BOSTON — For three seasons, Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark were two goalies competing for one crease. Swayman is the hot-headed, in-your-face, fire-breathing American. Ullmark is the chill and even-tempered Swede. Swayman is the smooth-skating technician, more keen to play shots aggressively. Ullmark stands deep in his crease and depends on his hands.
The two could not be more different.
It did not make sense, then, that the two connected like peanut butter and jelly when they were designed to be oil and water. Swayman and Ullmark were thick as thieves, whether it was hugging it out after wins or enjoying Moa Ullmark’s coffee and cinnamon buns on quiet afternoons.
“It still hasn’t hit,” Swayman said on Friday of his teammate’s departure. “It still feels like I’ve got his presence around here. The traditions we had still live on. That’s with every guy who’s been through this locker room. And the relationships I’ve had with forwards and D-men alike and staff. That’s a testament to the guys who have come through this locker room and worn this jersey. We’re brothers for life.”
Goaltending is funny sometimes. The complexity of the position, in this case, prompted two conflicting forces to be in a complete and hug-happy concert.
To that latter point, Swayman and Ullmark did not repeat their full-fledged post-win routine during Saturday’s warmups at TD Garden. But they embraced at center ice, lifted their masks and posed for what could be a final peacetime picture between the current rivals and ex-teammates.
A hug hello 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/0pxIYo4GnI
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 9, 2024
“One last hurrah sort of thing,” Ullmark told Sportsnet. “Show the respect for each other as well. He’s a heck of a goalie. But an even better human being. So it was fun to get that out of the way and start thinking about the game.”
As for the game, Ullmark got the better of his former creasemate. Brady Tkachuk whistled an overtime shot past Swayman to give the Ottawa Senators (7-7-0) a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins (7-7-2).
Tkachuk only had that opportunity because Ullmark foiled Elias Lindholm earlier in overtime. When Lindholm teed up a one-timer following a slot-line pass from Brad Marchand, Ullmark calmly pushed from left to right to get a pad on the center’s shot.
HUGE SAVE FROM LINUS ON LINUS ULLMARK NIGHT IN THE NHL AND THEN HUGE GOAL BY THE TKAPTAIN YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE IT#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/uCHJkVO7t8
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 10, 2024
It was not an easy save for the ex-Bruin. Ullmark literally did nothing for the entire third period. The Bruins did not put a single puck on net.
“Sometimes when you lack confidence or you’re overthinking, your execution is slow,” said Brad Marchand. “We need to get out of our heads. Stop thinking and start playing. It comes down to will and compete at this point. We need to understand we need to be better. That’s part of it. Sometimes when you’re thinking about where you’re supposed to be, you’re half a second late. That’s too slow in this league.”
Swayman tried his best. He stopped 31 of 34 shots (.912 save percentage). He had no chance on Josh Norris’ power-play goal late in the first after a pass-out from Tkachuk in the corner. A Nikita Zadorov flash screen kept Swayman from getting a look at Michael Amadio’s release in the second. Tkachuk, on a two-on-one with Norris, launched his winner from inside the right faceoff dot.
Swayman’s game is improving. But the Bruins’ No. 1 goalie has an .896 save percentage over 11 starts. That is not good enough, not when you’re earning $8.25 million annually and not when your team requires superhuman goaltending to score two points.
The Bruins had made positive steps toward improving their five-on-five offense in their previous win over the Calgary Flames. In Saturday’s second period, Pavel Zacha backhanded a short-range puck through Ullmark for his second five-on-five goal in two games. Fifteen seconds later, Marchand followed it up with his first five-on-five strike of 2024-25.
But then came the no-show third. Jim Montgomery did not know why it happened.
“We’re just not playing good enough,” the Bruins coach said.
The Senators are not there yet either. They are two points behind the Bruins in the Atlantic Division. Ullmark, signed to a four-year, $33 million extension on Oct. 9, has an .890 save percentage. Again, not good enough.
“I still don’t know where it’s at,” Ullmark said of his game. “It’s good enough. That’s what it is right now. That’s how it is in this league. You’re going to be playing good enough and making enough saves for your team to win.”
Swayman and Ullmark made goaltending the Bruins’ position of strength for the three previous years. That is not the case anymore. Between Swayman and ex-Senator Joonas Korpisalo, the Bruins have an .889 save percentage.
Elsewhere, the power play (12.5 percent) is No. 30 in the NHL. The penalty kill (75.4 percent) is No. 24. Marchand, Lindholm and David Pastrnak, who have shared time on the No. 1 line, each have one five-on-five goal. Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie, who started the season on the second line, have none.
You could argue that nothing about the Bruins right now qualifies as strong.
(Photo: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
