Bruins Coach Reveals Goaltender Plans for Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Boston Bruins didn’t change their season-long strategy on how they manage the B’s crease for the matchup against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, April 6, and it paid off for them in a 3-2 overtime win.
Following the rotational system they have used all year, the Bruins’ starter on goal facing the Panthers was the expected one in Linus Ullmark.
The last time Boston started a goalie on back-to-back matchups was back on February 19 and 21 when Jeremy Swayman handled business against the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers respectively, according to Hockey Goalies.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery spoke openly about the team’s goaltender plans for the Stanley Cup Playoffs ahead of the win against Florida.
“I think if we commit to a rotation, it’s going to be Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4—if that’s what we end up deciding, and then we can go from there,” Montgomery told reporters while addressing the media before the game on April 6. “Obviously, performance and winning in the playoffs dictates a lot of the decision-making.
“This is what we’re comfortable doing. It’s what our goalies are used to preparing (for). So we’ll see what ends up happening.”
Bruins Must Make a Decision Before the Postseason
The Bruins won a pivotal game on Saturday by beating the Panthers 3-2 in overtime at TD Garden in Boston. The victory allowed Boston to strengthen its position atop the Atlantic Division with 107 points in 78 games, moving 5 points clear of the Panthers in second place.
As the standings show, and having used a rotational crease for the whole regular season, nobody can argue against deploying alternative goalies on a game-by-game basis as it’s worked wonders for Boston.
Boston’s two goalies, Ullmark and Swayman, both have quite the track record and the skill set to start on the net of pretty much any and every NHL team these days.
Ullmark has started 124 games with a .925 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA in the last three seasons and he’s coming off winning his first Vezina Trophy award in 2023. In the same span, Swayman has started 113 games posting a .917 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA.
