Bruins finding success with goalie tandem in playoffs

TORONTO -- When Dwayne Roloson tuned in to the Boston Bruins last season during the Eastern Conference First Round, he had empathy for coach Jim Montgomery. 

Not only did they go back a long way, to when Roloson was playing goalie for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Montgomery was a forward for the University of Maine, but Roloson understood intimately the dilemma in front of the Bruins coach. 

He had starter-caliber goalies. He had only one net. 

"I felt for 'Monty,'" Roloson said recently, about the goalie rotation he experienced with Manny Fernandez while both played for the Minnesota Wild in the early 2000s. "I could feel what he was going through, from living it. … Knowing Monty and all the pressures that he was getting from the outside, it was well thought-out in how they went about it. Unfortunately, it hurt more than helped, but you've got to live by it, by the decisions that you make, and smart people learn from mistakes, right?"

Which is what brings him to this season – and Jeremy Swayman. 

In the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins had two goalies who were capable of being starters in the postseason, two goalies they had rotated all season. Montgomery leaned on Linus Ullmark, who would go on to win the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL, starting him in the first six games against the Florida Panthers before handing the net to Swayman in Game 7, a game the Bruins would lose, ending their season. 

It has been different in 2024. 

In the first three games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first-round series, Montgomery has alternated goalies, starting Swayman in Games 1 and 3, both wins, and Ullmark in Game 2, a loss. He has gotten exceptional goaltending from each, though Swayman has been better.

So who does Montgomery go to in Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, TBS, truTV, MAX), with the Bruins up 2-1 in the best-of-7 series and a chance to put the Maple Leafs on the brink of elimination?

He's not saying. Not yet, at least. 

"It's a good problem to have, in my eyes," Roloson said.

Swayman has excelled against the Maple Leafs this season, against whom he is 5-0-0 with a 1.38 goals-against average and an .957 save percentage in the regular- and postseason. Ullmark started once against them in the regular season, allowing three goals on 40 shots in a 4-3 overtime win on Dec. 2, and in Game 2, also allowing three goals on 34 shots in the loss.

And the Maple Leafs have noticed. During a TV timeout in Game 3, Toronto forward Max Domi and Swayman were skating toward each other and Domi appeared to bump Swayman on his way by. The goalie tumbled to the ice. Though Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe pooh-poohed the notion, Montgomery said the goalie just might be getting to their opponent.

"Sometimes I don't think that," Montgomery said. "But when Domi goes off the bench and bumps him on purpose, makes me think that maybe he's in their head a little bit."

So does he think he earned a start in Game 4?

"Never," Swayman said Wednesday night. "I'm never going to expect anything. I'm going to earn it. That's all I care about."

If Montgomery goes with Swayman, it would break with the every-other-game routine that the Bruins have used almost exclusively through the regular season and into the playoffs; Swayman started 43 games during the regular season and Ullmark 39.

"We're going to have more rest," Montgomery said, of whether the extra day between Game 3 and 4 (on Tuesday) impacts his decision. "But both goalies, the rotation's been so good for us. So it's a hard decision."

Back in 2003, the Minnesota Wild didn't exactly do a straight goalie rotation. But Roloson and Fernandez never knew who would be starting in net game-to-game. Each got runs, impacted by performance and health, and each got a seat on the bench at times, as the Wild made it to the Western Conference Final, where they lost to the Anaheim Ducks.

"It does but it doesn't," Roloson said, of the way that affects a player. "It impacts you with being in a rhythm, routine, and things like that. But on the side that people don't realize, a lot of it is not the physical, it's more the mental drain. Especially during playoffs. You're going every other day. You're going into TD Garden, it's a tough place to play. The fans are all over you, right? You go into Madison Square Garden, same thing. It helps with the mental drain as a goalie."

It's also, as Montgomery has pointed out, which Roloson alluded to, something that the coach is comfortable with.

When Montgomery was in college at Maine, they won the 1993 national championship with Montgomery, Paul Kariya and, most importantly, both Garth Snow and Mike Dunham, who split starts en route to the title. It made an impression. 

"[Montgomery] knows how [it works] because he's been involved in something like that," Roloson said. "I'm sure he's taking into account what's going on in the goalies' minds and trying to keep the communication open. 

"It looks like both of them get along, from history, and there's no animosity between the two. So whatever happens, happens, and they're all supporting each other. At the end of the day, that's all that matters. As long as there's communication and direction, I think that it can be done."

Roloson does believe that there is an advantage, however small, in keeping the Maple Leafs on their toes as to who is starting. They know both goalies, all the pre-scouting is done, but still, there's something about not knowing for sure. 

"I don't think there's much of a chance to keep guys off-guard with them rotating as much as they have because pre-scouts are going to be done on both goalies anyway, but still just that little uncertainty, who's starting tonight?" Roloson said. "OK, now we've got to change our whole mindset of how we're doing our O-zone entries, our O-zone play, versus how they're doing defensively."

The one thing that is clear so far about the Bruins goalie situation is that Swayman is playing very, very well. 

Asked to describe what Swayman has given them this series, forward Charlie Coyle answered honestly: "No."

But he tried. 

"He's been awesome," Coyle said. "I mean, both the goalies, but especially tonight with Jeremy, whether you're on the ice or on the bench, you're just never panicking. It's almost bad, in a way. Because it's like, 'Ah, he's got it.' You know? He's bailed us out. 

"We've still got to play well in front of him and box guys out, limit their opportunities. But there's breakdowns, it happens, they're a good team, they have some good players. But he's always there to take care of us when we do break down a little bit. It's been huge. And that can sway momentum too, kind of gets us up on the bench. Like, hey, he's doing it for us, let's go do it for him down on the other end."

There's no question that Swayman wants the net. No question that the goalie that Montgomery called "ultra-competitive" will take any start he can get. But only the coach knows who he will tap to start Game 4, to take on the Maple Leafs, to -- they hope -- cement the momentum they got with their Game 3 win. 

Which is why Roloson has some more advice.

"Just be ready to play when your number's called," Roloson said. "That's the key."