Is Bruins’ Goalie Rotation Coming To An End? | The Skate Pod, Ep. 288

Is Bruins’ Goalie Rotation Coming To An End? | The Skate Pod, Ep. 288

Welcome into episode 288 of the skate podcast on Brian D Feliz joined by Bridget PR and Scott mclin we have our opening shifts to get into following the Bruins overtime win over the Montreal Canadians but first there’s a couple of items we have to hit right off the bat

Number one I don’t think any one of us are in great shape today uh personally it’s because I am I I’m going through the classic didn’t get sick once throughout the winter but now that the weather’s getting warm now I’m sick I want I don’t want to call this my

Flu game that’s a bit dramatic Ryan but um so I have that going on on my end meanwhile north of the Border Bridget and Scott holy smokes have I seen some pictures days why don’t I throw it over to you too to talk to me and and the listeners about your trip up

North it’s it’s been a very nice relaxing calm couple days no it’s not the first time I’ve been sitting in my hotel room just not do like we’ve been out we’ve been we’ve been around town yeah it’s it’s been great though like Montreal great great City uh good

Crowd at the game last night even even though it wasn’t the most exciting game um for most of it which we’ll get into um but yeah we met some cool people went to some cool bars um couple beer to Towers maybe yeah one one beer tower which was

I got to say for two people was was a little aggressive but we I thought we could have done too I think that’s extremely wishful thinking I just I just want to say I I may or may not I’ve seen a picture of of Scott with

His uh behind an empty beard Tower with his his his his head just in his in his arms on the table and listen I don’t I don’t think anybody listening could could blame because um like you said that’s that’s quite a lot for two people but it wasn’t just a Bruins Canadians

Trip it’s it’s also Scott’s birthday today so little little round of applause and there and there it is and there it is for the record this was just for the photo I was not actually passed it no he wasn’t he was he goes go send this to

Brian send this to Brian okay well I’m glad you clarified that because but if that was real I I I I wouldn’t have blamed you I mean that’s a lot no because no because then here he is at the next bar like happy as hell like he’s just oh okay that’s he’s wearing

The birthday crown that with my birthday crown he’s wearing the birthday crown I snuck in he had no idea that I was about to be like hey here’s your birthday crown um and he wore it and that’s I had to wait for him to get to the right

Level of buzzed for him to throw that on how was how was a drive how was a drive up did you to scratch and CLA each other like we we try to throw each other at the window what happened was that bad I I mean I did leave her at at Hill

Farmstead we stopped at the brewery and you know but but I felt bad I got got a little ways down the road and I was like yeah I guess I should probably take her was was was was Bridget practicing her her play-by-play with like street signs and there’s an exit sign

And and there’s a gas station right there on off Circle I only made him listen to two Shakira songs just two that’s not bad any hairy styles oh a lot of hairry styles there was lots of hairy styles but he doesn’t mind hairy styles so no I do like hairstyles lots of

Taylor Swift which I also don’t mind so a lot of Taylor Swift good poutine any poutine yes had breakfast poutine yesterday yeah that was a that was an excellent choice well you guys are still up there right now so the Trip’s not completely over so you can you know

Maybe do one one or two more things before you head home yeah get get SC drunk again right I don’t think so that’s that’s enough for a couple days all right well Scott as I mentioned it is your birthday so happy birthday and because of that we

Will we’ll have you start off with the opening shifts today how’s that sure so uh I thought one of the more interesting storylines from this game was Andrew Peaks Bruns debut uh and I thought he played really well thought that was a very encouraging first step for him um

Played just over 17 minutes had a couple hits a couple blocks I thought there were some shifts where you know he did a good job defending the net front which we’ve talked about is you know is going to be key like it should be a strength

Of his game the all the analytics would tell you in Columbus that it wasn’t so got to get that straightened out but um yeah first game no no issues like really nothing to complain about I thought he was uh involved offensively a couple times had a couple nice keepins um you

Know simple Puck movement and transition nothing flashy obviously which you know that’s his game like it’s it’s going to be simplified um but yeah Jim Montgomery had pretty high praise for him after the game so good good first step and obviously it’s you know there’s only 14

Games left on the regular season so that’s not a lot of time to get him up to speed in the Bruin system and figure out you know is he gonna be an everyday player come the playoffs or is he a rotational depth piece I think if he

Plays like last night he’s probably an everyday player but you know now let’s see if he can keep that going moving forward yeah no I thought he he looked very solid back there uh we’ll get into that more later uh so my opening shift is it

Was Beer’s first game back it was just over two months since he had played for the Bruins he’d been down in Providence um and so he’s centering the fourth line last night and thought he did a good job he did a great job on his face offs

Which is his strength and something that he can bring to the team it’s always funny when when you talk to the players and they they’ll like it almost sounds like sometimes they’re they’re like it’s a thesis like what they’re they’re they’re trying to like give us an essay

About like okay this is what I can bring like after the game uh or no before the game beer was was talking about like yeah I can I can do this I can I can bring the face offs I um I can be physical and he and he was right he did

He did that um he played some key penalty killing minutes he started like he took a face off in overtime he didn’t win that one but uh he they were using him in high leverage situ situations because he you know they trust him defensively and uh with his face off so

Uh I thought it was nice to see him back I thought he played well I think you know we can discuss what maybe the optimal fourth line might be come playoff time uh but as of Montreal it was a little bit of a boring game and different points but uh beer I thought

Was was a positive yeah a lot to talk about there you you’re kind of learning that there there is some depth well we I guess we already knew that but there is depth on this Bruin’s roster up front all the all the time it was just kind of maybe a

Lack of that that one extra high-end player but speaking of potential high-end players so seven points in his last six games overtime winner last night so Jake debrusk the points are following him now and just another reminder that again history shows the the analytics show that when Jake debrusk is scoring

