Bruins coach Jim Montgomery did something Monday night that he hadn’t done previously this season: He made an in-game goalie change.
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Shortly after the Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead over the listless Bruins early in the second period, Montgomery yanked starter Jeremy Swayman from the game in favor of Linus Ullmark.
Swayman could be seen saying something to Montgomery after getting the hook, to which Montgomery appeared to respond with something along the lines of, “We’ll talk about it later.”
Well, the two did indeed talk about it later, getting together for a meeting before Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena (the team was off Tuesday).
“I had a good meeting with him this morning,” Montgomery said. “Sway’s a competitor. Our goaltenders have been the number one reason we’re 14-4, and the number two reason is distant to those two. I gave him my thoughts. I always trust my gut behind the bench, and my gut said the team needed a spark and that was the way to get it.”
It didn’t work, as the Bruins never really got going en route to an ugly 5-2 loss. Montgomery said he doesn’t regret the decision, but did want to make sure Swayman understood where he was coming from. He also said he’s going right back to Swayman as his starter for Thursday’s home game against the San Jose Sharks.
Swayman described his morning meeting with Montgomery as a “great conversation” and said he trusts his coach, while also acknowledging that he did ask why he was getting pulled at the time.
“I want to be in the in the game no matter what. It wasn't jawing back or anything like that,” Swayman said. “It was just a communication thing. We talked about it and we're completely good.”
After an otherworldly start to the season, Swayman has hit a bit of a speed bump over the last week-plus. He’s lost his last three starts and has allowed 11 goals on an .882 save percentage during that time. That is not entirely his fault by any means, as the Bruins’ team defense in front of him has hung him (and Linus Ullmark) out to dry far too often recently. Nonetheless, it’s still a dip from where Swayman was.
Swayman said there’s a couple things he’s been working on, but that his focus is already on his next game and not the last one.
“The guys, they all trust in me that I'm gonna battle no matter what,” he said. “And that's gonna be something I'm gonna carry forward for the rest of my career, and today and tomorrow. So that's something that, I gotta look at the film -- I did today -- and, again, make some changes and move forward.”
Swayman said it felt good to get the news that Montgomery was going right back to him for Thursday.
“It does. Definitely excited to get another whack at it,” he said. “I mean, it's a long season. We roll day by day, right? Yesterday's in the past, and that's what our culture is, that's what our mindset is. We got two points on the line tomorrow, and that's all we care about.”
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