Without star forward Brad Marchand, the offence is off to a terrific start, with at least five goals in every game. The defence has looked a little shaky without Charlie McAvoy and now Brandon Carlo, while the two goaltenders look to be trending in opposite directions.
After Linus Ullmark came in for relief of Jeremy Swayman last night against the Ottawa Senators, it seems like a good time to look at the numbers the two have had since becoming the Bruins tandem.
And some of the results are quite surprising. The underlying stats show that not only has Ullmark outplayed Swayman to start this season, but basically since the beginning of last of the 2021-22 season.
As per Bruins Stats on Twitter (@bruins_stats):
Analytics is one of the most controversial talking points in hockey right now, as, yes, the eye test still does show a lot still.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season (October 16th, 2021), Swayman has a 24-15-3 record in 43 games with a 2.53 GAA, a .909 SV% and three shutouts. In the same span, Ullmark has a record of 28-10-2 in 44 games with a 2.45 GAA, a .917 SV% and one shutout.
It's clear that Ullmark should be the Bruins starter in the early going of this season, but Jim Montgomery and staff will most likely decide to mainly play the two netminders the same.