'We Have Decided, We're Not Sharing It With You Guys': Bruins Won't Say if Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark Starts Game 1 Against Maple Leafs
Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark? Bruins are not tipping their hand come playoff time, but the numbers make it a bit more obvious.
BOSTON — If you go based on recent numbers and head-to-head matchups, it seems obvious about which Boston Bruins goaltender will start in net when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery opened his media conference on Friday to a swarm reporters and talked about the excitement around the group, including new playoff gear that the team will wear. But it when it came to questions about his lineup, he was all business.
So will start in goal against Toronto? Will it be Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark?
"We have decided, we're not sharing it with you guys," Montgomery said.
Both goaltenders did not speak to a reporter after the team's final practice before Game 1 on Saturday. Both are solid options and are arguably the best netminder tandem of the 16 teams taking part in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Is there really any advantage the Bruins can have over the Leafs by not revealing their goaltender going into Game 1?
"I don't think so," Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "That's in-house here but tomorrow night they're going to line up and they're going to see a goalie in the net and don't think it's going to change anything you know for us."
The Swayman and Ullmark have played nearly an even amount of games and have shockingly identical numbers.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J02G2gjl2k[/embed]
Swayman is 25-10-8 this season with a .916 save percentage, while Ullmark is 22-10-7 with a .915 save percentage.
Perhaps what might give Swayman a slight edge is that the goalie started in three of the four games against the Leafs this season and posted a 3-0-0 record with a .959 save percentage.
In Ullmark's lone game against the Leafs he made 37 saves on 40 shots in a 4-3 victory.
Swayman appears to be Boston's goalie of the future with Ullmark linked to trade talks earlier in the year. Given that Ullmark got a majority of the starts in their first-round series with the Florida Panthers, a series that ended in heartbreak for Boston, it might make sense to go with the future this time around.
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