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.