BOSTON — It took Jeremy Swayman a while to settle in outside his locker room late Tuesday night for a post-game session with the media, following the Bruins’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden.
When the goaltender finally spoke, his words were filled with so much emotion and patriotic weight that it was as if the Bruins were going to return to Toronto on Thursday night, not for just a playoff game, but to continue a crusade in defense of all that is good in the world.
When asked what made Swayman believe he and his teammates could overcome a loss to win that first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Swayman listed the reasons:
“Our leadership comes first,” he said. “The history of this team. The city we represent. And the people in this locker room. The coaching staff through and through. Our management. Everyone is a great human being and wants the best for each other. It’s contagious. And there’s no other team I’d rather play for with that kind of integrity, work ethic and good people.
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Kudos to Swayman for being a stand-up guy after putting on an outstanding performance, especially in the first period as the determined Maple Leafs outscored the Bruins 12-2. Alas, the fatal flaw in Swayman’s otherwise excellent post-game speech is that he left out the obvious, which is that almost everything he said could have applied to the Maple Leafs.
Here’s a franchise with a proud history, except for decades the Leafs were mostly invisible in the Stanley Cup tournaments. Additionally, they entered Tuesday night’s Game 5 with a 3-1 series score, meaning a potential elimination was just 60 minutes into the hockey game. Additionally, they are without Auston Matthews, one of 69 goals in the regular season.
So what’s going on? With old Big Bad Bruin Derek Sanderson in the building to serve as honorary banner captain and the home crowd excited to see the Bruins take care of business, it was the Maple Leafs who played with purpose.
“The crowd was amazing,” Swayman said. “And we thrive on that energy.”
In the regular season, yes. Tuesday night, not so much.
You want to talk about despair? Consider not only that the Maple Leafs scored the first goal, but also how they scored it and who scored it. Max Domi won a faceoff and returned the puck to Jake McCabe, who sent a shot through a screen and past Swayman at 5:33 of the first period. For Boston fans eager to see the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 2011, McCabe can identify it: In his 11th NHL season, it was his first career playoff goal. Spending most of your career losing with the Buffalo Sabers will do that.
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The Bruins were hesitant and clumsy for most of the first period, getting just one shot after just under 14 minutes. But that’s when Trent Frederic equalized, thanks to a solid forecheck from Jesper Boqvist and a clearing attempt from Simon Benoit that bounced Pat Maroon. It wasn’t the case from Sanderson to Bobby Orr, but it was enough to relax the tense Bruins.
But the score remained unchanged thanks to the regulations. Things went to overtime, but only 2 minutes and 26 seconds passed when Matthew Knies won the game for the Maple Leafs when he gobbled up a rebound in front of the Boston net and fired a shot past Swayman.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery didn’t wait to ask what was wrong. He voluntarily provided information.
“We weren’t good enough,” he said. “As simple as that. Toronto came out ready to play, they brought it to us. We weren’t ready to respond to their desperation.
And then he said this: “Our emotion did not match theirs. »
🎥 Coach Montgomery, Brad Marchand, Trent Frederic and Jeremy Swayman react following the #NHLBruins Game 5 loss to Toronto: pic.twitter.com/Zn8IH2dgef
– Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 1, 2024
Yes, it is possible for two things to be true at the same time. Swayman may be right about the Bruins and their leadership and the history and the city and the people in the locker room and that everyone is a great human being…and Montgomery may be right when he says, in so many words , that his boys are not right. I won’t come Tuesday evening.
What’s particularly interesting about this – and also terrifying, if you’re a Bruins fan – is that there was a funny little story that, as of close of business Tuesday night at TD Garden, had been crumpled and thrown into the recycling bin. The Bruins could closed out their first-round series on the one-year anniversary of last year’s Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers. Would that have been cool for B fans? Redemption!
Instead, it was Turn Back the Clock Night at TD Garden. On April 30, 2024, the Bruins reminded their fans that on April 30, 2023, they were eliminated by the Panthers in a series they once led three games to one. Just like the Bruins once led three games to one in this series against the Maple Leafs, a team with leadership, history, a city and people in the locker room who happen to be great human beings.
In other words, the teams seem evenly matched in these areas. It will come down to which team plays with the most desperation.
In Game 5 on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs won that battle.
(Photo of Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm taking on Maple Leafs’ John Tavares: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)