Jeremy Swayman
Jeremy Swayman and Pheonix Copley made Alaska hockey history Saturday, when they became the first NHL goaltenders from the 49th state to win games in the world’s best league on the same day.
Swayman, the 24-year-old Boston Bruins masked man from Anchorage, stopped 31 shots and came excruciatingly close to scoring a goal in the waning moments of a 4-2 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. Copley, the 30-year-old veteran from North Pole, snuffed 23 shots, added an assist and prevailed in a shootout for the second straight game to pilot the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
The only other Alaskan to play goal in the NHL is Ty Conklin of Anchorage, who last played in the NHL’s 2011-12 season and was retired by the time Copley and Swayman entered the circuit. With 96 career wins – compared to Swayman’s 36 and Copley’s 20 – Conklin remains the most successful Alaska goalie in NHL history.
Swayman on Saturday nearly scored a goal with 61 seconds remaining, after the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Swayman collected the puck behind his net, moved to the side of the cage and fired the length of the ice. His shot went through the edge of the blue paint and missed the net by maybe two inches as Swayman added body language to his bid for a rare goalie goal.
Jeremy Swayman *inches* away from a goalie goal #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/s6GkcKl5nA
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) December 17, 2022
“It was going in! Ohh,” Swayman told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. “I was leaning with it, too. I was like, ‘It’s going…no.’ ”
Swayman, the NHL’s reigning All-Rookie goalie, improved to 6-3-1 with a 2.72 goals-against average and .895 save percentage. He broke in his Winter Classic pads, glove and blocker in preparation for the upcoming outdoor game at Fenway Park.
Copley, meanwhile, has in the last couple weeks gone from the American Hockey League to a guy the Kings are leaning on. Coming off a 33-save, 3-2 shootout win over Boston on Thursday, when he denied five of seven attempts in the post-overtime skills competition, Copley on Saturday stopped three of San Jose’s four shootout bids to improve to 4-1-0 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. Swayman served as Linus Ullmark’s backup in that LA-Boston game.
Pheonix Copley
And Kings coach Todd McClellan indicated Copley is momentarily The Man over Kings veteran and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick.
“He’s making some really big saves, he’s making some simple, easy saves,’’ McClellan told NHL.com. “Obviously, in the shootout, he’s had success back-to-back nights. Right now, he’s running hot, and we’ll likely keep going there.”
Copley’s assist – he made a short pass to Drew Doughty, who fed Phillip Danault, who blew through and around the Sharks defense for a backhanded power-play snipe – was the second of his NHL career. Conklin leads Alaska goalies in that department, too, with three career assists. Swayman has yet to score an NHL point.
PHEONIX STOPLEY SAYS KINGS!!!! WIN!!!! pic.twitter.com/eyrcSbcrE4
— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 18, 2022
Elsewhere on Planet Hockey on Saturday, Mac Swanson of Anchorage and Team USA beat Sweden 4-3 at the World Junior A Challenge in Cornwall, Ontario, to advance to Sunday’s championship game against Canada East in the five-team affair.
Swanson’s regular gig is with the Fargo Force of the U.S. Hockey League, and one of his Alaska teammates savored a sweet moment Saturday. Fargo defenseman Camden Shasby of Anchorage, playing wing with his club’s lineup depleted, scored his first goal in the USHL in a 4-3 shootout win over the Sioux Falls Stampede. Shasby has points in consecutive games to give him 1-2—3 totals in 11 games.
In the ECHL, winger Cam Hausinger of Anchorage, furnished the Wheeling Nailers a power-play goal and a power-play assist in a 7-4 loss at Fort Wayne. Hausinger went 1-2—3 in two games over the weekend, when he returned to the lineup after missing six weeks with an injury.
Andy Ramsey
In the North American Hockey League, the Anchorage Wolverines used three assists from captain Andy Ramsey of Anchorage to secure a 6-4 road win over the Wisconsin Windigo. That marked Ramsey’s second three-helper game of the season. He’s 0-13—13 in 29 games.
The Wolverines also got one goal and one assist out of Cameron Morris for the second straight game, which pumped his season totals to 6-19—25 in 28 games. And Aiden Westin of Anchorage bagged a goal for the third straight game. With 16-20—36 totals in 30 games, he’s tied for second on the circuit in points.
Also in the NAHL, Fairbanks Ice Dogs forward Billy Renfrew furnished a power-play assist in a 3-2 overtime road win over the Janesville Jets to stretch his point streak, the longest in the league this season, to 13 games. Renfrew has delivered 9-10—19 totals in that span.