Bruins goalie Niklas Svedberg won his first career NHL game Thursday night in Boston. As a reward, he goes back to being Providence Bruins goalie Niklas Svedberg, but that certainly won’t be a long-term position.
Svedberg was impressively solid Thursday night as the Bruins came from behind to earn a 3-2 overtime win over the Nashville Predators in the goalie’s first career start. Shortly after fulfilling his dream of playing (and winning) in the NHL, Svedberg learned he’d be heading back to Providence — at least for the time being.
Bruins coach Claude Julien explained after the game that part of the recall was to get a closer look at what Svedberg could do, and the head coach added the goalie could soon return.
“Yeah, I mean we’re comfortable,” Julien said in his postgame media briefing. “I didn’t see him being much different from the first until the third, but I thought in the second when they did throw a lot of pucks at him he stood tall and made some good saves. I liked his game tonight, he was good and he just showed us that he’s a guy we need to look at and keep an eye on. He’s going to head back to Providence tomorrow, but there’s a good chance you’re going to see him here again very soon.”
It would be hard to argue Svedberg didn’t earn another chance. He stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced in his debut. He was left out to dry on the Predators’ first goal following a sloppy line change from the Bruins, and the second goal was a thundering blast off the big stick of Shea Weber. The Swedish goalie didn’t have to make any highlight-reel saves, either, but he was more than good enough to win, which he did when Brad Marchand scored 54 seconds into overtime.
“Ever since I started playing, this is where I wanted to be, so I’m real happy with this win,” Svedberg told reporters after the game. “It’s just one game, but it’s real fun to get the win in my first game.”
It shouldn’t be long before Svedberg is back in the NHL and adding to that win total.
