Will the Boston Bruins’ rotating goalie system pay off against Toronto? 

The Boston Bruins have the most unique and interesting goaltending situation of all 16 playoff teams. 

Boston has two starting goalies in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. And they use both equally. 

Ullmark led the way last season, eventually winning the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL. In the playoffs, Ullmark played the first six before Swayman stepped into Game 7 of the first round. 

This year, it was Swayman who put up the better numbers. But the Bruins, and head coach Jim Montgomery did not waver from their original plan all season. Both goalies played a nearly equal number of games. Then came the playoffs.

Swayman played well in the Game 1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and the conversation turned to which netminder would get the nod in Game 2. But the Bruins stuck to their guns and the plan of their coach. 

“Last year, I made a mistake by not doing that in the playoffs,” Montgomery said before the playoffs began. 

After Swayman stopped 36 of 37 in a Game 1 win, Boston turned back to Ullmark in their normal rotation. The 30-year-old made 34 saves on 37 shots in the 3-2 loss. 

Is this rotation going to continue? Is it a bad idea, or could it pay off later in this series? 

Tyler Yaremchuk: I loved it. I think part of what works is how tight those two are. They are best buds, and I think they play off each other really well… I think in Boston, the situation works. I thought Ullmark was very good in that game. There is no hindsight or remorse in my opinion. 

Frank Seravalli: At some point, I would think that Jim Montgomery is going to get some kind of criticism. Mostly because it’s never been done before. … You are either a believer or you’re not… It would be different, and I am all for it… You don’t play 20-some games in a row in the regular season. Why would you suddenly get to the postseason and expect that’s the plan?

You can catch the full segment and episode here: