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Toucher & Hardy

Bob Beers: I think Linus Ullmark will start Game 2 for Bruins

nick
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On Tuesday’s edition of Toucher and Hardy, Bob Beers who is a Bruins analyst for 98.5 The Sports Hub, joined the show and made the prediction that the Bruins will start goaltender Linus Ullmark in either Game 2 or Game 3. The Bruins have been consistently rolling out goaltender Jeremy Swayman, and haven’t gone back to the former Vezina trophy winner since Game 2 in the Maple Leafs series.


I See Ullmark Playing Tomorrow…

Fred Toucher: For us and for everybody. Every fan who’s playing in goal for the Bruins has been a topic of conversation, obviously. With the short rest, we weren’t sure if it was going to be all Ullmark or Swayman last night. Now that Swayman has been so good for so long, short of something bad happening, is the whole tandem goalie thing kind of out the window in your opinion?

Bob Beers: I try to read between the lines when you hear Jim Montgomery talk. So they had some breaks in between the Toronto series. But then you have one day off in between game seven and game one, and it’s every other day now up until what is it game 5 or 6, I believe. My gut and this is just me. I see Ullmark playing tomorrow, if not game three when the Bruins come back home. I see him playing in one of those. It’s hard to go to him right now with the way Swayman’s playing, there’s no question. You know, you don’t want a situation where, you know, Swayman plays some games, and all of a sudden you start to see some leaks and then you got to throw Ullmark in during game seven, and he hasn’t played in weeks because we saw that last year. So I do believe and it’s just my feeling I could be completely wrong. But I believe you’re going to see Ullmark either in game 2 or 3.

Fred Toucher: That’s what you would do. That’s if you, Bob Beers as coach of the Bruins and you have this going?

Bob Beers: You’ve got two great goaltenders. I mean Swayman has been awesome, right? I mean, how many how many games in a row has he allowed two or less goals. Since he’s been in there, he’s been outstanding. But when they’re playing every other day and there’s really no breaks until later in the series where you have two days off. It’s I think that they’re going to go to Ullmark either in game two or game three.

Apr 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scores a goal past Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scores a goal past Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Listen to The Full Segment Here!

Nick Gemelli, the wizard behind the scenes at Toucher & Hardy and a maestro on 985thesportshub.com, kicked off his radio escapade back in 2007 as an intern for Toucher & Rich on WBCN. After navigating through WFNX and the Boston Phoenix, he made a triumphant return to the show in 2016. Hailing from Marshfield but currently holding it down in Tewksbury, Nick’s radio journey is as dynamic as his Twitter feed. Nick writes about what happens on the Toucher & Hardy Show and Boston area lifestyle content.

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Bruins pour it on Panthers, take Game 1 by 5-1 final

The Boston Bruins officially have momentum.

Boston poured it on the Florida Panthers in Monday night’s Game 1, scoring three times in the second period and taking a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series by a 5-1 final. The Bruins got their first four goals from unlikely sources, forwards Morgan Geekie and Justin Brazeau, and defensemen Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, stopped 38-of-39 Florida shots (.974), making big saves early and often, and coming through in key moments late. The Panthers mostly struggled to solve Swayman, despite out-shooting the Bruins 39-29 and generating 16 high-danger scoring chances.

It’s become something of a routine for the Bruins to play tight games early on, and Game 1 against the Panthers was no different. The teams battled to a scoreless draw in the opening 20 minutes, with the Bruins holding a 14-9 edge in shots on goal at 5-on-5, and 8-2 in high-danger chances.

Both teams had golden scoring opportunities at the doorstep. Swayman extended his right pad to make a huge save on Florida’s Anton Lundell, less than a minute into the game.

David Pastrnak had a juicy chance of his own after intercepting a pass attempt in the Panthers’ end, but couldn’t quite finish his deke through goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

  • It was in the second period that the floodgates opened, especially for the Bruins. But the Panthers drew first blood, capitalizing on a Charlie McAvoy turnover on a breakout attempt. Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk shot around a screen and under Swayman’s blocker to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

  • The Panthers’ only lead of the game was short-lived. Continuing a trend from Game 7 against the Maple Leafs, the Bruins quickly answered. And it came off the stick of Geekie, who has been elevated to a top-six center role in recent games. The move finally paid off, as Geekie finished a rebound off the initial shot by linemate Pastrnak to tie it 1-1, just 1:07 after the Tkachuk goal.

  • Less than four minutes later, the Bruins struck again, with what turned out to technically be the game-winning goal. This time, the emerging Lohrei confidently handled a pass down low in the faceoff circle, and picked the short-side corner over Bobrovsky’s shoulder for his first career playoff goal.

  • With just 21 seconds left in the second period, the Bruins got their most heartwarming goal of the night. Carlo, who just welcomed the arrival of his second child Monday morning, arrived in Florida in time for the game and ended up firing home his second goal of the playoffs to make it 3-1 Bruins.

  • Not to be outdone by his teammates, Brazeau made one of the most impressive offensive plays of the game to put the B’s up three in the third period. The 6-foot-5 winger protected the puck as he cut in front of Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and finished around Bobrovsky with his backhand to make it 4-1.

  • Jake DeBrusk added an empty net goal in the third period to officially put the game out of reach, but in reality, it already was. That’s mainly thanks to Swayman, who held off an early third-period flurry by the Panthers to earn his second straight win and fifth in seven starts so far. He may have locked up the Bruins’ starting goaltending job for a while.

    Game 2 between the Bruins and Panthers takes place Wednesday night, with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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