Not even 48 hours had passed since the Boston Bruins eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in OT, in Game 7, in the first round of the playoffs.
How would they deal with fatigue and motivation going into the second-round series against the Florida Panthers?
Well, Jeremy Swayman did it for them. Even before puck drop, he looked around at the fans during the song.
He looked filled with confidence and no wonder. He was in net for all four of Boston’s wins in the first round and was incredible in the first game of the second round.
Swayman has had a brilliant postseason, and he kept the trend going by stopping 38 shots against Florida. Brandon Carlo scored just hours after his wife gave birth to their son, and Morgan Geekie, Mason Lohrei, Justin Braze, and Jake DeBrusk also scored.
But there was no doubt who was the star of the game.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “If not for Jeremy Swayman, that would have been a lot closer game and maybe they come out on top.”
Swayman has now played seven games in the playoffs and holds a league-best 210 saves. He also has the best goals-against average of 1.42.
“I was just so impressed by the way all of us didn’t take no for an answer,” Swayman said. “The physicality, the mental and everything was so good to see and I’m really excited for what’s to come.”
Swayman loves this moments, and he’s alone making the Bruins look like a true contender. And it’s obvious he’s absolutely loving this big moments.
During the game against the Panthers, he made a great pair of saves in matter of seconds, and when he eventually got a hold of the puck, he just laid on the ice and chuckled.
Fans made a comparison to how Tim Thomas behaved on the ice.
”Jeremy Swayman is actually certifiably insane look at him CHUCKLE,” one account wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
”He could be Tim Thomas reincarnated,” one responded.
”The man is having fun out there,” another said.
”When Sway is smiling; he is on another level,” a third added.
