Swayman in top form for Bruins entering 1st round against Sabres

BOSTON -- There was little more Jeremy Swayman could have done. Against the Toronto Maple Leafs, against the Florida Panthers, the Boston Bruins goalie had been about as good as he could have been, dragging his team all the way to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against a Panthers team that would go on to win the Stanley Cup. 

There is no question that Swayman has an impressive record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the memories of his efforts in 2023-24 still fresh. It was those efforts that would push the Bruins to trade Linus Ullmark that June, those efforts that would prompt them to sign him to an eight-year, $66 million contract on Oct. 6 of that year.

He can do it. Now, he has to do it again. 

Swayman may be the biggest key if the Bruins are going to get past the Buffalo Sabres in their first-round matchup, which starts Sunday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, NESN, MSG-B, SN1, SN360, TVAS). And it’s a role he welcomes. 

“I think a great mindset is just to use the experience, what worked and what didn’t and take the positives out it and really implement it into my game right now,” he said. “You have to stay in the moment because if you’re living in the past it’s not going to work out too well for you, but I think growing from the experience alone is going to help me and a bunch of other players that have been through multiple playoff series and understand the ups and downs of it.”

It was in those 2023-24 playoffs when Swayman emerged as one of the best young goalies in the League, a 12-game run where he started the postseason sharing the net with Ullmark and ended it having a 2.15 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage, including allowing a single goal to the Maple Leafs in a first-round Game 7 overtime win.  

Then, and since, Swayman has leaned on his mental game, engaging an outside sports psychologist this offseason, to help him with that, to help him remain focused in game-to-game, moment-to-moment, to not live in the past or the future. 

That’s how he enters these playoffs. 

“We worked so hard to get to this point, I’m not going to be nervous, I’m going to be excited,” he said. “That’s the best part, it’s enjoying the fruits of your labor, and now you’ve really got to hone in on the excitement around it and truthfully enjoy the biggest stages because they’re so hard to come by and you really are fortunate to be in the position we’re in. I know that that’s a huge motivator for me personally.”

Swayman built himself back to this point after a disappointing 2024-25, when he struggled (3.11 GAA, .892 save percentage) and the Bruins finished well out of the playoffs. He went to the IIHF World Championship with Team USA, earning the net and leading the team to the gold medal. 

He came back to the Bruins, ready. 

“I don’t think Jeremy’s ever given anybody a second thought about where his confidence in himself and his abilities are, and that’s great from a goaltender, from any type of player,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “And the work that he backs that up with, obviously going to the World Championships and leading that team to a gold medal says a lot about where his mindset was, from the standpoint of -- not flushing the year -- sort of taking responsibility for not playing as well. … He had goals in mind.”

He wanted to be part of Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, a dream that came true when he was named with Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) and Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars) as the goalie trio. He was the only goalie other than Hellebuyck to play in Milan, getting the start against Denmark in the preliminary round. 

But it wasn’t just that. Swayman wanted to return to form for the Bruins. 

He has done exactly that, with a 31-18-4 record in 55 games (54 starts) and a 2.71 GAA and .908 save percentage, making himself into an outside candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL this season. 

“Most importantly, he was ready to go from day one of camp -- thankfully he was at camp -- and was ready to go and just refocus, hit the reset button, put the work in, and be the goalie we know he’s capable of being,” Sweeney said, alluding to Swayman missing camp in 2024 while still unsigned. 

It’s a big reason why the Bruins are in the playoffs. And if he can continue to build on what he’s done this season, what he’s done in the postseason in the past, the Bruins might just have a run in them as they make their return after a year out of the playoffs. 

“It’s a big motivation,” Swayman said. “It’s a long summer without it and you really don’t appreciate it until you don’t have it. I think that was a big goal for our group, coming into this year, the guys that were a part of last year, just knowing how long the summer is without it. That’s why we play hockey is to play playoffs.”