BSJ Game Report: Capitals 2, Bruins 1 - Swayman wins backup job for postseason

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 2-1 loss to the Capitals in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

B’s youngsters, depth pieces hold their own 

The Bruins might have closed out the 2021 regular season with a lineup sans eight of their top nine forwards and their entire starting D corps, but a revamped roster teeming with depth options and youngsters still managed to stand tall for most of the night against the Capitals before ultimately falling, 2-1, due to a Michael Raffl tally with just 1.8 seconds left in regulation.

Curtis Lazar scored the lone goal for the Bruins, who end the 2021 regular season with a record of 33-15-7. Jeremy Swayman stopped 30 of the 32 shots that came his way in the loss. 

The odds certainly weren’t in Boston’s favor against a Capitals team that rolled out a pretty full lineup (only T.J. Oshie and John Carlson were ruled out due to injury - while Evgeny Kuznetsov is still in COVID protocols) — and some of that translated to the shot metrics in this one, with Washington holding a 75-44 edge in shot attempts. 

But Boston grinded things out and kept things close all night — blocking 21 shots and even tilting the ice in their favor in the third by outshooting the home club, 12-5, over the final 20 minutes of action. 

Unfortunately, all of that strong effort wasn’t rewarded with at least a point in the standings — as the Capitals avoided embarrassment thanks to Raffl’s last-second tally from a tough angle. 

Still, it’s hard to spin that many negatives from a game like this — given both the play from Boston’s young guns and the fact that plenty of regulars were able to take the night off. 

Swayman named B’s backup for postseason

In a move that really should come as a shock to … no one, Bruce Cassidy confirmed postgame that Swayman will indeed enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Tuukka Rask’s backup.

"Yeah, he will be. I think he's earned that," Cassidy said of Swayman. "Obviously a tough call with Jaro with his experience. He's just played more down the stretch here, Swayman. Some of that was out of circumstance. Tuukka got hurt, Jaro went into COVID (protocols), so there's a quarantine and then for goalies it's a little tougher to get thrown back in there ... I thought Swayman grabbed the ball and ran with it. 

"So that's the decision there, but that could change as we go along. ... But right now I think Swayman has done everything we've asked. Thought he was solid again tonight tracking pucks. The last one, obviously a tough one. I think it went in off his head from below the goal line. It probably happens once a year, happened tonight."

In just 10 games this season, Swayman has been nothing short of spectacular — posting a 7-3-0 record and a .945 save percentage. Among the 66 NHL netminders that have logged at least 500 minutes of ice time this year, Swayman ranks first in high-danger save percentage at .895. 

A tough development for a guy in Jaroslav Halak who’s played plenty of good hockey for the Bruins over the past three seasons — but again, not surprising, given Swayman’s play over the past month. 

THREE UP

Jeremy Swayman: No surprise here - but it was another impressive outing from Swayman against a pretty imposing Caps lineup. It was a tough way to close out his absurd run during the regular season, but the 22-year-old netminder was steady throughout the night, tracking pucks through traffic and turning aside plenty of Grade-A looks.

Jarred Tinordi: An underappreciated pick-up off the waiver wire earlier this season, Tinordi has been solid and done his job whenever called upon this year. Along with setting up Lazar’s tally in the second period of play, Tinordi logged 22:09 of ice time, doled out four hits and blocked two shots. 

Oskar Steen: Cassidy praised plenty of youngsters following this one, but Steen particularly jumped off the tape. The quick-moving winger was very active on the forecheck, landing a team-high six hits in 17:00 of ice time while ringing a puck off the crossbar in the final minutes of regulation. 

ONE DOWN

Urho Vaakanainen: A bit of an underwhelming showing from Vaakanainen in this one, with the young blueliner struggling a bit in coverage and getting lost when operating down in Grade-A ice around Swayman. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will have Wednesday off before resuming practices at Warrior Ice Arena on both Thursday and Friday. After that, the B’s will return to Capital One Arena for the real deal — with Game 1 set for Saturday at 7:15 p.m.