Swayman, Marchand Lead Bruins to Win Over San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jeremy Swayman didn't see much rubber on Saturday night.
But when it started to hit the road late in the third period, the second-year netminder came up huge for the Bruins, making a bevy of Grade-A stops to backstop the Black & Gold to a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.

"I knew they were gonna push. I think we all kind of felt that coming," said Swayman. "That's just the game of hockey. Teams come in waves. And when you're not seeing a lot of rubber, it's definitely tough to make sure you're focused. But that's what I want to emphasize on. And I want the team to have confidence in me. When it's not a lot of shots, no matter what, I'm ready.
"A defense first victory, definitely. Super happy with how they played in front of me. It was fun to watch."
The Alaska native saw just 16 shots on the evening as the Bruins clamped down on the Sharks in the defensive end. But Swayman faced seven shots over the final 20 minutes and stopped every one of them, including a brilliant sprawling, point-blank glove denial of San Jose's top centerman, Tomas Hertl, in the closing minutes to keep Boston up by a goal.
"I felt it hit me. I thought I smothered it, but it trickled down," said Swayman. "I don't know, I have to watch it. It was just a scramble. I wanted to do the best I could. I ended up seeing the puck going from the center to the left side - and hope and a prayer, put the glove up and it worked.
"I saw it on the stick. As far as the release, I just wanted to put any piece of equipment in front of it."

Swayman's stellar effort between the pipes helped pace the Bruins to their fourth consecutive victory overall and second straight to start the six-game road trip.
"I thought it was excellent," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of his club's defensive prowess against the Sharks. "Late, the 4-on-4 got a little scrambly for us. We really need to have more composure with the puck on the breakout, once we recover it and skate it away from danger. Other than that, I thought we were really good.
"Obviously an all-world save at the end there. We needed it. Timing was perfect. There wasn't much. Even the goal we gave up was not a dangerous shot, just found its way in."
Ahead of Saturday's showdown with the Sharks, Cassidy was asked about Swayman's run of success since returning from Providence earlier this month upon the retirement of Tuukka Rask. Cassidy said that by his eye, Swayman appeared to be taking hold of the No. 1 spot between the pipes. His performance against San Jose did little to shift Cassidy's thinking.
"No, he certainly didn't," said Cassidy. "He's getting better and better. Again, a few pucks plays, we've got to talk to him more and increase our efficiency on the breakouts…in terms of stopping the puck, he looked square all night. Some traffic around the front of the net where he's recovering well now. A lot of good in his game."
Swayman did not disagree with his coach's assessment, saying that both he and Linus Ullmark are pushing each other to be the best they can each and every night, a friendly competition that will ultimately be beneficial for the Black & Gold.
"Well, that's what they've asked from Linus and I from the start. They want both of us to compete for that No. 1 job. It's only gonna help the team. That's all I want to do," said Swayman. "We both keep it really simple for ourselves, Linus and I, about when we get the chance to play, we want to do whatever is best for the team.
"We're both supportive of each other no matter what. It's a really good thing we've got going. Really happy with the two points tonight."
Swayman acknowledged that his brief stint in Providence served as "a great lesson" in helping him realize the importance of embracing each day as a chance to improve.
"Ever since then," Swayman said, "I really emphasized taking the positives from the day before, high or low, the days that are good and bad, and making sure that it's a new day. I understand that the sun rises every day as a new day for new opportunity."

Brad Back on the Board

Swayman also had plenty of help from Brad Marchand. Playing in his second contest after returning from a six-game suspension, Boston's leading scorer broke through with two goals and an assist to pace the B's offensive attack. The winger landed a game-high eight shots on goal, marking the second straight game he's led all players in that category.
"It's nice always when you score. But I think I was mostly just happy with how I felt," said Marchand. "Again, there's a lot of things that kind of went against me for my conditioning level. You play at a certain pace, play a lot of minutes, missing two weeks is tough. I was really happy with how things felt in the game and I think it's just the excitement when you're back with the group when you're away.
"It's so hard to be away from the team for that long and to not play. When you get back, you almost feel like you have something to prove for the guys and you want to be good for them. But there was still some learning curve getting back into it. It makes it a lot easier when we win that's for sure."

Marchand was the beneficiary of two stellar passes on his tallies, the first a cross-ice feed from Jake DeBrusk on a 2-on-1 and the second a cross-slot dish from Taylor Hall. The winger finished off both with one-timers to give the Bruins leads of 1-0 (14:24 of the first) and 2-1 (3:18 of the third).
"It started with [Erik] Haula [on the first goal], he did a great job winning a battle on the wall," said Marchand. "When you take care of little details like that good things happen. Made a great play up to Jake and Jake made another great play. Two good plays on that goal…[Hall] made a hell of a play there [on the second one]. There wasn't a whole lot of room. I kind of looked at him like there's no way he's gonna try to make that pass.
"But another very gifted player, made a highly skilled play there to put us in the lead, especially late in a shift. Sometimes you're not always thinking straight. But he did a great job on that one."
After landing 15 shots on goal over the past two games, Marchand noted that without David Pastrnak skating alongside him and Bergeron, it provides him the opportunity to fire more pucks at the net.
"It seems to be like that a little bit more when Pasta's not on our line," said Marchand. "We obviously have a lot of plays and Pasta, a lot of times when I get the puck and he's out there with us, he's in certain spots that I have a pretty good idea of where he's gonna be and that's kind of my first look. When he's not out there, I do have more of a shot mentality.
"I feel like I have to do that a little bit more because there's some comfort there. JD's really good around the front. Bergy's always right there as well. It's a little bit more about keeping it simple and also about coming back and not playing in a couple weeks, hadn't skate in three or four days before the last game. Just wanted to keep it simple and not try to force too much so I wasn't making too many mistakes."

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