That the Bruins are highly successful and and that’s that’s not going to be any different in the spring it’s it’s the biggest reason why all along in the beginning of the SE the first half plus of the season and even as recent as a month ago it’s he’s

Very polarizing when he’s not scoring and when he’s not scoring you have a lot of people who are defending him and and and understandably so that the the play is still there but the points aren’t there and but unfortunately for him because of because of where he is in

This lineup and because of his ceiling if the points aren’t there it’s e and and the Bruins aren’t winning it’s easy to look at him and say that’s a reason why like he’s capable of scoring at a high level so when you’re not even when you’re playing well you’re going to

Draw criticism and I think his streakiness doesn’t help him over the years that said he’s integral to them when he’s scoring and this last week plus has been a reminder of that and as we get closer to the playoffs he’s imperative especially because he’s still on this

Team yeah we we talked to him after the game and he you know he was asked about like basically just play since the deadline and and now being a week past that and he said like well I’ve been through it before but also like yeah of

Course you you feel you just feel better more comfortable once you get past that and you know okay this is where I am at least the rest of the season like obviously there’s still questions about his next contract and free agency and where all that ends up but he knows he’s

Here through the end of this season so I do think you know I think he was starting to pick it up even a little bit before the deadline but even but especially since the deadline you see him kind of playing with a little you know weight off his shoulders and I

Think can say the same about Lena elmar who by the way had a second straight really good outing um post deadline obviously satday against Pittsburgh and now Thursday in Montreal um there’s there’s some developments on on goal tending that I want to get into in a little bit but you

Know we can keep it to our opening shift guys for now yeah because Scott was qu was questioning Monty pregame about there’s a few reporters around that were like really trying to sniff out the real answer for what they genuinely consider a goalie rotation in the playoffs we’ll

Get to that after we kind of touch on the opening shifts right though uh because that’s another interesting conversation but I think Brian the de Brusque uh opening shift is a good one because it it was a theme you know like guys playing a little bit more confidently now that they know they’re

Here right like allmark playing great uh de Brusque looking like he’s playing more to his ceiling than he had been when he was going through you know a drought um and he he joked about it after the game someone someone asked him first question about like you know are

You feel more comfortable now that deadline’s passed you’re still here and he’s like well I’ve been through it before um because he has and and so and and at the end of the day both of them are happy that nothing went through that they’re both still here and uh every and

And Montgomery talked about it after the game too like in particular we think those guys are are very valuable to us basically saying like I don’t think what the return would have been would have help the team so it it was nice it’s kind of funny we is that the first time we’ve

Been able to talk to deque since the trade deadline um no he talked he talked one other time I think either a morning skater practice c yeah because he um it was it was the it felt like he was all of a sudden realizing like oh yeah crap

That’s that’s right that was that was a week ago and still haven’t really talked too much about it um but yeah and and he obviously scored the the gamewinner good setup um I don’t know he’s playing good yeah and he was hunting Puck last night too on the nesson broadcast after the uh

I think it was the second period maybe the first but uh Razer and um Sophia and I think it was was it Billy um they were or maybe it was Barry I don’t I don’t remember but they were they were highlighting some of his shifts um and

He was just hunting pucks and ultimately lead he gets he does get the gamewinner in a three on three format but yeah it’s just I I just don’t think it’s any secret I think there’s no doubt he’s a polarizing player um there’s a lot of people that that don’t like him because

Maybe they think he’s softer or inconsistent or doesn’t score but I and there’s a lot of people that that that love him and I think that when somebody’s polarizing it’s because everybody universally has expectations for a player and and yeah it’s just great to see him scoring and and and

Playing well additionally to that so they’re going to need him he’s definitely an important player and I don’t know if you had any follow-up thoughts on on De Brusque it’s it’s just kind of an obvious take right but again when he’s scoring it’s it’s it’s worth mentioning down a stretch here yeah and

It you know he needs to be on top of his game for that I’m going to call it the first line him Coyle marshand I think really could probably flip the top two lines call him whatever you want um but you know coil’s been a little quieter offensively recently I don’t think he’s

Been playing poorly um marshan had a little bit of a slump that he’s pulled out of he’s put up some points recently but yeah like the Bruns just aren’t deep enough in the top six in terms of high in Talent to really have anyone in there slumping like they kind of need everyone

To pretty much be on their game so you know debrus is streaky but obviously he’s he’s hot right now and you hope that carries into the playoffs you know that second line I actually I like the way Heinen’s played with zaka and poock that’s not you know you wouldn’t look at that

Normally and be like Oh Danton Heinen you know yeah sure second line right Bruns tried that back in 2019 and it you know well him him and like eight other guys but no no one ever clicked there um you know I’d asked Montgomery about that before yesterday’s game and he said he

He likes the defensive responsibility hi him brings to that line he thinks he’s helped them win pucks back but they did need a little more offense and sure enough lo and behold there you go they scored the game’s first goal um zaka sets up a posar one-time and then Heinen

A great job getting the rebound and putting it back while getting knocked to the ice so you know there’s there’s the more offense that they’re looking for that was like a slowmo that was the most slowmo goal ever he’s like Falling Slowly just trying to get the stick on it and he

Knocked it in he’s he’s been good too and people were talking about like okay maybe it’s time to extend heining like it you you you like them like you’re you only have them for a year right now so maybe extend him and he’s he’s been a great addition as I’ll call him a

Walk-on you know he just there on a on on a tryy out and then he made the team and he’s done well and he’s now he’s playing with David poso who saw that coming um so yeah that line that line actually has been playing pretty well maybe uh who knows maybe Mark Wahlberg

Can can play Danton Hein in a in Invincible to hockey edition or something like that who knows but yeah it’s uh it’s interesting because you’re right Scott like in theory you think to yourself uh hiding on on that on that line it feels like it’s not an optimal

Line from a talent standpoint but at the same time all year we’ve accepted zaka and Pastak and and jvr if they were a combination and you know at at jvr and Heinen’s respective stages in their careers I wouldn’t say one is significantly better than the other necessarily so why would we okay with

