Second Guess: Bruins should have played Swayman vs. Panthers, as Ullmark’s trending in wrong direction

BOSTON — To be fair, a goalie platoon in the playoffs is almost unheard of. At the very least, giving two goalies equal run would generally be considered a recipe for a short postseason. In that sense, Jim Montgomery did nothing except follow hockey history when he decided that the Bruins should ride Linus Ullmark as their clear-cut, no-questions-asked No. 1 goaltender for the first six games of the postseason.

But it very clearly hasn’t worked out. Linus Ullmark is kind of falling apart. And if the Bruins want to go to Jeremy Swayman now, they’ll have to throw him in for his first start of the postseason in a do-or-die Game 7.

It’s not great.

Neither was Ullmark on Friday night, as he allowed six goals on 32 shots. Ullmark didn’t allow six goals in any of his 48 regular-season starts, when he led the league in wins, save percentage and goals-against average. And this performance came after Ullmark had allowed four goals on just 25 shots faced in Game 5, a game that ended with Ullmark committing a grisly turnover behind his own net to set up the game-winning goal for Florida in overtime.

Ullmark is now 3-3 in the series with an .896 save percentage. He’s been jumpy and off his game for most of his past 125 minutes on the ice. Ullmark now ranks 10th in the NHL in save percentage and GAA this postseason.

Clearly, he’s not right. It could be the injury that popped up late in the regular season or it could be the fact that he hasn’t been relied on to play this much hockey ever in his professional career. Regardless, at this exact moment, he just doesn’t have it. (Not all the goals are the goalies’ fault, obviously. But Ullmark has not been special or anything close to it for at least half of this series.)

For the Bruins, an ideal move would have been to start Swayman in Game 5. The Bruins led the series 3-1, and with Ullmark coming off a dynamite showing in Florida (.946 save percentage over two victories, plus a willingness to drop the mitts), the move clearly wouldn’t have been a benching. Ullmark could have gotten rest — about a week if the Bruins won — and Swayman could have seen some action in a friendly building before the entire season was on the line.

Now, if Montgomery wants to make the switch, he has to throw Swayman into the lion’s den with the entire season hanging in the balance, against a Florida team that is operating at warp speed. Swayman also hasn’t started a game since April 13, which doesn’t exactly have him in position to step right into a Game 7. (Swayman’s three minutes of work at the end of Game 4 likely weren’t enough for him to find a rhythm.)

Again, entering the playoffs with a straight platoon is typically an announcement that a team is not very good. But the Bruins set an all-time record in wins and points this season by splitting time between their two goaltenders. (After the Winter Classic, Ullmark started 24 games while Swayman started 21.) And while Ullmark was the best goalie in the NHL from wire to wire … Swayman was just as good from January through the end of the year.

Jan. 1 through April 13 Ullmark: 20-5-0, .937 S%, 1.89 GAA Swayman: 17-3-1, .932 S%, 2.03 GAA

The duo also has a rare dynamic of actually supporting and rooting for each other (perhaps you’ve seen them hug), which isn’t normally at play in the high-stakes world of professional sports. But that relationship is real, and starting Swayman over Ullmark once or twice per series would not have disrupted the locker room in a way that it might if other players were involved.

Had Swayman started Game 5 and lost, Ullmark could have started Game 6 having four full days of rest. Had Swayman started and won, the whole team would be sitting with its feet up for six or more days while the Lightning and Maple Leafs slogged it out in their series.

Alas, Montgomery opted to go treat Ullmark like a workhorse, and it’s currently a decision that’s blowing up.

Admittedly, going to Swayman after Game 4 wouldn’t have been easy. Ullmark had just authored a legendary moment in Game 4, when he capped off a 41-save performance on the road by trying to get into a fistfight with Matthew Tkachuk. The whole room was inspired — Montgomery included.

But Ullmark never started more than four straight games in the regular season. Keeping some semblance of the flow that made the Bruins the best regular-season team in NHL history would have been best for the team. It would’ve been the right move in Game 5, irrespective of the result of the game itself.

Now, in this particular series, it’s probably too late to make the move to Swayman. It’ll be up to Ullmark to channel his Vezina-caliber self and help win Game 7.

After that, though, if the Bruins are fortunate enough to advance past the Florida Panthers, the wise move would be for Montgomery to go back to what got the Bruins here in the first place. If Ullmark is seemingly struggling to make it through one round without wearing down, it’s not worth the energy to even entertain the prospect of him carrying the Bruins to three more series victories after this one.

Heading into Sunday, though, all of Boston will likely just have to hold its collective breath and hope that Ullmark has 60 minutes of great play in him, in order for Montgomery and the Bruins to reset and reorganize if their playoffs go deeper.