Jeremy Swayman yanked in Bruins' 6-3 loss in Ottawa

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Mar 13, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The fight that the Bruins have shown since the trade deadline showed up 20 minutes late in Ottawa on Thursday.

The Senators got money goaltending when it mattered from the netminder the B’s traded last summer, Linus Ullmark, while the B’s did not get the same from Jeremy Swayman, yanked after a team-wide disaster of a first period. The result was a 6-3 Ottawa win and a lost chance for the B’s to cash points

It was the fifth straight win for the Sens, who have put themselves in a great spot to end a seven-year playoff drought. Meanwhile, the B’s failed to win three straight, something they have not been able to do since December.

The Senators nearly ran the Bruins out of the building — and the B’s were only too willing to offer themselves up as road kill — in the first period in which the Sens took a 4-1 lead.

The B’s were outworked and Swayman didn’t do anything to cover up his mates’ issues.

The first goal came after Andrew Peeke’s stretch pass intended for David Pastrnak didn’t connect and the puck came back in the Boston zone on icing. Ottawa pressured until Shane Pinto’s shot from the right side of the slot beat Swayman under his left pad, a softy, at 3:44.

The Bruins appeared to have something going in the offensive zone but the puck bounced over Parker Wotherspoon’s stick and, all of a sudden, the B’s were on their heels in their own zone. Eventually the puck came around to Tyler Kleven at the left point and he blasted it over Swayman’s shoulder at 9:09.

The one shining moment for the B’s came from their new Minnesota line at 10:57. After Vinni Lettieri used his speed to wipe out an icing call, the puck eventually came back around to him behind the net. He stepped out front and made a nice backhand feed to Casey Mittelstadt in the slot and Mittelstadt buried it past Ullmark, who was not very busy in the first (15-4 shot advantage for Ottawa in the first). It was Mittelstadt’s first goal as a Bruin.

Then the B’s went back to their old ways, allowing a pair of goals in 22 seconds.

John Beecher took an unnecessary interference call on dive king Tim Stutzle and the Sens cashed in on the power play. From the right side of the net, Brady Tkachuk found Drake Batherson open on the left side. It would have been a tough save for Swayman, but when he lost an edge and couldn’t push off, he fell on his backside and Batherson had an easy goal.

Then on the next shift, Swayman then misplayed the puck. Instead of rimming a loose puck up the boards to a teammate, the puck ricocheted straight back off the end boards. Ottawa controlled the puck and eventually Ridley Greig beat Swayman off a rebound at 16:43.

Interim coach Joe Sacco let Swayman finish out the period but Joonas Korpisalo replaced him to start the second.

Korpisalo was under siege to start the second, but the former Senator held his ground and the B’s cut the deficit to two at 6:59. A loose puck came out to Beecher at the blue line and he threw it back at the net. Pastrnak was there to deflect it past Ullmark for his 34th of the season.

But the Sens regained their three-goal bulge at 11:01. Thomas Chabot blasted a blue line shot that newest Senator Dylan Cozens deflected over the net. As Korpisalo searched for the puck, it bounced out to Batherson for an easy goal.

The B’s, however, kept playing and got it back to two again at 13:55. Jakub Lauko chipped the puck out to the neutral zone, where Elias Lindholm made a touch pass to Marat Khusnutdinov. The young Russian turned on his jets and, after drawing a penalty, beat Ullmark for his first goal as a Bruin.

There were chances to get it down to a one-goal deficit. The B’s got their first power play opportunity and they had a couple chances that went by the wayside.

Then Ullmark made a save of the year candidate. Off some good Bruin pressure, Khusnutdinov fed Mason Lohrei for what looked like an open net from the right circle but Ullmark extended his 6-foot-4 frame to make a miraculous glove save with 1:29 left in the period.

Finally, in the waning seconds, Nikita Zadorov clanged the near post. The B’s finally started their push but they were still down by a pair going into the third.

Ullmark came up big again midway through the third period when the B’s flurried with his best save coming again on Lohrei.

Sacco pulled Korpisalo with a little over 4:00 left and Ullmark immediately made a couple of excellent saves. Ullmark missed his attempt on a goalie goal but, shortly after that, Claude Giroux ended it with an empty-netter with 1:16 remaining.