The Boston Bruins, once again this season, used their goalie rotation of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark to second place in the Atlantic. They have a 2-1 series lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While using a goalie rotation works in the season – and you can’t argue that it did not – Swayman posted a record of 25-10-8 with a 2.53 GAA and .916 save percentage, and Ullmark posted a record of 22-10-7 with a 2.57 GAA and .915 save percentage. But once the playoffs come, a team needs to pick one guy.
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Using a tandem rarely works in the playoffs. It is a luxury to have two goalies who can win games. However, history shows that having one goalie be the starter throughout the playoffs works best.
But Bruins history shows this is something they have done. You must go back 52 years ago to 1972 when Boston rode Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston to the Stanley Cup. This is the exception and not the norm.
Everyone can point to Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury in 2016 and 2017 when the Pittsburgh Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups. However, Murray was injured in some of those runs, and matchups dictated Fleury’s play in a particular series. But once Murray was healthy, it was his net.
In this series between Toronto and Boston, Swayman has the edge over the Toronto Maple Leafs due to his regular-season dominance over them.
Over the past two seasons, Jeremy Swayman is 6-0-0 against Toronto with a 1.31 GAA and .959 save percentage, winning both games for the Bruins in their playoff series against Toronto.
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While it is comfortable for Bruins head Jim Montgomery to rotate his goalie, the Bruins are overly cautious. They are doing a complete 180-degree turn from last year.
We all know Ulmark won the Vezina Trophy last season, and most can agree this is his last season in Boston, as Swayman is due for a raise in the summer. But last year, entering Game 5, Ullmark was hurt, and Boston waited to make the goalie change.
This season, they have no reason to keep rotating goalies, especially if the Bruins go back to Ullmark and the Maple Leafs tie the series.
While both goalies have played this season, Jeremy Swayman is the clear number-one goalie and is the future starter in Boston.
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Again, their rotation is working, and Swayman has not started back-to-back games since February 19th and 21st of this year, but Game 4 against Toronto feels like he needs to start. Swayman should have started Game 2.
If the Bruins win the series and the Stanley Cup, that is all that matters. Their management and coaching staff know what is best.
However, when a goalie like Jeremy Swayman is this dominant against one team, you must keep playing him until the results are not there.