Legendary NHL Goalie Drops Bold Take on Bruins’ Net Rotation
The Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs drew each other in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 17th time in their intertwined histories.
That tradition hasn’t changed, but there might be a Bruins classic about to change… if Boston’s head coach Jim Montgomery decides so.
Truth be told, he sounded all but convinced about how he will handle the Bruins net for Game 2 following the Bruins 5-1 win over the Leafs on Saturday, April 20. A change (or the lack of it, actually) might be coming on Monday.
“[Jeremy] Swayman hadn’t had the opportunity to start a series before in the last couple years,” Montgomery told reporters after the game on April 20. “We wanted to see him start a series. Did really well.”
Swayman started on the net for the Bruins and he was one of the main reasons Boston defeated Toronto 5-1 in Game 1 of their first-round series. He stopped 35 shots and he only allowed one goal when the score was already 4-0 in favor of the Bruins and with the contest already into the third period.
Former NHL Players’ Takes on Boston’s Goalie Rotation
If there is a reason for changing goalies between Game 1 and Game 2, that’s definitely not going to do with Swayman’s performance on Saturday.
One of the potential things that could lead Montgomery to make a change on net is conditioning and resting his goalies, as Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic pointed out in a column written after the game.
“The decision the Bruins have to make is whether one full rest day is enough to optimize Swayman for Game 2,” Shinzawa wrote. “Part of what made the rotation successful is how it relieved Swayman and Ullmark of the physical and mental stress of making consecutive starts.”
