It seems like ages ago when the Boston Bruins stumbled at home against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 11, blowing several leads and raising major questions about the defense and team’s overall makeup. Since then, the B’s have gone 3-0 in wins over the Devils, Canadiens and most recently on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers by a 5-2 score.
With just three games in nine days, the schedule has not been ideal, but the team has made the most of the practice-heavy schedule to avenge their first loss of 2021-22 when they got smacked down by the Flyers by a 6-3 score at the Wells Fargo Center last month. Boston has been getting scoring recently from secondary sources, and the duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark has gotten the job done. With the B’s traveling home from Philadelphia Saturday night, they face the Calgary Flames, who beat the struggling New York Islanders by a 5-2 score on Long Island in the team's first game in their new arena.
Neither team enjoy the advantage of having rested the night before, but the Flames are going to be a handful. Like the Oilers, they are enjoying success right now in the NHL’s Pacific Division, bringing back memories of the late 1980s, when the teams dominated in the old Smythe Division of the Clarence Campbell Conference. Calgary isn’t the explosive, dangerous offensive team the Oilers are right now, but they pose a tough challenge for Boston because they play a heavy, physical puck possession style, but have younger horses to grind it out, get to the net and cause matchup problems for a Boston team that is older, but lacks the same level of skill the Flames have going for them right now. Sunday night’s match at the TD Garden will be a better test for where this Boston club is than the recent opponents have.
Boston’s 9-5 record has them in the middle of the pack primarily because of the disparity in games they’ve played versus other teams in the division. The B’s have six games in hand on the Detroit Red Wings, for example, but trail them in the standings by just one point. The schedule makers haven’t done Boston many favors, but the team has found a way to leverage the extended layoff days and practices to build a solid streak. That will soon give way to far more demanding Dec. and Jan. schedules before the Olympic break in Feb.
With all that’s going on, here’s a breakdown of other key storylines around the Bruins and what we might expect going forward.
Swayman and Ullmark: contrasting styles, similar results
When Tuukka Rask required offseason hip surgery, Boston’s goaltending plans for 2021-22 required an immediate and significant course correction.
Not content to put unreasonable pressures on Swayman and the other young, untested goaltenders on NHL contracts in the system like Dan Vladar and Kyle Keyser, Don Sweeney signed the veteran Ullmark off of the free agent market. With Rask already back on the ice, preparing for a possible return to the NHL, Boston will have some interesting decisions to make.
The current duo has split the duties evenly (seven starts apiece), with Swayman emerging as the early favorite. He has a better 5-2 record and numbers across the board, but he’s also enjoyed a tighter, more effective team defense in front of him, having faced 160 shots to Ullmark’s 197, with a near-equal amount of minutes between them (417 to 419). Ullmark’s 4-3 record, 2.87 goals against and .908 save percentage are below average across the NHL’s statistical leaders, which has made him an early and easy target.
While not big on making excuses, the schedule has not been a friend to either netminder, as goaltenders often rely on game routines, consistent puck touches and competition to stay sharp and focused. The staccato bursts of games followed by long periods of idle days and practices makes it difficult for Ullmark and Swayman to work themselves into a rhythm.
From a mental perspective, it has been easier for Swayman, as he has less time as a pro than Ullmark does and his experiences in the AHL and NHL have been skewed by the schedule and routine changes caused by the global pandemic. Ullmark, who is adjusting to a new city and system, has also had to deal with changes to routines he was used to in the pre-COVID NHL. Again, it’s not an excuse, but it begins to explain perhaps why Ullmark has looked at times shaky and out of sorts in the Boston net. He didn’t have a strong preseason, and some of the goals he surrendered created some natural doubts on the part of outsiders, who have not embraced the former Buffalo Sabre to the degree they have the hotshot young rookie who was a top goalie in the Hockey East at the University of Maine.
Some of those doubts likely begin with the differences in style between the two.
In watching them, it starts with how both present themselves in the Boston net. Though listed at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Swayman looks like he’s closer to 6-foot-5 when he’s in his stance and sets his feet for the first shot. This attribute is an important one for goaltenders at any level. Scouts always want to see if a goalie can deny shooters much net to hit, and a variety of factors go into it, from height and body type, to stance, net depth and how effectively they can focus and track pucks. It stands to reason: if you are big, then you should be big in the net. However, that is not always the case, and some goalies who are shorter in stature present a bigger target, while others who might enjoy a physical advantage in height, actually look smaller in the net.
In watching the games this season both live and on video, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Ullmark looks to be the smaller goalie than Swayman is. His stance is more compact, with a pronounced knee bend, and he tends to play deeper in his net. This creates an optical effect, at least to this observer, that makes Ullmark look like he’s closer to 6-foot or 6-foot-1, while his counterpart looks like the bigger player.
Interestingly enough, a quick analysis of the NHL’s top-10 goaltender statistical leaders reveals that eight of them are 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-1, with Juuse Saros listed at 5-foot-10. Only Jacob Markstrom (6-6) and Frederik Anderson (6-4) are taller or as tall than Boston’s tandem of Ullmark and Swayman. Listed size isn’t everything, and it shows that the NHL is trending away from goalies whose height tends to create more problems than benefits. In the end, it’s about how big you play in the net and making the saves needed to build on the most important statistical category for a goalie: wins.
Right now, the biggest difference between Swayman and Ullmark seems to be confidence. That represents confidence the individuals appear to have in themselves and the confidence the team has in them to make the big saves. Swayman has an unflappable, easy demeanor. He’s had that his entire professional career and even before that in college and junior hockey. When he was called up to the NHL last spring, he won over teammates and fans alike with his grace under fire and genuine gratitude to have the opportunity to be playing in the NHL.
