This Is The Sway, Man

Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

It was another 10-game schedule on tap for Tuesday night’s NHL action! 

And no one had a better night than the Boston Bruins’ netminder, Jeremy Swayman – 24 saves on 24 shots and the 3-0 shutout vs Detroit. 

Swayman’s GAA (2.38) and save percentage (.919) over his last 5 games are as solid as it comes, and were good enough to give him a 4-1 record since New Year’s Eve.

With an 18-11-1-1 season line, Swayman is sitting third overall in wins (behind Karel Vejmelka, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Andrei Vasilevskiy). The shutout was his first of the year, but second in two games for the B’s.

Bruins’ win streak? Check.

Team USA goaltending appointment? Check.

Easily memed last name that is equally difficult to get AI to generate an image for because even artificial intelligence is afraid of the great juggernaut that is the terrifying and imposing legal threat of the Disney machine?

Extra Check.

Because…This Is The Sway…Man.

Here’s what else I saw in Tuesday night’s NHL action…

Pavel Zacha – 1 G (14), +1, 5 SOG, GWG, 1 BLK, 11-for-19 FOW. Zacha continues a nice little hot streak with 6 points in his last 4 GP. NESN flashed a graphic of his point totals at home after this game. 24 points in 24 home games (12 G, 12 A), a +7 rating, 9 PP points, and 35 shots. That’ll do!

Viktor Arvidsson – 1 A (14), +1, 10 SOG (!), 1 H. This guy has been on a hot streak with 6 points in his last 6 games, too. Nothing too exciting to report, but those of you in leagues with the extra stat categories will appreciate the 10 shots on goal in 13 minutes of ice time. Talk about playing hot potato.

Cam Talbot – 38 saves on 40 shots and the 3-0 loss. There were a couple of goalies that got peppered on Tuesday night (more below). And, of course, a majority of them were tagged with a loss.

Brandon Bussi – 28 saves on 31 shots and the 3-0 loss to STL. I was all ready to run out a Bussi lede on Tuesday night after a scoreless first period. But the Blues woke up in the second.

Joel Hofer – 33 saves on 33 shots and the 3-0 shutout over CAR. He’s not quite a HOF’er yet, but three shutouts in 24 starts is something to hang your hat on. Blues fans should be happy with this tandem.

Jimmy Snuggerud – 1 G (7), 5 SOG, 1 PPG, 1 H, 16:18 TOI. Sure, this guy sounds like he could be in the Pokémon Holodex, but he’s not exactly living up to the lofty expectations that some pundits predicted when they were writing up rookie of the year odds back in October. 

Dustin Wolf – 38 saves on 42 shots and the 5-3 loss at CLM. That’s 5 straight losses for the Wolf, who’s looking more like a miniature poodle these days.

Morgan Frost – 1 G (9), 1 A (13), -1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG, 2 PPP, 1 H. The good news is that’s 3 points in his last 3 games. The bad? He had zero points in the 8 games before that. Woof.

Jet Greaves – 29 saves on 32 shots and the win vs CGY. Greaves is now two games above .500 if you’re only counting regulation decisions (14-12-5-1). The ratios are solid too (2.72 GAA; .908 SV%).

Charlie Coyle – 2 G (9), 1 A (20), +3, 7 SOG, 1 BLK, and 18:12 TOI. Like Boone Jenner (1G, 1 A), Coyle is a much better “real life” player than a fantasy contributor, but every once in a while, he backs into a game like this one.

Zach Werenski – 1 G (17), 2 A (33), +2, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 PPG, and 27:45 TOI. There was a time when I would’ve thought people were crazy to say that this guy was as good as Cale Makar. That time has officially ended. With 50 points in 43 games, Werenski should blow past his career high of 82 points (last year) and could hit the 100-point threshold if he can stay healthy and productive.

Kevin Lankinen – 38 saves on 40 shots and the 2-1 loss at OTT. I watched the first period of this one before flipping over to the Bruins/Red Wings game. Two “soft-ish” goals allowed by Lankinen near the end of the first period weren’t even the worst part of this one. Vancouver went over 16 minutes before recording their second shot of the game. I’m no Math-Magician, but I’m gonna say you’re not gonna score many goals if you can’t record any shots on net. Oof. 

