Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman ‘overwhelmed’ after crushing elimination vs. Panthers

Boston won the first game of this series thanks in part to Jeremy Swayman. The Panthers nearly threw 40 shots on goal in the opening game. But the Bruins puck-stopper did just that: stop pucks. Boston won Game 1 by a score of 5-1 thanks to Swayman’s 38 saves in that contest.

However, they did little with the momentum gained in that first matchup. Florida went on to win the next three games, including Games 3 and 4 in Boston. All of the sudden, the Bruins had no choice but to win out the rest of the series. In Game 5, they got their first win thanks to another incredible performance from Swayman.

However, the Bruins goalie couldn’t do it all by himself. Boston was unable to score for most of this series. In fact, they scored two goals or less in every game following their five-goal outburst in Game 1. As a result, Boston heads home much earlier than they wanted to.

A must-see series

Jeremy Swayman contributed to a must-see series of playoff hockey. Even the coaches agreed that the Panthers and Bruins produced one of the more entertaining matchups of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s certainly no help to Boston, but they turned in a solid performance against the favored Panthers.

“This was an amazing series from behind the bench,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, via NHL.com “It was dirty on both sides … it was heavy, it was clean, it was brilliantly skilled at times. … It didn’t feel in-control, it didn’t feel methodical. Everybody had a plan, and then they spent the rest of the six games trying to punch each other in the face.”

The Bruins head into the offseason with work to be done. Though their playoff window isn’t necessarily closed, Boston is not getting any younger. Captain Brad Marchand, for example, is 35 years old. It’s likely they try to run it back for one more try at a Stanley Cup. But overall, there is a lot for Boston to be proud about regarding the 2023-24 season.

“It was an honor to coach them because of the hard work and the competitiveness that they brought throughout the year,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said, via NHL.com. “That was the biggest thing I wanted to get across, and that you’re never happy when you don’t win your last game of the year. And some players had tremendous growth this year, and they can be proud of that and in the end, we have to find ways to get better and win our last game of the year.”