Jeremy Swayman could make his National Hockey League debut on Tuesday night for the Boston Bruins.
The former University of Maine goaltender, who won the Mike Richter Award last year as the nation’s top collegiate goaltender, may get the call against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to a report on MassLive.com.
The 22-year-old Swayman has been playing with the Providence Bruins, Boston’s American Hockey League franchise. He was unbeaten with a 7-0 record, a 1.57 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage.
After Bruins No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask suffered an undisclosed injury in a March 7 loss to New Jersey, Swayman was called up to the Bruins’ taxi squad.
His goaltending partner in Providence, Dan Vladar, was also called up and has backed up Bruins starter Jaroslav Halak.
Halak started his fourth straight game when the Bruins faced Pittsburgh on Monday night, but WEEI reported that Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, general manager Don Sweeney and goalie coach Bob Essensa were going to decide Tuesday morning whether to start Vladar or Swayman in the second of the back-to-back games.
Vladar is 2-2-1 with a 2.01 GAA and a .923 save percentage for Providence.
Vladar has not started an NHL game, but came on in relief of Halak in a lopsided loss to eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay in the playoffs last season and allowed three goals on 15 shots.
Rusk had opted out due to a family situation.
Swayman, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, was a Hobey Baker Hat Trick (final three) finalist last season when he was 18-11-5 with a 2.07 GAA and a .939 save percentage to lead the Black Bears to a fourth-place regular-season finish in Hockey East.
In his final start, the fourth-round draft choice of the Bruins (111th overall) made 48 saves in a 1-0 shutout win over Providence College.
UMaine’s best-of-three quarterfinal series against Connecticut but the rest of the season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Swayman concluded his three-year, 100-game UMaine career with a 47-40-12 record, a 2.51 GAA and a .927 save percentage.