NHL goalies have a hard job to begin with, and it only becomes more difficult when their teammates fail to provide support any support in front of them.
This was the case for Jeremy Swayman on Wednesday night.
Even though he himself was stellar and perhaps the best player on the ice at Prudential Center, that didn’t matter to the New Jersey Devils as they defeated the Boston Bruins 5-1.
Bruins Grades:
The Bruins: D –
The Bruins were outmanned for most of the night and, therefore, outgunned.
With the likes of the Hughes brothers and Jesper Bratt flying up and down the ice at will for the Devils, the Bruins had almost no chance of establishing the heavy game they like to play.
Boston was simply too slow and too sloppy to break out of its own zone. Any mistake they made with the puck soon turned into a scoring chance for New Jersey.
Jeremy Swayman: A+
Jeremy Swayman was the only reason the final score wasn’t 9-1 tonight.
He made 25 of 29 saves in just two periods of work before the Bruins pulled him before the start of the third period.
While the Bruins have struggled in front of him, Swayman has surged and been a beacon of consistency over his last few starts.
The Penalty Kill: F
The Devils did the majority of their damage on the power play, scoring three goals on seven chances. It was the seventh time this season the Bruins gave up three goals on the penalty kill this year.
Nikita Zadorov/Andrew Peeke: D
The Bruins’ defense corps has looked over-exposed without Charlie McAvoy or Hampus Lindholm in the lineup, and Nikita Zadorov and Andrew Peeke certainly were tonight.
Asking a middle and bottom pair defenseman to shut down one of the league’s most dynamic teams is setting them up to fail. Yet, the Bruins had no choice. Zadorov and Peeke didn’t give up a goal at even strength but didn’t need to look completely outmatched.
At one point, the duo got stuck in its own end for nearly four minutes while the Devils skated circles around them.
Oliver Wahlstrom/Elias Lindholm/Vinni Lettieri: C –
The Bruins’ third line was barely noticeable, combining for just three shots on goal. Even when they were, it wasn’t for the right reasons.
Wahlstrom was especially hard to watch, as he failed to capitalize on two different two-on-one chances.
This story will be updated.
