Bruins–Maple Leafs: the maple leaf slayer

TORONTO – Blood ties are strong. Among the Domi, for example, lineage is not just an inheritance of talent: of personality as well.

It’s no real surprise to anyone that Max, son of Tie (and Leanne, let’s point out), attacked Bruins star goaltender Jemery Swayman during a commercial break in Game 3 of the series on Wednesday night, when we know that his dad, when he was playing, had fought with a supporter while he was serving a punishment, among a few feats of arms of this ilk.

Good war, good quality, as you wish, but above all, in total agreement with the style of Max Domi, not very far from that of Denis the little pest, minus the slingshot.

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Beyond the anecdote and the genetic study, this gesture perhaps reveals more about the state of mind of the Maple Leafs than what the players want to believe. At least that’s Bruins coach Jim Montgomery’s opinion.

When I see that Domi collides with him on purpose, I tell myself that [Swayman] maybe plays in their heads a little bitdropped the driver on Thursday at the team hotel who was also enjoying a day off.

Or maybe Domi simply wanted to distract Swayman…with little success.

There is plenty of head scratching in the Toronto camp. In 5 games against the Leafs this year, season and playoffs included, the goalie from Alaska gave 7 goals on 163 shots for an efficiency of .957. He has never allowed more than two in a game. Five games, five wins.

On Wednesday, he made some gems, including two saves on returns against his former teammate Tyler Bertuzzi, well placed in the slot on the power play, but flouted by the speed of the 25-year-old American’s pads.

He fights, he finds the puck. It inspires our teamhad dropped Montgomery after the match.

And that seems to deflate the opponent’s enthusiasm. No goalkeeper has performed better than him so far in the tournament. According to the site Natural Stat Trickhe alone stole more than four goals (4.25) from the Maple Leafs, more than double that of the second in this regard, Andrei Vasilevskiy (2.03).

What I love about him is that he smiles all the time. When the pressure is high, he likes it. He loves it. Even if sometimes he has an average match, after the gamehe thinks he played like Patrick Roy against the Rangers in New York.

The best strategy to address the Swayman problem comes from the Bruins themselves. This involves sending the other goalkeeper, Linus Ullmark, in front of the net.

The rotation

There is a precept applied with almost dogmatic zeal in Boston for two years: that of the rotation of goalkeepers. Rain or shine, whether the land is fallow or the sky is Saturn, Montgomery trusts each of his guardians in turn without ever deviating from the schedule, or almost.

Besides an injury to Ullmark in mid-January that gave Swayman four straight starts, the guards have almost never played back-to-back games. The Swede had this privilege on November 25 and 27 as well as December 7 and 9; the Alaskan, on November 18 and 20, as well as February 19 and 21. That’s all.

Even after the first game of the series won by Swayman with a brilliant performance, the Bruins pilot chose Ullmark in the next duel. And that’s unusual.

Goalie rotation, more common in season in this era, has never really been tested in the playoffs, at least not in recent history. Goalkeeper changes due to injuries or poor performances, yes, obviously, but pre-established plans? That would be something new.

Montgomery, until proven otherwise, believes it. Why is this such a rare strategy?

Because it’s hard when you’re an instructor to make changes if you winMontgomery simply replied.

As an instructor, you have to go with what you see in the match and what you think in your heart is the best thing to do. The guy who will fight, who will make plays in moments of pressure. The rest of us are very happy, very comfortable with the two goalkeepers. It’s rare that you have two goalkeepers who are very talented.

Colleague Fluto Shinzawa, assigned to cover the Bruins for The Athletic, reported that the origins of this Montgomery philosophy germinated a long time ago, in 1993 to be exact, when the Montrealer played for the University of Maine. Mike Dunham and Garth Snow took turns all season and during the playoff games on their way to the NCAA national title.

A lesson that young Montgomery learned.

Ullmark was solid in his team’s defeat in the second game, the fault certainly does not lie with him. But there is history. Last year, against the Panthers, the 30-year-old goaltender got the start in the first 6 games of the series, a pace he was unaccustomed to sustaining, and seemed exhausted starting in Game 5. Swayman was named in the final match which he ultimately lost in overtime.

So when Montgomery states that the rotation has been so good for us and that it is a difficult decision to make, we can take his word for it. After all, neither goalie has been accustomed to heavy workloads during his professional career and the fear of tiring out Swayman may be real.

But if the rotation has been so good, Swayman has been even better. And with two days off before the fourth game and two more before the fifth, now would seem like the perfect time to break old habits.