BOSTON — If Monday had been a regular game, David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman probably wouldn’t have been so upbeat following a 3-2 Bruins shootout loss, especially to a Flyers team that hadn’t dressed many of its better players.
But this was their fourth preseason game and the first action for the two Boston stars, allowing them to analyze from a different perspective.
Swayman noted that he was already ahead of last year when he was still holding out due to a contract dispute as a restricted free agent and didn’t play a minute of preseason hockey.
“It was good to get back on the ice. Good to be here,” he said. “A year ago today was a little different. I feel great being with the guys, ramping this thing up.”
Swayman made 22 stops in the game. He gave up two second period goals, the first when he gave the puck away behind the net.
“I want to work on my puck-handling. I got too cute,” he said. “That’s the time to do it. Something to build on and grow from.”
The second was a good shot off the rush that got under his pads.
Most encouraging for the 26-year-old goalie heading into his sixth NHL season was overtime where he made five saves to keep his team alive until the shootout.
“It was something as the game went on I felt better and better,” Swayman said.
Pastrnak didn’t look hampered by the tendinitis that caused him to miss the first few days of training camp and he said he felt good after the game.
“I had so much fun out there, honestly. It’s been a long summer, so today was a perfect reminder of how much I love the game,“ he said. ”I felt great out there. … I can’t want to get things started.”
Pastrnak had one assist in the game an alert pass to Sean Kuraly cutting to the net. On the ice together for the first time since 2021, in their previous stint as teammates, Kuraly redirected the pass perfectly from Pastrnak past former Bruins goalie Dan Vladar.
“I saw him. That was a heckuva tip,” Pastrnak said. “I placed it high. All the credit to him.”
Pastrnak’s 22 shifts and 19:35 of ice time were the most of any Boston forward. He got two shots on net and was actually third on the Bruins with four hits.
The Bruins finished 0-for-4 with a man advantage on Pastrnak’s first game back on the unit.
“The power play has to be much better,” he said. “It was Game 1, first game as a group. I feel like we’re getting there.”
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