Bruins could make goalie switch for Game 7 against Panthers

BEDFORD, Mass. --The Boston Bruins are not ruling out a goalie switch for the deciding Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Florida Panthers.

Linus Ullmark has started each of the first six games for Boston, but coach Jim Montgomery didn't commit to him remaining the starting goalie against the Panthers at TD Garden on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, BSFL).
"We're going to meet tomorrow morning and we'll finalize all that," Montgomery said the day after a stunning 7-5 loss in Game 6 of a series they once led 3-1.
All season, the Bruins went with a goalie rotation, despite Ullmark's Vezina Trophy-caliber season, with Ullmark getting 48 starts (40 wins) and Jeremy Swayman getting 33. Each performed admirably, with Ullmark's 1.89 goals-against average and .938 save percentage the best in the NHL. Swayman (24 wins) finished with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 save percentage. The two won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the regular season.
But the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been a different story for Ullmark.
He has played all but 3:11 in the series, with Swayman relieving him when he was assessed a misconduct penalty following an altercation with Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk in Game 4, and has a 3.33 GAA and .896 save percentage. He has let in goals that didn't go in during the regular season, and has also been a game-time decision multiple times and missed morning skates, raising concerns about his health.
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But up to this point, Montgomery has not veered away from using Ullmark. He could, though, for Game 7. Asked specifically about whether Swayman might get the start, Montgomery said: "I don't know. I'm not sure yet."
He didn't hold back on why he would opt to change his goalie for Game 7.
"Linus didn't make enough stops. That would be the reason to make a switch," Montgomery said. "Plain and simple."
Ullmark allowed six goals on 32 shots in the loss Friday, including three on 10 shots in the third period.
Does Montgomery regret not getting Swayman into the series earlier, given that the 3:11 he played in Game 4 is the only action he has seen since April 13, more than two weeks ago?
"No, no regrets," Montgomery said. "Nothing good happens if you live with regret. … But I don't regret the decisions that we've made as a staff and that I've personally made for lineup decisions and who's been in nets. And when it comes to Jeremy Swayman, he is the most confident individual that I know.
"He's kind of like you give the ball to [Roger] Clemens to go and win Game 7 on the mound. You're down in the last two minutes and Tom Brady's got the ball, you like your chances. And if it's Swayman that's in net, I have utmost confidence in him."
The Bruins players also expressed faith in their goalies.
"We have confidence in both goalies," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said. "They've proven themselves all year. Whoever's in the net, we have a lot of poise and confidence in."

The good news for the Bruins is this is not new. This will mark the 14th Game 7 appearance for Bergeron, tying him with the all-time leader, his former teammate Zdeno Chara. And it's not even that the situation is new. The Bruins are 4-2 in Game 7s after failing to eliminate a team in Game 6 since 2008, including defeating the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and Eastern Conference Final en route to winning the 2011 Stanley Cup.
"Just play the game," Bergeron said, of his advice. "Just really take a breath after every shift and refocus and stay in the moment. I think that's the biggest thing in these games is not making too much of it and play to the best of your ability."
The Bruins have taken a specifically Montgomery-ish tact heading into Game 7, focusing on the positive, on gratitude, on the present, all tenets that the coach emphasizes in his personal life and with which he has infused the team this season, his first in Boston.
On the team plane heading from South Florida to Boston on Saturday, Montgomery addressed his players, asking them to think back to their childhoods and what they would have given to have this moment ahead of them back when they were playing mini-sticks.
"We preach about staying in the moment, and for the majority of the season, the majority of this series we've been able to do it," Montgomery said. "But there's times where I think for whatever reason, whether it's a coaching decision, it's save selection, it's a puck decision or it's a defensive decision, guys have not stayed in the moment. I think they've worried about making mistakes.
"I always think safety is death. Now we're looking forward to what lies ahead of us."