Jvr but hid in it seems weird I think it’s because historically jvr is a proven score in the league um and has played top six minutes in both Philly and Toronto but um like if you look at their current skill sets I think Heinen foot speed wise like keeps

Up with zaka and pak’s game a little bit better and and yeah there’s defensive um there’s defense defensive efficiencies that that Heinen brings that helps them as well so I wanted to ask you guys about that line and and and Scott you bring it up like I I I again because

This team doesn’t have a bunch of rock stars on it they have a couple right but like not enough to have two full two top two lines full of them my point is the trade deadlines come and gone we know that they’re not going to bring in

Another top six forward externally it it kind of is what it is and they’re going to be a they’re going to be a high and forward short we already knew that about them so um if that’s this line and passionx all World play can make up for

A little bit of high and not being a true Bonafide top six score but he brings other assets to that line if they keep playing like this I I I don’t necessarily want to see a change I don’t know if there’s a combination you guys are dying to see other than than them

Right now with with panac no I think I think it’s working pretty well um really almost almost every line so yeah for once they actually have some consistency um from game to game obviously Vin reik was out Thursday because he was sick uh so that threw you

Know a wrench into the line for Thursday night but yeah I think those all four lines have looked pretty good so you might as well ride it like you want to have we know things are going to change in the playoffs whether it’s ingame or

Game to game but you want to have sort of like a base foundational lineup that all right these changes aren’t working let’s go back to the thing that like that everyone’s comfortable with you want to at least have that even if you make switches to get away from it and it

Feels like this lineup that they’ve had now for several games of Martian Coyle de Brusque Heinen zaka V remsd geeky Frederick and then I know we’re gonna get more into the fourth line to build off Bridges opening shift but really any combination they’ve had there has done pretty well recently

With bogas brazzo loo Beach are jumping in with a good game um so it feels like that’s going to be you know that’s the safe net like this is the lineup that I think monk Armory will come back to when you know we’ll probably start the playoffs with and then even if there’s

Changes you can come back to this as sort of everyone’s comfort zone yeah I think this has become like an the obvious lineup like you said besides the like jvr probably factors in back on the third line bre brezo was elevated for the Montreal game because jvr was out

Um but so did you want to go to what I said like the the optimal fourth line because it’s interesting we were having this conversation at the bar last night like where does maroon fit in like does like where does Pat maroon like who do you take out um for a pat maroon

Fourth um basically where does he slot in also we can kind of give our latest update on whether or not like he’ll he’ll be ready in time for the playoffs um because there’s some troubling signs about his health that have that have come up I think Scott you might have

Mentioned this last episode as well but um he did not travel to Montreal he has not been skating either so um we can talk about you know who you’d want to see on the fourth line if it includes him or not uh so so I don’t know who

Wants to start with their their thoughts on that well yeah I mean I’ll just give my two cents quickly I I I think that I do think that if Mar was healthy and and playing at a at a reasonable level I do think that he would be in the

Lineup game one of the playoffs despite not having uh a ton of games with the team um I think that when you have three Stanley Cups to your name in recent years and you are capable of scoring at the NHL level along with not allowing anybody to bully or take advantage of

Your Superstars you’re going to put that guy in a lineup he he gets the benefit of the of the de if he’s healthy um whether or not one agrees with me on that that’s totally subjective and fine but I I do think if you’re if you’re the Bruins and you’re and you’re Jim

Montgomery especially if you’re playing you know Toronto in the first round with Ryan Reeves others running around or Florida at some point in the second round or Carol like you’re gonna I just think that they’re going to want him in that lineup if he can stay healthy and

Can can prove to not be a detriment in in between the the boards and I think maybe the casualty is logo on the left side um or they just kind of rotate guys in not to make sure maroon stays in or if maroon is not playing great they just

Kind of rotate everybody but I do think if maroon comes back at some point before the regular season ends plays a couple games and looks you know decent enough I do think that they’ll give him the benefit of the do in game one yeah it’s fascinating because Bruins

Got him and the timeline you know based on reports was two to three weeks you know probably by the end of March well obviously some I don’t know if there was a setback or maybe just the Bruins evaluate the situation differently but he he was skating now he’s not like

That’s not especially encouraging so now you wonder you know there hasn’t been any sort of update no one’s saying anything but you wonder like has that timeline changed and you know is his return now looking at some point in April because you are going to want to

Get him into games you know he’s been around I’m I’m not really worried about him adjusting to systems or anything he’s probably played just about every system there is um but you know chemistry with linemates and just to see how he looks um you know back surgery is

Not nothing not when you’re in your mid-30s like that’s you’re you’re gonna have to see it first so um yeah and it and it’s tough because again everyone else has been playing well like bfist playing well Loos had you know went a kind of a long stretch

Where he was the odd man out but I think he’s had good jump since he came back in I think brazo is still playing well um wi he’s on the fourth line I didn’t think he I just I thought that third line in general last night kind of had a

Tough game they they’re very quiet and um you know not all his fault but they there wasn’t really much there that where you were like oh wow he can play in the third line too like now he’s probably playing on the fourth line or not playing um and then beat like you

Love if beer plays like that like he did on Thursday night it’s hard to keep him out too because what he brings on faceoffs is so valuable for a team that’s struggled on faceoffs I mean for him to come right back in first in you know a couple months and win eight out

Of 11 like yeah Bridget you mentioned you know Montgomery throwing him out there key situations late and it’s like yeah well like what have we been talking about with this team about how they can’t win faceoffs and you know key situations late and then that’s why they don’t

Close out games and and then you bring him in and he’s winning key faceoffs and I know it wasn’t directly in the line in this line of play but like then they close out the game they win in overtime so um yeah it could be a missing piece

Like it really could and as long as he’s looking like he’s made some improvements since two months ago when when they sent him down to Providence he’s a good option to have there and and obviously he’s hoping he sticks and and he he can stay and and carve out the role that he

