Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman dazzles in overtime loss to Flyers
Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman did just about everything he could to will a youthful B’s roster to a victory at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night. But in the overtime, Ivan Provorov and the Flyers needed just one neutral zone misstep from the Bruins’ Jakub Lauko and 50 seconds to jump on the Bruins for a 2-1 overtime win.
It was just the second and final blemish of a night that saw Swayman stop 34 shots, including a staggering 11 saves with the Bruins down a man in a wildly undisciplined night that saw them forced to kill off five power-play opportunities. The Bruins nearly went 5-for-5, and would have had it not been for a Sean Couturier second-period strike through Swayman.
The 34-save performance bumped Swayman’s preseason save percentage up to a .932 save percentage through three games, along with saves on 18 of 20 high-danger shots thrown on goal at all-situation play.
Boston center Jack Studnicka also continued his impressive preseason run with a power-play goal scored driving through the danger zone of the Philadelphia zone on a second-chance putaway through the Flyers’ Carter Hart.
Studs strikes again.#NHLBruins| @JStudnicka23 pic.twitter.com/yB8bzkJCSW
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 5, 2021
Studnicka also finished with a team-leading five shots on goal, and had wins in eight of his 15 battles at the dot.
Depth defenseman Tyler Lewington finished the night as Boston’s top minute-eating presence on the backend, with 22:57 of time on ice by the night’s end, including a heavy 5:06 workload with the Bruins down a man. Lewington, who added three blocks and four hits in this contest, is a likely call-up when the B’s are looking for some extra poundage on defense.
If you want to take more positives from this game beyond the obvious in Swayman and Studnicka, there’s something to be said about a Bruins lineup featuring just three projected Opening Night starters and keeping up with an almost all-NHLer Flyer lineup and on their ice. In essence, Providence should have a real good squad in 2021-22.
The Bruins will conclude their 2021 preseason Wednesday night against the Capitals at TD Garden.
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
