Jeremy Swayman was pulled against the Canadiens tonight, and Antho Martineau says the Bruins goalie glared at Marco Sturm the whole way to the bench.
It happened in the second period on Homecoming night at TD Garden. Montreal had just made it 4-0 on a Cole Caufield breakaway with 11:46 left in the period, and Sturm had seen enough.
Martineau wrote that Swayman never took his eyes off his coach on the walk and was clearly unhappy about being removed.
Michael DiPietro was the one who replaced him, according to Jack Studley.
The hook stings more because of how the day started. Sturm confirmed Swayman as the starter this morning, as we noted in Marco Sturm's morning goalie confirmation. Swayman came in at 9-3-1 with a 2.21 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
Boston trailed 2-0 after the first, with Kirby Dach and Josh Anderson scoring for Montreal. Jake Evans made it 3-0 on a breakaway before Caufield added another.
Was Swayman right to be angry about the hook?
A goalie with those numbers has earned the right to be annoyed. Two of the four goals came on breakaways, and a netminder rarely feels those are all on him.
But the call itself is easy to defend. At 4-0, with the Bruins chasing the Atlantic lead against their biggest rival, Sturm chose to reset the room and give his team a different look in the crease. Coaches make that move to change the mood on the bench, and the mood on that bench was obviously tense.
DiPietro is the man now. He has played 5 games this season, and his last start saw him stop 17 of 19 shots.
The Bruins haven't commented on the decision. Boston is back on the ice Saturday against the Wild, and Sturm will be asked about that walk to the bench before then.
More to come.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
Was Marco Sturm right to pull Jeremy Swayman at 4-0?
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