Bruins News & Rumors: Pastrnak, Montgomery, Goalies & Forbort

Pastrnak followed up this news with an impressive offensive performance against the Penguins on Jan. 4. The superstar winger put up a three-point night, scoring a goal and adding two assists. With this impressive game, he now has four goals and six assists over his last six contests.

While this Pastrnak All-Star selection is entirely warranted, he is not the only Bruin deserving to participate in the game. Even if he struggled against Pittsburgh, Jeremy Swayman has been one of the best goalies in the NHL this season, while Charlie McAvoy, Brad Marchand, and Linus Ullmark also have cases. It will be interesting to see if the fan votes lead to more Bruins players being added to the All-Star Game roster from here.

Montgomery Shares Goalie Plan for Playoffs

During a recent phone appearance on 98.5 The Sport Hub’s Toucher & Hardy Show, Montgomery was asked if he will keep the Bruins’ goaltender rotation during the postseason. In response, the Bruins’ bench boss had this to say on the matter: “Yes, I mean, there’s no reason. And I think, you know, you’ve got to learn from the past, too. Last year, I made a mistake by not doing that in the playoffs. And I think that we, as an organization, we evaluate everything.”

Last season, Montgomery famously stopped the goaltender rotation in their playoff series against the Florida Panthers, electing to roll with Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark for the club’s first six games. The star goaltender struggled mightily in response, posting a .896 save percentage (SV%). In the end, abandoning the goalie rotation was a costly mistake for Montgomery, and as he noted above, he learned from his crucial error.

There is a lot of hockey to be played before the playoffs, but it is understandable that Montgomery already knows that he wants to stick with the goalie rotation for it.

Forbort Returns to Practice

Forbort is making progress with his recovery from his lower-body injury, as the left-shot defenseman returned to practice on Thursday (Jan. 4) for the Bruins. Montgomery also shared an update on when Forbort could get back into game action for the Bruins. Here is exactly what he said when asked about the veteran defenseman’s current status: “Week to week, starting (Thursday) as he ramps up and progresses. I’ll have more news, but it’s a good sign that he’s finally on the ice.”

Forbort, 31, last played on Dec. 3 against the Columbus Blue Jackets before being placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). In 20 games this season, he has four assists and a plus-9 rating.