goaltending

In what has been a stunning turn of events for many, the Bruins are now staring down the possibility of being eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after a dominant regular season. Making matters even worse, the Bruins are doing so after taking a commanding 3-1 lead in their opening round series over the Florida Panthers and there is now a serious controversy when it comes to the Bruins lineup.

Many have questioned the performance of Bruins starting goaltender Linus Ullmark in these playoffs, a performance that has been uncharacteristically shaky after Ullmark had such a strong campaign in the regular season. In fact many believe that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has erred in his decision to keep going back to Ullmark, especially after how Game 6 came to an end.

On Saturday, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was asked about his goaltending situation and was questioned about who would get the start in Game 7, but the Bruins bench boss refused to give a straight answer. Montgomery did add that he had “no regrets” about his decision to go with Ullmark for 6 straight games to start this series, something that I find very hard to believe at this point in the series.

When pressed on the issue of a potential swap by Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy, Montgomery admitted that if he did make a change in goal for Game 7 that the blame for such a decision would fall on the shoulders of Ullmark himself.

“Linus hasn’t stopped enough pucks,” admitted Montgomery. “Plain and simple.”

A big part of the reason Montgomery’s decision to stick with Ullmark has been questioned is due to the fact that the Bruins have a solid backup in Jeremy Swayman. Swayman had a strong regular season with a 2.27 goals against average and a .920 save percentage, and it sounds like there is at least a chance he may get to showcase his abilities in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Minnesota Wild suffered an ugly loss in Game 4 of their opening round series against the Dallas Stars, one that was marred by a major controversy in the final moments of the game. In spite of that though you would expect the Wild to shake off the loss and hopefully bounce back in Game 5, but it seems the loss may have been the catalyst for a big change on the backend for the Wild.

On Monday, the Wild announced that they had called up rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the main roster from the Iowa Wild. It isn’t unusual to see players known as ‘Black Aces’ added to the roster, but they usually come in several at a time and the lone addition of Wallstedt today has raised some eyebrows.

Despite that, Wild insider Mike Russo is reporting that Wallstedt is only being brought in as extra insurance for the team and will be the third goalie moving forward.

When the move was announced there was some minor concern that Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson may have tweaked something, but most of the speculation actually surrounded veteran Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury struggled mightily in the lone playoff appearance he has had thus far for the Wild this season, so much so that there was legitimate reason to believe that Wild head coach Dean Evason may have lost faith in the experienced netminder

Fleury recorded a brutal 7.00 goals against average and a .774 save percentage in that lone outing, so if it is indeed the case you could hardly blame Evason for wanting to keep his options open.

Wallstedt is a former first round pick of the Wild, selected 20th overall at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and has no NHL experience under his belt thus far. He recorded a 2.68 goals against average and a .908 save percentage over 28 games with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League this season.