Swayman returns to practice, 'ahead of schedule' in recovery originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jeremy Swayman could be back in net for the Boston Bruins sooner than anticipated.
The 23-year-old goaltender is "ahead of schedule" in his return from a lower-body injury, according to coach Jim Montgomery. He was a full participant during Tuesday's Bruins practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
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Swayman hurt his left leg during Boston's Nov. 1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fortunately, he avoided serious injury and appears close to returning to game action.
"Really good," Swayman replied Tuesday when asked how he was feeling. "Really excited to be back with these guys. ... I'm going to do everything I can to be game ready, but I trust the medical staff here. [Manager of Player Rehabilitation] Scotty Waugh, everything he says I'm doing to the best of my ability and I'm going to do everything I can to get back as soon as possible in a game."
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While he recovered from his injury, Swayman received plenty of support from his B's teammates. He specifically mentioned veteran winger Nick Foligno and his wife, Janelle, who reached out with a special act of kindness during his absence.
"I have so many good things to say about that guy," Swayman said of Foligno. "Something, probably a lot of people don't know, but I was on the train back to Boston from New York the next day [after the injury] and he texted me asking for my address.
"He said, 'My wife made you a ton of food, she's going to drop it off.' I couldn't believe it. When I got home, there was this huge bag with like a gallon and a half of homemade chicken soup, 30 turkey meatballs, a bunch of peppers and cookies and stuff. It brought me to tears almost, it was really amazing.
"The character that he has is something that I'm going to remember and defiantly pass a long my whole career, because I'll never forget that."
Swayman's return will help take a load off fellow netminder Linus Ullmark's shoulders. Ullmark leads the league in games played with 12 starts (13 total appearances) so far in the 2022-23 campaign.
He has fared just fine despite the heavy workload, ranking first in the NHL in wins (11), second in goals-against average (1.96), and third in save percentage (.936). He's a big reason the B's are off to a 14-2-0 start this season.
The Bruins will look to stay hot when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
