BOSTON -- Bruins fans are very excited that Jeremy Swayman is going to be the team's No. 1 goalie for the next eight years.
That was evident before puck drop Thursday night when he was the first player to take the ice during pregame introductions for the home opener. He received a loud ovation from the TD Garden crowd, and then helped the Bruins beat the rival Montreal Canadiens 6-4 for their first win of the 2024-25 season.
"It was pretty emotional, that warm welcome," Swayman said in the locker room postgame. "It just shows what kind of fanbase we have here, knowing it's more than a player, it's a human being they care about. I got pretty emotional stepping on the ice and hearing that roar again.
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"I'm so grateful to be a part of this city, a part of this team. It's moments like that that make everything worth it."
Jeremy Swayman got a big pop from the Boston crowd during pregame introductions 🤑 pic.twitter.com/OLrhFzDEsm
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 10, 2024
Swayman and the Bruins ended their lengthy contract stalemate last weekend when the two sides came to terms on an eight-year, $66 million deal. It made Swayman the fourth-highest paid goalie in the NHL. If the Bruins are going to win the Stanley Cup anytime soon, he'll need to be a central figure in that success.
After not playing in Tuesday's season-opening loss to the Florida Panthers, Swayman made his much-anticipated return to the Bruins net versus the Canadiens.
Swayman made 21 saves on 25 shots for a .847 save percentage. Those numbers don't jump off the page, but head coach Jim Montgomery liked what he saw from his No. 1 goalie's first start. What he didn't like was some of the play in front of his netminder. For the second straight game, the Bruins had several defensive breakdowns around their net, which put the goaltender in a tough spot.
"We gotta clean things up," Montgomery said. "We gave up two faceoff goals. We had four icings tonight that I didn't like, maybe five with the last one. Two ended up causing goals and two ended up giving them a power play. That's the part of the game management part we need to be better at.
"Jeremy Swayman was good. He made the saves that he could. Again, there's backdoor tap-ins because our coverage isn't solid yet."
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The win is the most important outcome, and Swayman has earned quite a few of them since making his debut in the 2020-21 campaign. In fact, Thursday's victory was the 80th of his career, making him the second-fastest (130 games) American-born goaltender to reach that milestone, trailing only Frank Brimsek (123 games).
Swayman has a great opportunity to climb up the wins leaderboard this year now that Linus Ullmark is no longer part of the Bruins' goalie tandem. It's Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo, and the University of Maine product could potentially start 50-plus games in a season for the time in his career. How he handles an increased workload will have a huge impact on the team's success in both the regular season and playoffs.
He's ready for the challenge.
"I think I got a pretty good formula for how I prepare and play at my best. That's the experience I've gained the last four years is perfecting my craft and my recovery, and my warmups and everything I need to do to prepare," Swayman said.
"I'm excited for it. It's something you gotta earn every night. I know this is a tough lineup to crack. We want it that way. (Korpisalo) and I are going to do everything we can to push each other and elevate our games, and do whatever we can to help the Bruins win hockey games."