Started the season with um so I see that that honestly like if if we’re if we’re being real about it it’s probably going to be a rotating fourth line from now until probably through the playoffs because each each guy brings something a little bit different maybe it’s matchup

Dependent maybe it’s this guy had a bad game we get someone else in this guy has had a good game we’re gonna keep him where he is you know just completely based off of their own performances at the time um but Beach is a good piece to

Have uh if if you’re seeing that faceoffs are you know biting you or if you want to get ahead of it and you’re like no we’re going to start with him as our fourth line Center because we we trust him more uh in these key roles

Uh for face offs but uh my opinion about Pat maroon and where he would fit would would be first uh if he’s healthy obviously um fully healthy because you can’t you can’t have like a 80% healthy Pat maroon it might turn around and to to bite you

Um because he’s already not the fastest and I you know if if he’s even slower because the back issue and also you don’t want him to to have any sort of tweak reinjury if he’s not fully ready to go but I think I agree with you Brian

Blo seems like the one that he might factor in for I know people probably would say brazz zo uh but brazo is has been playing his role really well um and is a little bit different Skillet than maroon like if we’re looking at like more redundancy like who is more I feel

Like maybe La is much faster but maroon and Lao would probably be more of a comp than Breo and maroon I don’t know maybe I’m wrong about that but I I think it would be maroon and brezo I think they’d be the two that are more similar and I

Would like I’ve mentioned it before but I would also question the foot speed of a line with maroon and Breo as the two Wings yeah so that would have to be consideration too um since I give my idea line I guess a combination I would

Like to see but I just don’t know if they’re going to have time is maroon beater bfist like I I think bfist has been playing well so I want him in I would like the foot speed of that line um it would mean either maroon

Or bogis flips to to the right wing to to their offside I I don’t know if beer could do that too but you’d have to figure out like how it lines up like that combination would intrigue me um obviously it’s just not something we’ve seen and you don’t know when you’re

Gonna see it so um yeah not not that like brezo deserves to come out of the lineup or anything I don’t I don’t think he does but I’d probably want a little more foot speed than you’d get from a maroon Breo line yes and that’s that’s a

Fair point to make though I would argue uh if if you’re match up against other teams top lines I mean I’m sorry other teams bottom lines hopefully it’s not as big of a contrast but I also think there’s the positive to that is that’s a really heavy line and if if you

Get down low in the offensive zone no one’s taking the puck off you no one’s no one’s up musling you in front of the net so it’s it’s completely fair to bring up the lack of foot speed and that that would be a risk and a potential

Concern um and I think it’ be matchup dependent too um so the the combo you just mentioned SC I think is interesting as well they got options you wouldn’t have a chance to see it in the regular season more than likely like or maybe only for like two games in the regular

Season like it seems like because we’re we’re only a month and a day away from the Bruins last regular season game um which is April 16th so uh not a lot of time uh when maroon gets back if he gets back before the playoffs to plug him in

And see what worked best like you’re just going to kind of have to find out on the Fly um yeah you know I could also see like here’s the thing about Loco and he’s played really well and his foot speed definitely he he closes it on on

Opponents on the back check with back pressure he gets in there facing the four check that’s like those are all things you love to see um but from an offensive standpoint he’s not he’s just not going to bring you much and again let’s we don’t want I don’t want to

Ignore the the back surgery to Maroon but let’s just say maroon was completely healthy you could see maroon going into the lineup and scoring two or three goals in like four or five games just because he’s he’s he he can score at the NHL level and he can he can get dirty

Like loco you can’t even see him doing that and I also think that there’s there’s defensive um weaknesses with Loco he’s a bit of a riverbow gambler at times is that something that Jack likes to say um where he just sometimes he’s he’s too fast for his own good he’s

Too he’s too much of an ankle biter for his own good sometimes he gets caught running around and while I love the energy and the effort sometimes that can lead to you know breakdowns and coverage and whatnot and I just think that if you have a fourth line with you maroon and

And boquist and brazo or maroon and beer and brazzo or whatever maybe the combination Scott said I just think it limits potential risk defensively yeah if I don’t know if you guys had any other thoughts but I was going to maybe transition to peak in the defense and

See if you guys have any evolving opinions about how maybe what like the best defensive lineup is because we’ve you know we’ve seen a few different combinations we saw um you know shaton Kerr get rotated out obviously grizzli was sick so he missed Thursday’s game so

You got Lori moving up to play with macavoy um wetherspoon comes back in Peak makes his debut so again another place where it’s like hey it’s great to have all these options but at some point they are going to have to you know figure out exactly what their best six looks like

Well I think wspoon is going to take home a Norris in the next couple of years that’s just my opinion but um I don’t I’m just kidding I don’t want people to take me too seriously there but I don’t want him coming out of the

Lineup I I I I thought he was great last night in Montreal and I think he’s been a really good player since they called him up honestly and I that third pair of water spoon and and Peak I just think that kind of not that shaton Kirk

Can’t be doing the same thing out there because he’s a he’s a good veteran but Peak and wspoon they do exactly what you want a third pair to do and that’s make their opponents earn every inch of ice be strong in front of their net um

Physical and I like I think I think Peak plays such a simple game I don’t think it’s going to be difficult for him to come to a new system a more structured system and kind of flourish I’m not really worried about a defensive minded big body defenseman not being able to do

Those things um I I really do think being in Columbus and I know compared to his other Columbus teammates his analytics were not great I just think that it was a bad situation for him uh and I I don’t know about you guys but I really like wers spoon on that third D

Pair so you know if like I want I don’t want him leaving so if Peak has to rotate up with shaton Kirk or whatever that’s that’s that’s fine but I don’t want w leaving that third D pair and as far as the top four I think I mentioned

It last episode I just think lorai plays a lot better when he’s playing with like-minded like like skill seted individuals like maver or anybody in that top four um I think he needs to be in the top four to really get the best out of him whether or not he’s ready for

