Will the Bruins go back to Jeremy Swayman?
The Boston Bruins are one victory away from taking a stranglehold in their Eastern Conference first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs after a tight 4-2, Game 3 win at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.
And Jeremy Swayman, who was excellent as he has been against the Leafs all season, is starting to rattle some players on the opposing team. At least according to his head coach.
“Normally, I don’t think that [a goalie has one team’s number],” Jim Montgomery explained on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Kristen Shilton. “But when Domi goes off the bench and bumps [Swayman] on purpose, makes me think that maybe he’s in their head a little bit.”
“Maybe Sway is getting in their head; he’s making a lot of saves,” echoed Trent Frederic, who scored his team’s opening goal in Game 3. “So, bump our goalies. I don’t know, didn’t work [for them] last night.”
During a TV timeout in Game 3, Leafs forward Max Domi looked to try to run into Swayman on purpose. But that didn’t affect the 25-year-old, who was locked in again for his club. Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe, not surprisingly, saw the exchange a little differently.
“It’s playoff hockey, and things are happening all over the ice,” said Keefe. “With that logic [from Montgomery] you would say every time they bump into one of our guys maybe we’re in their heads.”
Regardless of the minor interaction, it didn’t do anything to take Boston’s goalie off his game. Swayman made 28 saves on 30 shots in Game 3 to improve his record to a pristine 5-0-0 against Toronto this season.
But will it be enough for him to earn back-to-back starts — something that hasn’t happened in months?
Bruins still haven’t decided on goaltender for Game 4
As of yet, that’s undecided as Montgomery and the coaching staff continue mulling potentially going back to the youngster on Saturday night. Linus Ullmark was by no means bad in a Game 2 loss — he allowed just three goals on 34 shots — but Swayman’s track record against Toronto speaks for itself.
And he made it clear he’s ready for another start after Wednesday’s win.
“I don’t want rest; I just want to keep playing,” said the star netminder.
It’s obviously a very difficult decision for Montgomery, especially as Swayman and Ullmark have rotated for nearly 30 games, dating back as far as February, per Shilton.
“Both goalies have been so good for us,” mused the bench boss. “It’s a hard decision.”
Still, it’s a good problem to have. The Bruins have faith that whoever is between the pipes, they will give the squad a great chance to win. And that’s been especially true against a Leafs team they’ve beat in six out of seven tries in 2023-24.
One thing is for sure: Toronto needs to score more goals if they hope to avoid going back to TD Garden in a 3-1 hole. The Leafs haven’t beaten the Bruins in a playoff series since 1959, and winning on Saturday night will be absolutely critical if they hope to finally reverse a long history of futility against their Original Six rivals.