Tag: Jeremy Swayman

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Jim Montgomery hints at 3 major changes for Game 7.

The Boston Bruins are in an unexpected position heading into Sunday’s Game 7, facing the threat of an early elimination in the Stanley Cup playoffs after the most dominant regular season in National Hockey League history and after taking a commanding 3-1 lead over the Florida Panthers in this series.

It’s hard to believe but it feels like all of the pressure is now on the Bruins to close out the deal, and it seems as though head coach Jim Montgomery may be making the changes he feels necessary to deal with the toughest hurdle his team has faced all season.

Although Montgomery would not disclose any changes he made to his lineup on Sunday, there are some things we can infer based on how the Bruins behaved during their morning skate. The biggest of these changes appears to be a much anticipated change in goal, with backup goaltender Jeremy Swayman being the first off the ice during the skate on Saturday. This is usually an indication of who the starter will be, although things could change at a moments notice during the playoffs.

Montgomery also appeared to swap out a pair of skaters on Sunday, with Nick Foligno and Conor Clifton remaining on the ice late into practice, an indication that they will both be scratched tonight. Bruins insider Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe believes that this means we will see Trent Frederic and Matt Grzelcyk step into the lineup tonight to replace those two aforementioned Bruins.

A first round exit would be incredibly disappointing after the season the Bruins had, and it will be very interesting to see how they react to that pressure tonight.

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Jim Montgomery hints at major change for Game 7

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For the second straight game, the Boston Bruins have been unable to punch their ticket to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their opponent in the Florida Panthers absolutely refuse to lay down, and have forced what just about everyone prior to the beginning of the series never thought was possible – a Game 7.

It was gritty forward Matthew Tkachuk who vowed after his overtime game winning goal in Game 5 at TD Garden that he and his teammates would be back for a winner-take-all Game 7, and his prediction has come to pass. Tkachuk scored two more goals and added an assist in what was an absolutely wild affair tonight at FLA Live Arena, a 7-5 final score to ensure that this series will be going the distance. 

The Bruins, who won an NHL-record 65 games during the regular season, looked rattled multiple times over the course of the game. Goaltender Linus Ullmark followed up his brutal giveaway in overtime of the previous game with another sorely subpar performance between the pipes, allowing six goals. 

Head coach Jim Montgomery admitted after the game that he considered pulling Ullmark in favor of backup Jeremy Swayman, and also hinted that it could be the latter who gets the nod in net on Sunday.

A Vezina Trophy candidate for his spectacular record during the regular season, Ullmark hasn’t been able to replicate the performance that saw him rack up 40 wins and a goals against average below that of two. 

“I felt good throughout the game…unfortunately, I couldn’t make that extra save today,” Ullmark explained in the dressing room after. “We’ve been trying to have the mindset throughout the season of closing the series, and we specifically did it during the season. We have one more opportunity on Sunday to get it.” 

The start time for Game 7 at TD Garden has yet to be announced. Who will get the start in goal for Boston? Who should it be? 

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Jim Montgomery addresses the goaltending controversy in Boston.

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.

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Key updates on Bergeron, Ullmark, and Krejci ahead of Game 4.

The Boston Bruins have taken a 2-1 series lead over the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it sounds like that lead may have granted Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery some luxuries when it comes to his lineup.

On Saturday, Montgomery hinted at 2 possible changes to the Bruins lineup ahead of Game 4 when he provided updates on both goaltender Linus Ullmark and veteran forward David Krejci.

In the case of Ullmark, Montgomery admitted that he had given some thought to the idea of swapping in goaltender Jeremy Swayman for Game 4 in order to give Ullmark, who is dealing with a minor injury, some additional time to rest in the middle of the series.

“Yeah there is thoughts of going with Jeremy,” admitted Montgomery on Saturday. “Just because, one, Jeremy’s excellent, and two after tomorrow’s game there’s three days between the next one… game’s 4 and 5.”

Montgomery also indicated that David Krejci, who missed Game 3 of the series, could possibly return for Game 4 but he did not have any more to say regarding the status of the veteran Bruins forward.

“Krejci no,” responded Montgomery when asked if Krejci would skate on Saturday. “There’s no real update, I would just say he’s questionable for tomorrow.”

Montgomery was also able to confirm that Bergeron remained on track to return, not for Sunday’s Game 4, but for Game 5 this coming Wednesday.

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Don Sweeney shares a concerning update on Patrice Bergeron.

If you have paid any attention to the chatter regarding the Boston Bruins on social media over the last few days, you’ve probably seen quite a bit of concern and criticism surrounding the status of Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron.

After being out for a while and dealing with some injuries, Bergeron would make his return to the ice on the 13th of April for a meaningless game against the Montreal Canadiens. Bergeron accumulate just 5 minutes and 36 seconds of ice time before leaving the game early, and since exiting that game he has been notably absent from all of the Bruins’ skates.

On Sunday, Don Sweeney addressed Bergeron’s status ahead of the Bruins’ first game in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, and his comments were not at all reassuring.

“He’s taken another extra day today again obviously,” began Sweeney on Sunday. “It’s to be decided tomorrow if he feels well enough he’ll play.”

It sounds like Bergeron is dealing with both nagging injuries as well as an illness, so there will be quite a bit up in the air as the Bruins set to face off against the Florida Panthers on Monday night. The good news here is, as Sweeney pointed out, it’s not like missing a few practices is going to somehow diminish the quality of player that Bergeron is on a nightly basis.

“Patrice doesn’t need extra days of practice,” said Sweeney. “If he feels better he’ll play.”

Somewhat concerning was the fact that Sweeney confirmed Jeremy Swayman is also dealing with an illness of his own, and you have to hope that there isn’t some kind of bug going around the Bruins locker room just before the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For Sweeney’s full comments, check out the video below:

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Disaster strikes the Boston Bruins just hours before Game 1.

Keystone

It’s hard to imagine how Monday morning could possibly get any worse for the Boston Bruins.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has just shared what can only be described as a boatload of bad news on Monday morning, just hours before his team is set to face off against the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup playoffs series.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day comes in the form of a call up, with the Bruins calling up Brandon Bussi from the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins on an emergency basis. The call up of Bussi appears to indicate that the Bruins aren’t sure both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman will be ready to play for Game 1, and there is good reason for those concerns.

Swayman missed practice on Sunday with what Montgomery described as an illness, although he did skate on Monday morning, as did Linus Ullmark. Montgomery though describe Ullmark as a “gametime decision” which may indicate that he is also feeling somewhat under the weather.

Bussi has never appeared in an NHL game before so it would be a huge step up for him to enter the Stanley Cup playoffs. That being said, he had an outstanding performance with the Providence Bruins of the AHL this season, recording a 2.40 goals against average and a .924 save percentage over 32 games.

It sounds like there is some kind of bug floating around the Bruins locker room and it sounds like several key members of the Bruins roster may be dealing with that illness at this time. Montgomery confirmed that David Krejci is in, Derek Forbort is in, and that Nick Foligno is likely to play, but the lineup remains up in the air given the questionable status of some players.

Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron will also be a gametime decision, and you have to suspect that if he misses Game 1 the Bruins will be heavily criticized for having him play against the Montreal Canadiens in a meaningless game at the end of the regular season.

The last thing you want at this stage of the season is an illness going around the locker room, and unfortunately disaster seems to have struck the Bruins at the worst possible time.