That role or not I don’t know but I think you get the best out of him when he’s in that role yeah I it was funny we got a chance to talk to Peak before the game and you could just see how refreshed he was like how happy he was

For the change of scenery uh just you get got that whole vibe about him like I’m actually somewhere I can play I can’t because he wasn’t getting a lot of ice time um and now you know now he’s hoping him and we spoon can can be a a

Reliable pair that you use a lot and I I think that the small sample size just the one game so far was very promising that that could be a a very useful pair I think shat and Kirk had been playing well um so I I thought and and we at the

End of last podcast said probably time to switch out both like switch the bottom pair up completely because W spoon was also out the previous game came back in um and it just seems like it could it could be a good fit I mean it’s obviously a better fit for him his

He wasn’t getting the playing time he wanted or thought he deserved in Columbus so uh and they so I noticed the first penalty kill they didn’t have him out on the ice at all but then they started working him in uh as they took more penalties uh he was starting to get

More time on the penalty kill because because that’s what we’re talking about with replacing forber like we’re talking about all right this guy might come in and be able to to do some of the same things Derek forber could do well then that means he would need to be getting

Some serious M minutes on the PK and be solid um as a penalty killer so that we haven’t really seen uh fully yet because they I think they were a little bit conservative with using him on the PK against Montreal yeah he only had he only had 45 seconds there and that might

Be that you know he might just not have had a chance to practice their PK yet like he he had one full team practice on Wednesday um which you know obviously we weren’t at because we were driving up that day but I know they do power play

Work every practice but you know exactly how power play and penalty kill work obviously they go against each other um but like exactly how much we don’t really know you know it’s like how much were you able to get him up speed there in in one practice so I would anticipate

Getting him they’ll get him more time there um going forward but yeah it Brian I think I think you’re right about Lura like either he’s it it’s it’s him versus grizzli right like if feels like it’s those two essentially battling to be Charlie mako’s D partner game one because I

Don’t I also don’t love Laura in a third pairing role um you know maybe it’s because when he’s been there he’s usually been with chatton Kirk and I’ve kind of thought for a while like those two haven’t just haven’t really clicked like they don’t seem to work super well

Together um you know maybe he’d work better with Peak if they ever gave that a look um but then like you said that that means we spoon comes out and I I don’t really want that um I I I like the idea of the we spoon Peak third pairing

Like if if they continue to play the way they did Thursday night that’s that’s solid like that’s you can absolutely win with that third pairing um lindol Carlo you feel good about we haven’t well we can I’ll save H as lindol for when we do ups and downs but

Um but yeah it you know before grizzli got sick I thought I thought he had played a few really solid games there were especially against Toronto and Pittsburgh that Grizz McAvoy pairing had some of those like classic Grizzly mavo games where you look at it’s like 70%

Cory and the Bruins have badly outshot the opponent when they were on the ice and it’s like all right like they can still do that um and if they do continue continue to do that then it’s hard not to start the playoffs with that and see where things go um

Lori definitely has more upside than grizzli it’s just a matter of like whether his allaround game is going to be in a place to beat him out for game one right now but I do I do think even if Lor doesn’t start the playoffs in the lineup it’s like one slip up from

Someone especially from grizzli probably gets him in yeah because that seems like his most natural fit has been with makoy um H shat and I AG I say maybe maybe with car with Carlo like I think he looked really good with Carlo but you’re not splitting up lyol Carlo that’s your your shutdown

Pair no it it’s just it just doesn’t really work what it’s him with someone else who is a little bit shaky and Chad Kirk has been a little bit shaky right and wetherspoon maybe doesn’t have the skill set to pick up when when Laura makes a

Mistake you know what I mean like the way that makoy can cover flaws um so I guess the real question is like is would you rather have grizzli or Lori in the lineup and that’s some something that that’s a rhetorical question you don’t have to answer it right now if you don’t

Want to um but it’s something that they’re goingon to have to figure out in the playoffs and I feel like my gut tells me that they’re still gon to stick with grizzli um what would you prefer though I am curious what your answer to that question is

Mine’s lorai I’ll just I’ll just say it yeah I want lorai right now over grizzli that’s just me I I can list off my reasons but I don’t want to take up too much time but it’s G it’s it’s lorai for me personally I think at this point in

Time it would be grizzli that would be more like you go with him because he’s got more experience in play like just specifically because of the situation like he’s been in it before lorai hasn’t um that might feel like a safer move to keep grizzli there I I would probably

Start with grizzli there um but it it would be a short leash for me um you know like Lura has a good option so I wouldn’t we’ve seen grizzli struggle in the playoffs before if that happens again like I I wouldn’t just keep playing him and let him play through it

I’ I’d go to Lori but the reason I would start with grizzli is because Bridget you mentioned you know makavo can help cover for lorri well if he’s playing that way where it’s you know okay I have to be aware of you know if lorai takes a

Chance or whatever I think makoy might not play as free offensively and I I do think grizzik allows makoy to do that like Grizzly those two know each other’s gam so well that you know I think Mako can get more involved offensively take more chances because he trusts grizzli

To cover for him um you know not just the other way around so that that would be my reasoning for starting there and like I said I think grizzli had been playing well which I don’t want to overlook we know he’s had an inconsistent season overall but I do think he’s been better

Recently yeah all fair points I would I would I would go the opposite I would start with lorai and give him that same short leash that you would give grizzli if he didn’t play well to start I would give Lura the opportunity I think I think that whether people want to

Acknowledge it or not I do think that uh coaches uh GMS I do think they prefer to have a little bit more size and reach on the back end and I think that lorai to no fault of grizzli he he’s he’s a bigger player but he’s also a very gifted skater and and

Playmaker and you know I think about potentially who they could playing in the first round if it’s Toronto I think I think lorai played really well against Toronto this year it was his first NHL game I think was against Toronto potentially um so I I just I I think about can