Give Lankinen bonus points for facing more rubber than a tire factory inspector, too. His opponent faced fewer than half the shots that Lankinen did.

Elias Peterrsson – 1 G (13), +1, 3 SOG, 2 BLK. Back-to-back games with goals for the veteran Swede, but still nowhere near his point-per-game pace from 2-3 years ago. Hopefully, this is the start of a hot streak for “Petey”.

Leevi Merilainen – 18 saves on 19 shots and his first win in five games. Merilainen should continue to get an increased workload while Ullmark is out. (Ullmark is due back by the end of the week.)

Artem Zub – 1 G (4), +1, 2 SOG, 2H, 4 BLK. Zubie Doobie Doo!

Sam Montembeault – 39 saves on 42 shots and the OT loss at WSH. Montembeault was cruising through two periods with a 2-0 lead until the wheels fell off in the third. This was his first loss in his last 5 games.

Brendan Gallagher – 1 G (4), +1, 2 SOG, in 8:01 TOI. It will always puzzle me as to why Habs fans think so highly of this guy. I get that he’s a pest, but he’s on pace for 28 points. For the season. That’s like a good week from Connor McDavid.

Logan Thompson – 24 saves on 26 shots and the 3-2 OT win. 17-12-0-4 in 33 starts. Viz mentioned it last week, and I’m in 100% agreement. Logan Thompson should be Team Canada’s starting goaltender next month, and it shouldn’t even be a question.

Ethen Frank – 2 G (9, 10), +1, 6 SOG, 5 H, 1 BLK. Two goals, six shots AND 5 hits to boot? Nice.

Dylan McIlrath – 5 PIMS and a hit. Uh oh. It’s Memberberries time again! I would’ve lost a bet if someone asked if Dylan McIlrath had laced ‘em up for even ONE game in the NHL this year. If you can guess how many games he’s at this season, you’re either (a) the president of the McIlrath Fan Club or (b) his grandmother. Spoiler: a and b are the same person. Spoiler #2: I had to double-check the spelling of his dance partner for that fight three times (it was Arber Xhekaj).

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 26 saves on 27 shots, and the 2-1 OT win at PIT. Uh…don’t look now, Sabres, but someone else is on a healthy winning streak now. Tampa’s won 11 straight.

JJ Moser – 1 G (5), 4 SOG, 1 BLK. He’s not a superstar scoring defenseman in the real NHL, but the guy is like a rebooted Bobby Orr in the NHL26 HUT league.

Arturs Silovs – 30 saves on 31 shots and a tough luck loss to Tampa. I don’t know what’s more disappointing: that this guy saw (and saved) more shots than Vasilevskiy and still got saddled with the loss, or that I just realized today that his last name isn’t “Silvos”. Oops.

Evgeni Malkin – 1 G (10), +1, 3 SOG, 1 BLK. That’s good for 3 points in 4 games since returning from a month-long injury leave. The good news is he’s missed his one month of injury time already. The bad news is he’s due for another one sometime around the beginning of March. If you can handle the frustration, he’ll produce while he’s in the lineup.

Ilya Sorokin – 17 saves on 22 shots and the 5-4 loss to WPG. It wasn’t a pretty one from Sorokin, that’s for sure. The 5 GA were the most he’s allowed in 27 starts this year. But we did get a goal from…

Matthew Schaefer – 1 G (13), 1 SOG, 1 BLK. The kid made the most of his one shot. Full disclosure, I tend to get a bit obsessed with certain players. Those of you who read the baseball side of things will remember my appreciation of Bryan Woo and Jo Adell. (Speaking of which, baseball starts back up this Monday!)

On this side of the site, it’s a healthy splash of Bruins with a giant Matthew Schaefer cherry on top. 

And how can you not love what this kid is doing? He won’t turn 19 years old until September, and he’s on pace for a 55-point rookie season? Someone on Reddit asked if you could choose on defenceman to build a dynasty fantasy team around, would you choose this guy or Lane Hutson? I can honestly say that my answer to that question today would be different than if you’d asked me back in September. 

Connor Hellebuyck – 23 saves on 27 shots and the win vs NYI. Don’t look now, but the Jets have won three straight! 12 of Winnipeg’s 17 skaters recorded at least one point in this one.

