One of Jeremy Swayman’s most notable characteristics is that he never seems to lose his cool. He often plays with a smile on his face and doesn’t carry a temper the same way other goalies, like, say, Jordan Binnington, do.
And while he didn’t necessarily lose his cool Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings, the Boston Bruins netminder did make a move that turned a few heads.
In the second period of the Bruins’ 5-1 road win, the temperature turned up. More and more guys were lining up their opponents for big hits, and post-whistle scrums were becoming increasingly commonplace.
Swayman then, if indirectly, sparked the game’s biggest skirmish.
After freezing the puck, Swayman got his helmet held by Wings winger Robby Fabbri. Taylor Hall accosted Fabbri, and so began some headlocks. Swayman gave a shove to Fabbri from behind with his blocker, then gave a shove to Sam Gagner, who was nearby. Gagner smiled, skated toward Swayman and gave him a push, prompting David Pastrnak and, eventually, Erik Haula and Connor Clifton to go after Gagner.
(You can watch the whole incident here)
“I didn’t like the situation, I was getting held on the back of the helmet, so I’m going to stand up for myself,” Swayman said after the game over Zoom. “At the same time, if he’s going to mess with my guys, I’m going to make sure I do my part and protect my guys and I thought we did a good job of that.”
Swayman and Gagner both were given unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The 23-year-old goalie entered the game with a combined total of 10 penalty minutes going all the way back to his USHL days in 2016-17, and he was unsure if any of them were for unsportsmanlike conduct.
For the ever-even goalie, that had to have been the hottest he’s ever been in a game, right?
Not so fast.
“I wouldn’t say I was hot,” Swayman said. “I wanted to make sure he was staying away from my teammates. It wasn’t me getting hot-headed or anything, I was just making sure I was doing my part.”
The Bruins ended up scoring four unanswered goals the rest of the way, so it’s probably fair to say he did his part.
