Swayman optimistic amid struggles: My game 'can only go up from here'
Although Jeremy Swayman's early struggles continued during the Boston Bruins' 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, the goalie remains optimistic about his game.
"I think it can only go up from here," he said postgame.
Swayman owns a 5-7-2 record and a .884 save percentage this campaign after surrendering five goals on 29 shots against the rebuilding Jackets. He ranks 65th out of 70 netminders in goals saved above average (minus-6.68) and 68th in goals saved above expected (minus-7.02), according to Evolving-Hockey.
His performance likely isn't what the Bruins were expecting when they signed him to an eight-year, $66-million extension two days before their first game of the season. The netminder's $8.25-million cap hit ties him with Ilya Sorokin as the NHL's fifth-highest-paid netminder in 2024-25.
Swayman said the added pressure of heightened expectations isn't contributing to his issues.
"I think 'standard' is the word I would use, and the standard that I have myself held to is not met right now," he said, according to Boston.com's Conor Ryan. "That's what's going to happen in our careers. I know that a lot of veteran guys that I've looked up to and followed have been through the ups and downs, and right now, I'm in one.
"I'm going to do whatever I can to get out of it."
The 25-year-old missed all of Boston's training camp as a result of his contract stalemate. Swayman maintains that he's "had enough time now to adapt and get back to things," and head coach Jim Montgomery doesn't disagree.
"I don't think missing training camp helps anyone. ... But by no means do I think (Monday's loss) is (a result of) Jeremy Swayman not having training camp," Montgomery said. "We're long into that now."
The Bruins have lost three games in a row and are 8-9-3 on the season. They rank 31st in goals for per contest (2.40), 28th in goals against (3.45), and 25th in penalty-kill percentage (75.6) while owning the league's worst power play (11.7%).
"Definitely not happy with the way that things are going," captain Brad Marchand said. "We need to be much better in a lot of areas. Mistakes are gonna happen in the game, and we're just kind of compounding them. It's not acceptable to continue to have the same mistakes."
He added: "I think it starts with our compete level. ... We have it throughout periods of the game, we have it at times, and when we do, we're really good. But then we have these other moments where we think we're a skill team ... and that's not us.
"We have to understand what our identity is and play to that."
The Bruins will play Utah on Thursday.