Jeremy Swayman has given his teammates a vote of confidence through his actions and received them via their words.
Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle praised the goaltender Tuesday for the impact he makes on his teammates when he’s on the ice. Since debuting with Boston last season, Swayman has appeared in just 30 NHL games. However, his fellow Bruins don’t even notice his lack of experience at the top level during the heat of the action.
“I think his demeanor all the time is kind of relaxing for us,” Coyle said at a press conference following the Bruins’ shootout loss to the New York Rangers. “His confidence, his quiet confidence, it gives us some. When you have a goalie like that — yeah, he hasn’t been here long, but he kind of plays like he has which is a great thing. It makes us playing in front of him … we can just play. We’re not worried about who’s back there. We’ve still got to support him and do what we can to limit shots and chances, but just knowing you have a guy back there (like that) it gives us so much confidence to play in front of him and do our thing.”
Swayman on Tuesday produced his second consecutive strong performance, saving 33 of the Rangers’ 34 shots during regulation play and overtime and denying six of New York’s nine efforts in the shootout. Add the shutout Swayman recorded Saturday in the Bruins’ win over the Senators into the equation, and you’ll see the 23-year-old netminder has saved 63 of the last 64 shots he has faced during the run of play.
With numbers like that it’s easy to understand the feelings Coyle and his teammates have about Swayman’s play.