Austin does Austin Matthews you know skate down the ice looking at grizzli and think to himself I mean I think I can take advantage of this player or does he look at uh lowai size and skating ability and think it’s a little bit tougher to get to inside ice with on

A on lay or gets the net on lorai so again I I see the positives with grizzli like he has been playing well he has experience and he does make Charlie makoy feel very comfortable out there which is good because makavo is one of your best players I also don’t think it

Hurts for makoy to kind of feel like he has to step up a little bit more um and and maybe be a little uncomfortable so yeah I think either way it’s a good option again we’re talking about two really good players I think but I would start with lorai

And if he shows he really just can’t handle the moment okay well here comes M Glick so I would I would start aggressive and then lean back on my safety plan as opposed to the opposite um I don’t know if you guys any follow-ups on that Scott I did want to

Get to your your your question with Jim Montgomery uh pregame last night in Montreal that’s I I I was going to tweet something about it but I figured I’d wait for the podcast and I will let you uh discuss in detail what was asked what was said and then

I’ll give my thoughts on it yeah so we don’t know what the brunes are going to do with their goalies um they continue to kind of dance around it whether that’s because publicly they just don’t want to give anything away which would be understandable or because maybe they just legitimately don’t know

But I do think I got Jim Montgomery to pretty much rule out one thing and that is doing exactly what they did last year which was for people who might not remember how people remember how the playoffs ended obviously but down the stretch in the regular season they kept

The rotation going right to the end it was all Mark Swan alark San right to the final game of the regular season and then they tried to ride El Mark for the first round um I basically I asked M Montgomery directly like could you do that if you keep the rotation going to

The end of the regular season could you then ride one goalie um and here was his quote so he kind of mentioned like well you might go two games in a row with one goal you might not be a strict rotation um but then he said but that’s something

We’re gonna have to discuss internally and we know if you go with a platoon the whole year switching in and out you can’t expect one guy to ride the emotions of the playoffs by themselves that to me was about as close as we’ve gotten to one particular plan being ruled out

So I I would say if they keep the rotation going till the end of the regular season expect them to use both goalies in the playoffs whether it’s a strict rotation or you know someone gets two or three starts in a row but probably not much more than that um and

Then the flip side of that is if they are thinking about riding one guy and I think we feel like maybe swan has the edge um I would expect them to end the rotation soon and give someone you know three four five straight start on the regular season to start getting them

Ready for that so you know that that that four and a half five hour drive up to Montreal with a couple of breweries in between was good for something Scott because I think this is a very interesting talking point that if Boston media is smart

They’ll take it and run with it it’s a because it’s been a polarizing topic for a couple years and you got a really good answer uh and a very transparent answer and here’s what I’ll say I I’ve been on record these entire time that I I don’t

I never love the idea of quite literally rotating goalies one game one game in the playoffs and a counterargument to that would be well they went with the rotation all year so go with what got them there and and that’s a point that I I couldn’t really argue because you’re right that

Is what they did the whole time and it doesn’t set up the goalies favorably to now just take the load in the playoffs but I also didn’t agree with necessarily that strategy either but I I got the point how can you rotate all year and then give the net to one guy because

They’re not used to it because people would say you can’t give them the net because they’re only both of them are only Elite because of this rotation that they’re doing we haven’t seen them take one guy take the net and I understood that I didn’t agree with that philosophy

Because I wanted one guy to take the net for the most part but I I agreed with it I understood it and and Jim Montgomery is saying just that and and what I took from that is that they’re GNA go they’re going to go with one guy and if one guy

Struggles they won’t take very long to go to the next guy yeah but we thought the last playoffs and they it seemed like they waited too long last play last playoffs there was a lot going on um like there was a lot going on you had so many injuries allar was injured omark

Wasn’t I I I I I don’t as far as last year goes like I really my my my brain’s numb thinking about that collapse last year and and honestly we cannot blame necessarily the the goal tending lack of rotation because uh for not winning the first round because before allar had a

Chance with the puck on his stick in game five to [ __ ] it up Brad Martian had a breakaway with a second left of Regulation That Could Have Ended everything and we wouldn’t be talking about this but there’s there’s a lot of mean on that bone so I’ll just keep it

To this year Al what I’ll say what I’ll say is this I reading between the lines I don’t think the Bruins want a situation I I don’t think they’re going to rotate this year BEC at the end of this year because I don’t think they’re going to do it in the playoffs if

They’re going to stop the rotation then they’re not going to do it in the playoffs Scott to your point and I think that was very telling that Monte even said that because months ago he said the opposite and I think I just think that there’s a lot of mental games that goes

On in the playoffs like people say people in favor of the goalie rotation and Scott I know you’ve said on record like I’m not saying to go every other game um but if there’s a situation in the playoffs where goalie a uh loses game one goalie B wins game

Two you like you’re at game three and you’re already at a pickle do you go back to the guy who won who lost game one or do you stick with the guy and and that’s why it’s just it causes so much um confusion I think in the room it I just

It’s it becomes a distraction to me so uh I don’t know if it does though just like in terms of they trust like these guys trust both goalies like the guys play out in front of them like they’re they’re trusting either of them to go in um it also becomes a difficult decision

All right you have if you have to choose now after omark omark had two great games but swan has been probably more like more consist consistently um the better goalie throughout the season but they’re so close it’s hard to tell if if you have to make that decision now and

One guy doesn’t get you like doesn’t get used as much starts sitting because you’re trying to get somebody emotionally ready for the playoffs and give them more of a workload to to get uh just to prepare for it now what do you do when when with the other guy like

G I think he just the rest of the season and or majority of the rest of the season and like then if you need to use him in the playoffs how’s that going to go look I I think I think you have 14 games left okay uh I think you just I

Think you give San maybe you give if if the Bruins think right now that based on the the the sample of the entire season so far that they like swiming whether it’s his gamesmanship or whatever if there’s 14 games left inste instead of going seven

