The Boston Bruins won 3-2 in overtime because they stuck to their season-long plan of controlling the Bruins’ crease against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, April 6.
Linus Ullmark was the expected starter for the Bruins against the Panthers, sticking to their rotational approach throughout the entire season.
According to Hockey Goalies, the last time Boston started a goalie in back-to-back games was on February 19 and 21, when Jeremy Swayman played admirably against the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers, respectively.
Prior to the victory over Florida, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was candid about the team’s goalie intentions for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Speaking to the media prior to the game on April 6, Montgomery stated, “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.” “Obviously, a lot of the decisions are made based on performance and playoff success.
“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.
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