Ullmark brings a different personality to the mix as the new guy and an outsider who had to establish his NHL bona fides on one of the worst teams of the past half-decade and longer. As a native of Sweden, English is not his first language, and while he’s done and said the right things in Boston, he’s just different from Swayman, and you can sense the pressure on him in his media interactions. At the same time, he’s always been a team guy, and the two seem to enjoy a close relationship. They have their own post-game hug routine after a win that they’ve been able to engage in more often than not.  Ullmark’s victory over the Flyers was an important shot in the arm for his confidence and that of the team. He’s a good goalie who, in a perfect world, would have come in and been lights out, but has taken some time to adjust.
Unfortunately, in a results-oriented business, the two are not performing in line statistically with the other top-rated goalies in the NHL. Part of that has to do with the schedule challenges, but at some point, both goaltenders will have to string together starts and perform under pressure. That will be the real test, and will determine what actions Sweeney might feel he needs to take to address the growing elephant in the room: Rask.
Because Ullmark has a no movement clause, he can’t simply be traded and certainly can’t be put on waivers for assignment. That means that if the Bruins will indeed bring their veteran starter back into the fold, Swayman is the only one of the three with the options to go anywhere.
We’re not there to even seriously begin breaking down the options, but with Rask skating at Warrior Ice Arena, and December inching ever closer, we’re getting close.
Improved two-way D plays keys win streak
The Boston defense is playing better hockey since making some personnel tweaks.
To his credit, former 13th overall selection Jakub Zboril is opening some eyes during the win streak because he’s playing the best stretch of hockey in his NHL career. He’s not going to make anyone forget about the players Boston passed up to draft him in 2015 anytime soon, but credit where due- he’s been playing a capable defense in his own end, but also showing some nifty offensive flashes as well. He had a nice primary assist on David Pastrnak’s third period goal in Philly, and while he’s still looking for his 1st NHL goal in 48 games, he seems to have earned more of a role going forward and that milestone should not be far off.
How about Derek Forbort? His two-goal outburst against Philly was the first multi-goal effort of his 300+ game NHL career and gives him 4 in 13 games to lead the Bruins blue liners. Forbort has been a popular punching bag on soclal media, but he’s had some pretty good looks offensively and is finding the back of the net with a new single-season high already after not having scored more than 2 goals in his previous years. The offensive outburst should only boost Forbort’s confidence going forward, which bodes well for more improved defensive play.
https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1462254844316635139?s=20
Speaking of punching bags, who had Charlie McAvoy registering Boston’s first regular season five-minute major for fighting? Anyone? McAvoy engaged fellow Boston University product Joel Farabee in the second period Saturday and tuned him pretty good, landing several solid shots before pulling Farabee’s jersey over his head and yanking the Flyer off balance and to the ice. McAvoy needs to be on the ice, not sitting in the penalty box for five minutes at a time, but in a nod to the old school Bruins-Flyers slugfests, it’ll do.
Mike Reilly slotted into the lineup after several games as a healthy scratch, and showed noticeable energy and jump, which is a good thing. He’s still a little loose with pucks in the turnover department, but the fire and effort was a welcome development. The B’s need Reilly to be more effective in his own end, and after giving way to Zboril during the recent stretch of success, he likely better understands what he needs to do. The key will be to see if he can sustain it. Connor Clifton is the odd man out, as Bruce Cassidy will likely employ an approach to ride the hot hand on lineup decisions for now. It’s not ideal, and may create some issues with those who are in the revolving door of the B’s defensive rotation, but with the team healthy and winning at least for now, this is a reality.
Secondary scoring chips in
Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand, Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron lead the team in scoring with 20, 15 and 13 points each. That’s not a surprise. However, in wins against Montreal and Philadelphia, secondary scoring has helped to take the pressure off of the trio.
Charlie Coyle scored a pair of goals at home against the Canadiens, giving him five goals in 14 games. He had 6 in 51 games. That kind of production is what the East Weymouth, Mass. native has needed, as he always puts in the work and plays hard. His 9 points in 14 games isn’t David Krejci-level production on the second line, but he’s a lot heavier, so the B’s will take the tradeoff. Coyle is doing his job and doing it well.
Craig Smith registered his first points (goal, assist) of the new season after a brutal start. Going scoreless in his first eight games while missing five others to various injuries, Smith got off the schneid with a quick, snap release that beat Martin Jones glove side. Smith is one of Cassidy’s favorites for his versatility, relentless grinding style, and smarts. Getting those points were no doubt a big weight off of his shoulders.
https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1462243448271126534?s=20
On the fourth line, Tomas Nosek roofed a goal in tight on a nice feed from Anton Blidh behind the Flyers net. Nosek, who wasn’t drafted largely because he had mononucleosis in his 17-18-year-old season, and then missed most of the next season with a major shoulder injury that required surgery to fix, is doing his job so far with 2 goals and 4 points as a fourth-line staple. He’s showing some nice chemistry with Blidh, who is the only player left from the dud of a 2013 NHL draft class for the Bruins.
The 180th overall selection that year lacks skill, but you always know what you’ll get from him, and to his credit, Blidh is making some plays and helping out. His two assists in five games are the first time he’s had multiple points in a season since he debuted in 2016-17 with 1-1-2 in 19 games. Blidh is no threat to the memory of Gregory Campbell and other key fourth-liners in Bruins history, but he brings the kind of quickness and moxie that is essential for that role.
