. We’re gonna take one game at a time, and I’m excited for that.”