After Forbort Leaves Injured, Bruins Lose Swayman Too

After losing defenseman Derek Forbort in the first period of their dramatic 6-5 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Boston Bruins lost goalie Jeremy Swayman just over six minutes into the third period Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

As a play rushed down on Swayman fast, Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron fell and came sliding in hard on his teammate as Swayman tried to make a save. Bergeron’s skate collided with Swayman’s leg area appearing to hyper-extend his left knee. After falling forward and remaining down on the ice for a few minutes, Swayman had to be helped off the ice and was unable to put pressure on the injured knee.

Suddenly that goalie depth #NHLBruins Don Sweeney added by acquiring Michael DiPietro from the #Canucks may come in handy. https://t.co/37elNj1WdY

— MurphysLaw74 (@MurphysLaw74) November 2, 2022

Ironically, Swayman didn’t start this game and came in to relieve starter Linus Ullmark when the Penguins went up 5-2 on the Boston Bruins 11:36 into the second period. Ullmark, who entered the game with a record of 6-0-0 with a 1.70 GAA,  and a .945 save percentage, had struggled through his first bad start of the season. He allowed five goals on 23 shots during his first stint in the game but then stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period and three in overtime.

Despite the goalie carousel, losing Derek Forbort and playing just over half the game with five defenseman, the Bruins were still able to pull off an amazing comeback. They erased a 5-2 deficit on goals by Brad Marchand (12:57 into the second period), Pavel Zacha 11:59 into the third period and then Taylor Hall with 1:17 left in regulation. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm (1G, 3A), got the overtime winner 3:37 into the extra frame for his fourth point of the game, and somehow Ullmark, despite being pulled earlier, came away from the game with a 7-0-0 record.

The Boston Bruins may very well be without Forbort and Jeremy Swayman for the third game of this current four-game road trip when they play the New York Rangers on Thursday but once again, their depth came through and they will arrive at Madison Square Garden with a 9-1-0 record.