And seven you know go go 10 and four or 9 and5 I don’t know but like it you got to pick a guy I’m telling you right now it’s going to backfire there’s going to be so much second guessing if they just go into a 50-50 playoff thing I I I

Don’t see it I think Scott said it best recently like whatever goalie is playing best heading into the playoffs you play him in the playoffs until he has a bad game or two and then go to the other guy because you know you have two great

Goalies well again but my point like all long has been there’s going to be second when you have two really good goalies there’s going to be second guessing no matter what and basically unless you win it all like unless the strategy you pick works out perfectly there’s going to be

Second guessing they last year they tried to ride the VZ a trophy winner and there was a ton of second guessing like at multiple points during that Series so you know just picking a guy and like going with them that doesn’t that doesn’t preclude the second guessing

Like that’s still going to be there if if it doesn’t work because then you get you get the same questions as last year of like well then when do you make the switch is it one bad game is it two what if he has a good game an okay game a

Good game an okay game like that there’s gonna be there’s second guessing pretty much no matter what unless the the option you pick just like works almost to Perfection but it’s it’s there’s it’s so much more manageable to second guess like a decision or two than it is to second guess constantly every

Series like you could potentially play what 28 games in the playoffs like to to be to every series be like should they have gone with San in this game or all that’s guys my my brain would explode having to talk about this like just well it seriously would the real ISS I really

Think we’re I really think like we’re gonna be doing that anyways though like that’s just a product of having two high in goalies yeah well and the real issue is that I think that there’s there’s two people involved in making the goalie decisions and they might not agree

Either so like goalie Bob is somebody that they trust to make those decisions Montgomery might have a different opinion of what they should do who they should play and you know they I they might butt heads about that and last year it did kind of sound like he threw

Goalie bom on the bus a little bit so I feel like they might not see eye to eye on what they should do necessarily um and that could complicate things too what what what makes me what makes me nervous about about constantly switching up goali in the postseason because don’t I I

Completely understand like the argument keep them fresh they’re both really good like they’re used to it like it’s it’s not going to disrupt their Rhythm whatever but I have a hard like goalies are such a interesting creature like if Swan goes out there orar if one of them goes out there and

Has like a 50 plus save performance and he’s just feeling good about himself um and Scott I know this is not what you’re were saying you in your world you would stick with that guy at the following game but a lot of people are saying like

No no rotate him and I can’t get on board with that because if a goalie gets hot he gets hot and you can’t get hot if you’re literally you know every couple games sitting on the bench I just I don’t love it one thing I just want to I

Just want to clarify is last Bridget you brought up last year um I thought olark was he he had a crucial mistake in game five in overtime along with mt grizzli um and he was not great in game six obviously but I don’t want to make the

Mistake of letting the team off the hook because they were up three to one and in the back half of that series it was but you know allar G had kind of a subpar pretty rough game too and that you know like I I remember

After that I think I would have I think I said I would have started swimming game three just because like I I wanted you know to use both um I was I was Pro rotation and and still would be if if it if they’re both playing well down the stretch this

Season I would still be in favor of it um record I wanted s in game game six too last year just so not that’s the easiest second guess was not making the switch after but but it goes to show that it goes to show that like I’m not I’m also not just like

One guy only like like I was willing last year to give it to SW I wanted Swingman in game six and seven because game seven alone is that’s a tough ask so I’m I’m more in the Middle Ground than I probably sound sometimes but I don’t mean to deril

You yeah but you know but again then like allmark had good game three good game four and it’s like well you can’t switch then so um yeah but one one thing I want to highlight though just the Brun schedule the rest of the way is a little bit

Funky like there’s a couple backto backs there’s a couple long three even four day break at one point like and I don’t think either of those are conducive to riding a guy like you don’t really have back-to-backs in the playoffs they don’t like playing goalies back toback nights anyways um if you

Have two days off between games that doesn’t really mimic playoffs so I would highlight two stretches of all right if you’re gonna give someone three games in a row here’s where you do it and one of them is next week Tuesday Thursday Saturday Tuesday Ottawa Thursday Rangers Saturday at Philly like there’s a

Three-game stretch that mimics a playoff schedule you know not talking about the opponents but just every other night actually Saturday is even an afternoon game which by the way you get some of those in the playoffs so um that would be one of them and then first week of

March at Nashville Tuesday at Carolina Thursday versus Florida Saturday afternoon in Boston like those are the two stretches I would look at and be like all right if someone’s getting three straight starts and you want to and you’re doing that as playoff prep those are the two stretches where it

Makes sense so very interested to see if they do that next week I gota say like my gut still tells me that they’re not going to break the rotation just yet but we’ll see I mean they’ve said they might so well you know if they don’t do next

Week then I think you kind of only have one other opportunity to mimic a playoff type schedule so Ryan you muted yourself yeah you yourself um do you want do you want to get to the who’s up Who’s down real quick we’ve gone long but that’s what I was saying to to myself

Apparently yeah I mean we’ve already touched on some of them like all all marks up that’s two really good games since the deadline um Pavo Zak has been putting up points Jake de brus we touched on um I wanted to highlight hampus Lindholm you know I don’t know if

You guys had wanted to specifically highlight any of those others but I think campus lindol has played really well since he’s come back to the lineup from injury um on Thursday he makes a great play in overtime to win the puck back and start that Rush that ends up uh

That ends with deus’s gamewinner um you know he won a one-on-one battle down low in the defensive Zone to get that going and I just think he’s I just think he’s played really solid and um you know especially that first game back against I think that’s Pittsburgh right he like

He had a ton of jump maybe a little quieter second game but then I thought really solid again Thursday in Montreal yeah I think he’s up I think he you noticed that you you missed lyol uh and we we talked about how allar was up has been up since the trade deadline um

There there have been a few that are down like jbr we we’re say he’s sick um that’s why he missed the Montreal game and I don’t know how long he’s been dealing with it but he didn’t like his last stretch of a few games he he wasn’t

