Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman had seen this situation before, except he was on the other side of things.
Linus Ullmark, who earned the start in net Friday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, exited the game with 13:03 left in the third period after suffering an upper-body injury, leading to Swayman being called upon to take over between the pipes.
It was a scene eerily similar to one that played out earlier this month in a dramatic road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins when Ullmark relieved Swayman in the third period following a lower-body injury to third-year netminder.
“It was crazy,” Swayman told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “You never see that once in a year and then it happens twice. He’ll be OK. That’s all I care about. He’s a big Swedish viking, so he’ll be all right.”
Thrusted right into the action of an intense contest at a critical juncture, Swayman didn’t blink. He turned aside all six shots he faced as David Pastrnak’s overtime goal lifted the Bruins to their 12th straight win on home ice to begin a season, which set an NHL record.
“His attitude, he really believes in first (the) team,” Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery told reporters, per team-provided video. “Everything is about the team. For him to come in and do the job he did is not a surprise. He did the same thing in Pittsburgh.”
Swayman’s mindset helped him stay steady in the crease and allowed him to not be fazed by finding himself going quickly from the bench right into the net.
“I just want to make sure I’m preparing the same way every day,” Swayman said. “So, it was just like another day in the office. I think if you have that repetition nothing really surprises you. I wanted to give myself the best chance to be able to jump in, in that situation. That was a pretty cool win.”
