BOSTON — Save percentages are sinking. This is not the fault of goaltenders. Sharper shooters, coaching strategies and stick technology are among the reasons that today’s goalies are under siege.
“Players are just getting better, more skilled. I feel like there’s way more goals,” said Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm. “Power play is a big reason, too. They’re just so good at it. So many more goals. Maybe that’s why save percentage is going down, the combination of a little bit of everything. The league wants to see goals. Unfortunately for the goalies.”
Jeremy Swayman knows the feeling. In 2020-21, he was No. 3 on the organizational depth chart behind Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak. Swayman, 22 at the time, stormed into the NHL that year with a .945 save percentage.
Just five years later, following the most complete season of his career, he posted a .908 save percentage. The 27-year-old, however, does not believe a previous era’s standard is an unachievable artifact.
“That’s a big team stat,” Swayman said, recalling his first NHL season. “When I know where the puck is being delivered from, and I’m getting that first shot with clear vision, that’s the big thing. We had a really veteran team when that was happening. So I think it’s something that’s definitely doable with the right team.”
The Buffalo Sabres are favored to beat the Bruins in Round 1, but it is challenging to measure the impact Swayman will have. Everything has aligned for the No. 1 goalie this season to optimize his performance. It started with his unparalleled self-belief that he can do anything he wants.
“I don’t think Jeremy’s ever given anybody a second thought over his confidence in himself,” said general manager Don Sweeney, “and what his abilities are.”
World dominance
On May 25, 2025, Andrew Peeke literally conquered the world. Peeke and his Team USA brothers beat Switzerland in overtime to win the 2025 World Championship.
Peeke felt redeemed. He knew it was doubly so for his goalie. Just about everything had gone sideways for Swayman prior to the tournament:
- Linus Ullmark, his close friend and netminding partner, had been traded. Swayman had to face the pressure of being the No. 1 goalie for the first time.
- Swayman missed all of training camp because of an expired contract. Negotiations bubbled over when president Cam Neely declared he’d have 64 million reasons to be with his team, which prompted a response from Lewis Gross, the goalie’s agent.
- Swayman, who had been training at Boston University while negotiating his deal, could not get back on top of his game. The Bruins, meanwhile, struggled to gain traction in the standings. An attempted fight with Darcy Kuemper did not go as planned.
So when Swayman and Peeke got the call for an international reboot, it was exactly what both of them required.
“Going into Worlds, obviously, for a lot of us, last year wasn’t what we hoped,” Peeke said. “Going to Worlds was just a fresh start, a clean slate. He was able to just check out of what was going on over here and put all his hopes into winning the gold medal there.”
Swayman’s prominence was not a given. He started on equal ground with Joey Daccord, but Swayman didn’t give the Americans another option because of the soundness of his game.
Technically, he has always been close to picture-perfect. He manages his depth well. He squares up to pucks. He does not cheat. He is usually on his feet, just as happy to use the overlap on the strong-side post as dropping into reverse vertical-horizontal. He prefers to save his athleticism for an emergency.
But in Denmark and Sweden, where the tournament took place, Swayman expressed his technical proficiency by cleansing something that had been muddied by the Bruins’ turbulence: his mind.
Believing in himself
On April 4, Darren Raddysh scored the game-winning goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning by accomplishing something rare: making Swayman look human.
The goal was so startling because of the manner in which Swayman otherwise rolled through the regular season. He turned back just about every stoppable shot. He pulled back pucks that should have ended up behind him.
Internationally, Swayman leapfrogged over Jake Oettinger, the No. 2 US goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off, to become Connor Hellebuyck’s backup. His prize was a gold medal.
Swayman was the No. 1 reason the Bruins executed an unexpected U-turn.
“It was a tough year for him last year,” Sturm said after Swayman’s 4-0 shutout in Game 82 against the New Jersey Devils. “He needed that World Championship. He needed that summer. He maybe needed that coaching change. He needed new guys in the locker room. Because he came in with a really big smile. He was very focused the whole season long. Now he got gold too. I’m very happy he had a good game today. We lost a few under his belt. But with this great performance, I know he’s going to give us a great opportunity to win Game 1. We talk about 100 points. There were a lot of guys we were lucky. But he was the reason why.”
Swayman knows why his glove, blocker, pads and stick became trustworthy once more. He believed in himself again.
“The brain’s a muscle too,” said Swayman. “It’s something we can train every single day. It coincides with physical activity. I know I get a lot out of joy of testing my body and pushing it to its limits. It was a really gratifying experience for me. Your body responds the right way, and your mind can be at ease too in just knowing you can push to an even higher level.”
Swayman’s cockiness is back. He said he is retired from fighting after his Stadium Series scrap with Andrei Vasilevskiy. That declaration has not discouraged him from flexing his muscles, as he did with a cross-check to the Carolina Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov on April 7.
“When he’s on his game, he has a little bit of an edge, little bit of swagger,” Peeke said. “You can just tell when he’s in the zone. It rubs off on us players, even for us individually, when you’re feeling the most confident throughout the season. Being able to play with a little bit of swagger can always help. Having that in your goalie is awesome.”
