Fantucchio: Jeremy Swayman Is Getting Exactly What He Asked For

Jeremy Swayman wanted to fight on Sunday night. But as he challenged Los Angeles Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, the referees denied him the chance.

It was one the few times Swayman didn’t get what he wanted this year.

Since the very start of the season, the Boston Bruins have given the goalie everything he’s asked for, making him their unequivocal starter in net and paying him more than $64 million for the next eight years to do so.

But, so far, all that’s led to is Swayman having the worst year statistical season of his career and the Bruins, in all likelihood, missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, partly because of it.

Sunday night set a new low point for Swayman.

As much as he wanted to fight, and as much as many wanted to see it, that didn’t overshadow the fact that he allowed seven goals on 23 shots against in what turned out to be Boston’s sixth straight loss.

While Swayman has been far from the only problem for the Bruins during this miserable stretch, he’s done little to stop the bleeding.

In each of the four games he’s started over this miserable stretch, Swayman has allowed four goals or more, resulting in an abysmal .815 save percentage with a -3.86 goals saved above average, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“I want to give this team a chance to win every night, and I haven’t done that in the last two games,” Swayman said to reporters in Los Angeles following the loss to the Kings. “That’s something that I’m going to work on. I’m not giving up. I’m keeping my chin up. I’m not getting the results right now, but I owe these guys better. I owe a hell of a lot of people a lot better, and that’s exactly what I’m going
to do.”

Swayman tried to do that when he tried to fight Kuemper after the Los Angeles netminder put Bruins forward Marat Khusnutdinov in a headlock down at the other end of the ice.

“He touched one of my guys,” said Swayman. “That was something that I’m not going to accept. It just comes down to sticking up for my teammates. I don’t care who it is. It’s a guy in black and gold, and you’re not going to touch them without getting contested. I care about every one of these guys like a brother. That’s just the way I felt, and I felt like it was my turn to step up.”

Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov didn’t appear to see it that way.

“Is that what it is?” Zadorov responded when asked if he appreciated Swayman’s attempt to stand up for Khusnutdinov. “I don’t know. No comment.”

Really not sure how to interpret this

🎥: Boston Bruins YouTube pic.twitter.com/ttDn3XnrB5

— 𝐺𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖 (@Gayle_Troiani) March 24, 2025

Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco also didn’t sing Swayman’s praises afterward and gave a non-comittal answer when asked about the fight that never was.

“I just feel like tonight’s game was more about…there was some intensity involved in the game,” said Sacco. “In that period there, and I just feel like we needed to be better as a team there in that situation.”

The comments from Zadorov and Sacco may have more to do with the team in general. After all, the defense has looked inept and only slightly better than the offense, which has completely evaporated over the last few weeks with the Bruins failing to record more than 20 shots on goal in five of their last six outings.

However, after trading away captain Brad Marchand, along with key veteran pieces such as Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle, the Bruins have turned the franchise over to a new generation, and Swayman is a major part of it.

The sentiments expressed by Zadorov and Sacco, whether directed at Swayman or not, still fall largely on his shoulders, and that’s exactly what he asked for.

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