Why This Auston Matthews Stat Should Not Influence Bruins

The Bruins rode high off their Game 1 win, but Auston Matthews carried the Maple Leafs on Monday to even up the best-of-seven series.

Boston suffered a 3-2 loss to Toronto at TD Garden. Head coach Jim Montgomery continued to play coy about the starting goalie, and he ultimately continued the B’s rotation with Linus Ullmark getting the nod ahead of Jeremy Swayman, who had an outstanding performance in Game 1.

The result wasn’t there for Ullmark, but Montgomery did not regret his decision, and it’s easy to see that other factors led to the Black and Gold dropping Game 2.

Matthews was dominant Monday night, and a stat from the 26-year-old didn’t seem to be on Montgomery’s mind when he named Ullmark the starter. The Maple Leafs star scored one goal and recorded two assists off eight shots in Game 2. The goal was his 12th off Ullmark in his career, which is tied with Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck for sixth-most against all NHL goalies, per The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel. The goalie Matthews has scored the most off is Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy with 18. He has two goals in his career against Swayman.

Ullmark’s track record against Matthews might be a reason to stick with Swayman, but this 2021-22 Hart Trophy winner has gotten the better of the best goaltenders in the league, and we are talking about one of the most dominant players in the NHL. Swayman was great in Game 1, but there aren’t many ways to stop Matthews, especially throughout a seven-game series.

There seems to be a strong obsession from Bruins fans over who the starting goalie will be. It’s important to have a solid foundation in net, but Andrew Peeke’s injury and Derek Forbort’s possible return will be more important things to look out for.

It does appear Boston will rotate the goalies as it did throughout most of the regular season. It’s a strategy that could be influenced on a game-to-game basis, but it should not. Matthews will get his, but the Bruins will have the goalie advantage in the series. The important thing is for everyone else to match Toronto’s intensity and play consistently to move on to the next round.