Very productive um was kind of not noticeable out there uh so he’s he’s got one point in his last 12 games yeah so he wasn’t making a huge impact and and uh he’s maybe it was because he was sick you know we don’t know exactly what he was dealing with but he

He needs to reach you know what he was doing earlier in the season when when he was you know impactful on the power play um in front of the net and when he was uh making things happen on the third line and and you know is it chemistry is

It what is it like that he’s not seeing right now I mean Frederick and him and geeky have played together quite a bit so feel like that like chemistry shouldn’t be an issue at this point but maybe that’s you maybe that’s not a great fit for him for whatever reason um

Or maybe he’s just having a tough stretch here and he’ll come out of it but uh he’s definitely been a down and I don’t need to pick on him because he’s sick or anything like that he’s also about to have his 1000th game ceremony uh already played in his a thousandth

Game but he’s gonna have the ceremony Saturday so yeah I think um you know Trent Frederick is another player who has been just a little bit down I I I don’t think he’s playing poorly but I think he has maybe six points since the All-Star break which is dating back about a month

At this point um again this is not a crazy down just he’s somebody who pre-all-star break was kind of scoring on a career high clip and was feeling really confident offensively and he had a really really great goal against Toronto recently where he stripped William neander of the Pucket went down

And scored a goal to put the BRS up two nothing but um just seems like his production’s been down a little bit so he’s he’s going to be noted here and and Scott you mentioned Charlie makoy also kind of pointless in his last six games maybe but outside of that how has he

Been playing do you think yeah I think I put both Charlies in kind of the same category where like I don’t think they’re playing poorly at all I think they’re they’re still playing well but makavo zero points last six games Coy one point in the last five um so just

Offensively they’re they’re down like obviously you need more production than that from those two guys but I don’t think like their whole game has fallen off anything I think they’ve mostly still been playing pretty well and I I think zaka has been an up we talked a little bit about him but he

Was last week he was the second star of the week in the NHL like he’s been he’s been scoring uh he’s and that line that we talked about hin and zaka pasta been it’s been a good line it’s been a productive line Heinen you could also

Say is an up um so I think zaka came to mind right away when we were talking as well as the bras um for who’s up this week all right so that probably wraps up for for this episode I do want to mention quickly the uh the Bruins play

The flyers I think in Boston uh on the 16th which that reminds me of being uh I think it was a 2007 2008 season the year that Bruins made the playoffs for the first time in a couple of years it was the first year under clo the Bruins played the flyers

In Boston on a I think it was a St Patrick’s Day uh Matt and a I remember they were all green uh hats in the audience and it was it was a game where I think Aaron Ward scored like a a goal in overtime and it was just I remember

The game because it was one of the first times in a couple of years that the garden was sold out and it was kind of leading into that playoff run and it’s the garden was sold out because people were catching when that the Bruins were about to make the playoffs potentially and

Um it was kind of the start of the of the last you know almost 20 years of of of this Bruins run and I don’t know if you remember you remember that but it was against the Flyers so seeing the flyers in town on St Patrick’s Day

Weekend is kind of reminded me of that of that game I do I like vaguely remember that I I don’t remember all the details um like like you probably do but I do know what you’re talking about um yeah Philly Philly feels like a good St Patrick’s Day opponent too like you know

Another another team another city with a lot of uh Irish heritage um I’m a little bummed it didn’t line up that you know brunes were up here in Montreal through the whole weekend um because Montreal also goes hard in St Patrick’s Day it’s it’s a big deal up here I know you know

People think it as French Canadian which obviously it is but there are a lot of Irish up here and there’s a lot of Irish bars and pubs so um I think we had a good time Wednesday and Thursday but I think people are going to be having a really good time uh Saturday

And Sunday yeah maybe it’s for the best that we’re not here for St Patrick’s Day yeah I don’t know it would be crowded and Scott would be you know we don’t know we I don’t want to have to scrape Mr mlin off the bar floor somewhere and

I know I promised to to post on the skat pod Twitter account all of the updates of what we were doing but then I decided probably posting a bunch of pictures of us drinking is great idea to put on the work account but I took the pictures I have the

Pictures I just uh maybe beer Towers maybe beer Towers shouldn’t go on our work Twitter but you know it’s like it’s like the opening to the or the end the end credits to The Hangover or something like that just all these yeah well all the pictures come back

Yeah that’s a good idea if I had more time I would edit them right into this section right here and then and then so you guys will be on Sunday act actually St Patrick’s day you’ll be on Sunday skate in the morning indeed yep 9: to

1100 am. don’t go too hard on Saturday night so that you’re awake Sunday morning all right Saturday night Saturday night’s a work night so I’ll be okay yeah yeah all right well if there’s nothing else guys we could probably sign off so thank you all for listening have

A wonderful weekend and a fun St Patrick’s Day and we’ll talk to you on Monday hey guys thanks for watching the skate podcast if you want to see more of our videos visit our playlist not in front of a screen you can listen to us on Spotify Apple podcast or wherever you

Get your podcast don’t forget to follow us on social media and if you enjoyed this video please don’t forget to give us a thumbs up subscribe to our Channel and leave a comment

We discuss everything that happened in Montreal, including whether Scott survived the beer tower at McLean’s and the Bruins’ overtime win against the Habs. We react to Montgomery’s recent comments about potentially ending the goalie rotation. Plus, our impressions of Peeke, Beecher and DeBrusk vs Montreal.

Follow us on Twitter: @TheSkatePod | @smclaughlin9 | @briandefelice_ | @bridgetteproulx | Email us at skatepod@weei.com

Leave your questions in the comments and we will answer as many as we can!

Jump to:
00:00 – Montreal stories and game recap
20:00 – What would the Bruins’ best 4th line look like?
40:00 – Is the Bruins’ goalie rotation about to come to an end?

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