Livescore
When your star NHL goaltender isn’t playing like a star, there’s clearly cause for concern.
That’s what we’re seeing with the Boston Bruins from netminder Jeremy Swayman and with the Florida Panthers from Sergei Bobrovsky.
At their best, Swayman and Bobrovsky are legitimately elite goalies, but which one should be more of a concern with the way they’re playing right now?
From our perspective, Swayman is the bigger problem. Bobrovsky has a history of being inconsistent competitively, but Swayman is trying to push through the biggest slump of his five-year NHL career. Swayman has lost five of his last seven games heading into his start on Friday, and that won’t cut it as the Bruins try to stay in the Atlantic Division playoff race.
Swayman’s 6-8-2 record, .888 save percentage and 3.16 goals-against average this season are clearly the worst individual numbers of his solid career. Before this season, the worst Swayman performed was in 2021-22, when he had a .914 SP, and in 2023-24, he posted his worst GAA at 2.53. But this season’s numbers are far and away the worst of his career, and Bruins management has to be worried that Swayman isn’t looking like himself this season.
Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Bobrovsky is also struggling, with a .889 SP and a 3.05 GAA. But Bobrovsky’s record of 10-5-1 is more impressive than Swayman’s current record, and Bobrovsky has gone through rough patches before and come out the other side looking strong.
In 2022-23, Bobrovsky had a .901 SP and a 3.07 GAA. But he found a way to ratchet up his performances, posting a .915 SP and 2.78 GAA in the playoffs wn route to the Stanley Cup final. And of course, Bobrovsky played well for Florida in last year’s post-season, where he went 16-8 for the Panthers and had a 2.32 GAA as Florida won the Stanley Cup.
Bobrovsky came out with 28 saves on 31 shots in a 6-3 win over the Hurricanes on Friday. Before that, he posted an impressive SP of .958 against the Maple Leafs. He also posted a shutout against the dynamic Winnipeg Jets four appearances ago. But in three of his past five games, Bobrovsky had a save percentage of .840 or worse. The rollercoaster effect isn’t new for Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky’s fluctuation in play makes him someone to monitor this season, but he has the pedigree to lean on as someone who can deliver great results when the games matter most.
Swayman, on the other hand, had strong outings before Friday, only allowing a goal in each of his last two games. But he allowed a combined 12 goals in the two games before that. In late October, he had three straight outings of sub-.900 save percentages before getting a 23-save shutout over Seattle. Then came a .885 SP two days later.
Swayman deserves credit for his strong play against the Toronto Maple Leafs last post-season. But he has yet to win a Cup, is only 26 and just signed a massive eight-year contract after a holdout. So it’s fair to say he will be in a bigger and more harsh spotlight to try and turn things around this season. If his mini training camp with goalie coach Bob Essensa pays off from now onward, it could be a huge game-changer.
Boston and Florida could make some roster tweaks to improve their lineup, but Swayman and Bobrovsky are going nowhere, and they each have to improve their consistency if the Panthers and Bruins are going to go far this season.
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