The Boston Bruins employ the man who will likely take home the Vezina Trophy in 2023.
That’s not stopping them from considering making a very tough decision prior to Game 7 against the Florida Panthers.
In fact, nothing is.
The Bruins dropped their second consecutive opportunity at burying the Panthers on Friday, allowing Florida to tie the series at three games apiece and force a decisive Game 7 on Sunday. It was about as poor a performance as could be expected from the most dominant regular-season team in NHL history, which has Boston head coach Jim Montgomery considering changes up and down the roster.
“Montgomery said he considered making a goalie change (in Game 6),” Matt Porter of The Boston Globe tweeted Friday night. “For Game 7, every player is under review.”
The decision to make a change in net is an obvious one, and likely will be the most difficult to make. Ullmark has looked far from the triple-crown winning goaltender that he was during the regular season, especially during the Bruins’ losses in Game 5 and 6. The 29-year-old allowed 20 goals across the first six games of the series, giving him an abysmal .895 save percentage.
The issue with making a change? Jeremy Swayman has not started in the series, meaning you would be headed into a Game 7 with a goaltender who played a total of three minutes in the 17 days leading into it.
That isn’t the only potential move to be made by Montgomery, however.
After making a litany of line changes in Game 5 and electing to play Connor Clifton over Matt Grzelcyk in Game 6, two moves that proved to be unsuccessful, there are some serious lineup decisions to be made. Trent Frederic and A.J. Greer are options to be inserted into the forward lines, while Grzelcyk replacing Clifton is certainly an option on defense.
There is only one definite leading into Game 7. Changes will be made.
