Jim Montgomery and the Bruins have worked themselves into one hell of a spot for a winner-take-all Game 7 Sunday night at TD Garden.

This is true across the board, really. But it’s especially true in goal, with the Bruins still unsure if it’ll be Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman who leads the team out to the ice on Sunday night. Speaking moments after Friday’s Game 6 loss, Montgomery did not have any clarity on where he was leaning on that front, and Saturday’s media session after Montgomery got off the flight back to Boston didn’t come with an inkling.

But this is such a pickle — and, man, I don’t know about you, but I hate pickles — that the hard truth of the situation is that there’s really no known right answer.

• If we’ve learned one thing about Montgomery through six games of this first-round series, it’s that he’s not as pro-rotation in the playoffs as many others are and have been. Even with the best one-two punch in net in the league.

  Perhaps that should’ve been known when Montgomery repeatedly prefaced talks of a goaltending rotation with a, “It’s not something we’d be against.” While that’s not an outright denial, that’s not exactly an endorsement. That, mixed with the reality of the first six games of the series, tells you that it’s not exactly his preference.

  The Bruins have had multiple chances to go to Swayman, too.

  Even if it’s just for a game.

  Ullmark did not get on the ice for a morning skate ahead of last week’s Game 3 and was considered a game-time decision with an undisclosed injury. But it was Ullmark who led the team out for the pregame warmup and turned in a 29-of-31 performance. Holding court in a Florida hotel between Games 3 and 4, Montgomery acknowledged the possibility of going to Swayman for Game 4. That idea was put into the universe by Montgomery, but again, it was Ullmark who led the team out to the ice for Game 4. Ullmark carried the Bruins for 10 straight saves while the Bruins hunted for their first shot of the evening, and finished the win with a 41-of-43 line before a misconduct led to Montgomery giving Ullmark the rest of the night off.

  And with a 3-1 series lead, the Bruins had a golden opportunity for the closest thing to a ‘consequence-free’ playoff start for Swayman that the Bruins will probably get this postseason. It was on home ice, and even if the Bruins lost, they did so while getting Ullmark some rest and were going back to Florida (where they were 2-0 in the playoffs) with a chance to finish it off. But that didn’t happen. Ullmark got the call and took the loss, headlined by his overtime misplay, with a 21-of-25 performance.

• 

  SUNRISE, FL – APRIL 28: Goaltender Linus Ullmark #35 defends the net against the Florida Panthers during first period action in Game Six of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on April 28, 2023. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

• The Bruins also had the chance to go to Swayman in their Game 6 loss.

  Outside of a head save, it felt clear that Ullmark, who was on his sixth start in 12 days, didn’t have his A or maybe even his B game. Brandon Montour’s game-opening power-play goal spoke to that, and the Bruins’ repeated breakdowns didn’t help much at all.

  But, again, Swayman remained on the bench. Even when the thought of a change popped into Montgomery’s head.

  “We communicate with everybody involved and we just felt that it was that kind of game that we were going to pull out,” Montgomery said of any in-game changes in the loss. “It was a kind of game that happened a lot during the year. And we always seemed to find a way to win.

  “But we’re learning here in the playoffs. It’s a different animal. It just is.”

• 

  Apr 8, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) reacts with goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) after defeating the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)

• But here’s the question: Have the Bruins learned enough to know that it may be time for a switch?

  Listen, I gotta admit, I hate the idea of putting Swayman in this spot. There’s absolutely no room for error and Swayman has played just three minutes and 11 seconds of hockey since the conclusion of the Apr. 13 season finale.

  Should Swayman get the call in Game 7, that would be a 17-day gap between starts. And in case you’re wondering, Swayman’s longest, non-injury related gap between starts at any pro level is nine days, and came earlier this season. Swayman stopped 28-of-29 in that game (an Oct. 27 win over the Red Wings), but an October game against the Red Wings and a Game 7 win-or-die involving a historic season are juuuuust a bit different.

  On the flip side, however, this is why you kept your rotation intact for an entire season. This is why you went above and beyond to ensure that Swayman stayed on top of his game late in the season. It’s also been the backbone of your team and why you’ve been this good this season. Swayman is also not short on confidence — from his time at Maine to his unbelievably quick push to the NHL roster back in 2021 — and the Bruins know it.

  “When it comes to Jeremy Swayman, he is the most confident individual I know,” Montgomery offered. “He’s kind of like [if] you give the ball to Clemens to go and win in Game 7 on the mound. You’re down the last two minutes and Tom Brady’s got the ball, you like your chances. If it’s Swayman that’s in net, I have the utmost confidence in him.”

  The Bruins could also use turning to Swayman as a rallying cry of sorts. Swayman has struggled against the Panthers this year (two losses and an .881 save percentage in two games against the Panthers this season), but the Bruins were a noticeably better team defensively in front of Swayman towards the end of the regular season. Perhaps putting the non-Vezina favorite option in net sparks the Bruins to stop gifting goals to the Panthers.

• 

  BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – APRIL 06: Jeremy Swayman #1 of the Boston Bruins and Linus Ullmark #35 celebrate after the Bruins defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime at TD Garden on April 06, 2023. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

• There’s also something to be said for an organization learning from their mistakes.

  The Bruins chose to go down with the ship with an injured top line in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins knew that Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak were all dealing with injuries that limited their effectiveness, but Bruce Cassidy didn’t want to break them up. The Bruins paid for that. In the 2021 playoffs, Tuukka Rask, dealing with a banged-up hip that ultimately ended his career, told the Bruins that he was good to go. He struggled in Game 5 and had to be pulled, and looked even worse in the season-ending Game 6 loss on Long Island.

  Ullmark is clearly not 100 percent. His reaction time looks a bit delayed compared to where it was even a week ago, and if the Bruins aren’t going to help him out, it’s only going to get worse. And while the injury may be something the Bruins consider (considered?) manageable — they’ve held him off the ice in the obvious name of injury management — he’s not exactly passing the eye test, be it in his fifth start in 10 starts or last night’s sixth start in 12 days.

  Sticking with Ullmark in Game 7 could very well be shades of Cassidy letting Rask try to muscle through his issues in 2021, or Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez on the hill in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

  Or it could be Ullmark pulling one more rabbit out of his helmet in this round before a reconfiguring of a rotation in round two. The Bruins can’t and are not forgetting that Ullmark’s top-shelf performances in Games 3 and 4 are just a week old, and that those came with No. 35 at less than 100 percent, too.

  It’s a legacy-defining move for Montgomery and the Bruins.

  And one that absolutely does not come with a right or wrong answer.

  Not before sometime around 9 p.m. on Sunday night, anyway.

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