Kyle Connor – 1 G (22), 1 A (32), +1, 2 SOG, 21:30 TOI. Ah, Kyle Connor. Or like the Bruins fans still like to refer to him as…” One of the guys they should’ve drafted instead of those three stiffs they took in the first round of that 2015 entry draft”.

Tristan Jarry – 23 saves on 27 shots and the OT loss to NSH. Guess who’s back! I drafted Jarry as a backup goalie to Dustin Wolf in my dynasty league, so I was pretty pumped to see he was activated Tuesday for his first game in almost a month. Who cares about the loss? Here’s hoping for the Oilers’ sake, and my dynasty team’s sake, he can stay healthy for the rest of the year.

Zach Hyman – 2 G (22), 3 SOG, 1 BLK, and a lot of crusty Oilers fans that think he should’ve been named to the Olympic squad. The chemistry with McDavid is undeniable, but to be honest, it probably doesn’t matter who McDavid has riding shotgun on that team. He could probably bank a couple of goals off the back of my pants and into the net if they brought me to Italy, too.

Leon Draisaitl – 1 G (25), 2 A (41, 42), 4 SOG, 2 PPA, and 23:59 TOI. Finally! Draisaitl gets listed before the “other” superstar forward. Maybe that one didn’t have any points…

Connor McDavid – 2 A (52), -1, 3 SOG, 2 PPA, and a not-so-modest career best 19-game point streak. Uh…ya. We’re running out of superlatives to describe McJesus.

Juuse Saros – 28 saves on 31 shots and the 4-3 OT win over EDM. It’s tough to recommend Saros if you have better options out there, and he’s not a great building block in dynasty leagues. That said, you can’t argue with the volume that he’s giving us this year, and his sub-3.00 GAA (2.94) is proof that things could be a lot worse with a less-than-stellar Predators team in front of him. Hold him in redraft leagues and see if you can flip him to a contending team in your dynasty league if you’re out of the running for a top spot.

Roman Josi – 2 G (8), +2, 3 SOG, GWG, 2 BLK, and 25:36 TOI. If it feels like Josi has been around for 15 years, it’s because he has been. The 35-year-old might never sniff his career high of 96 points ever again (2021-2022), but he’s still serviceable and a natural leader in Nashville.

Dennis Hildeby – 24 saves on 29 shots (with 6 minutes left in the 3rd). Well, the long line of Leaf fans waiting patiently to throw themselves off the Gardiner Expressway has almost entirely dissipated. Toronto was 8-0-2 in its last 10 games heading into Tuesday night’s action. The semi-monthly wave of sheer panic and despair in Toronto is once again quelled. For now. EDIT: I wrote this blurb up before the Leafs game started, and it aged like a giant bag of GTA milk left out on Woodbine Beach in the middle of a scorching hot August afternoon. Time to queue up that line again, Leaf fans.

Calle Jarnkrok – 1 G (6), 1 SOG, 1 H in 7:56 TOI (midway through the third). I asked some friends in a group chat, ‘What’s the fn deal with Auston Matthews?’ Through 2.5 periods, he’s leading his forward group by 2 minutes of ice time (16:27 to Brian McMann’s 14:28), and he has one shot and one hit. Insert barf emoji. 

Karel Vejemelka – 19 saves on 20 shots (with 6 minutes left in the third period). Veje-Tales was well on his way to his league-leading 21st win of the year at the time of writing!

Dylan Guenther – 2 G (23), +3, 7 SOG, in 13:22 TOI. For the record, that’s more than three times the number of Matthews’ shots on goal. In 3 fewer minutes! 

Casey DeSmith – 22 saves on 24 shots and trailing 2-0 with 6:30 left in the third. This one might end up with yet another tough luck loss for one of these goalies. Both have stood on their heads through 2.5 periods. 

Lukas Dostal – 20 saves on 20 shots. So far, so good for Dostal and the Ducks! If it holds up, it’ll be Dostal’s first win in his last 10 games. Ouch.

Chris Kreider – 1 G (15), 2 SOG, 1 H. Duck, Duck, CHRIS! Don’t get too excited, though. It was just his third goal since December 1st.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll be sure to get back to you ASAP.

Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social