In late October after watching David Pastrnak undress Red Wings goalie Ville Husso on a penalty shot, Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman expressed relief that as his teammate, he didn’t have to face Pastrnak.
“He’s got a mixed bag. That’s hard to do in this league — be unreadable,” Swayman said. “He has so many go-to moves. He’s really good at reading the goalie. That’s a really hard thing to do. That’s why he’s a world-class player. I’m glad he’s on my team.”
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That won’t be the case on Saturday. Thanks to the NHL’s new All-Star format, teammates can land on different teams and Swayman will face Pastrnak at 3 p.m. in the first of two 3-on-3 semifinal games.
The NHL returned to a draft format after creating teams by division in recent years. The league did a draft from 2011-15, but that was for 5-on-5 games. This year, the league has named four captains and assistant captains, who chose their teams schoolyard style.
Connor McDavid, the captain of Team McDavid, did the Bruins’ duo no favors.
With back-to-back picks to end the fifth and start the sixth round in the NHL All-Star draft, the Oilers superstar, who’d picked Pastrnak in the second round, was set to pick his team’s second goalie and Swayman was still available.
But instead of uniting the two Bruins teammates, he selected Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Swayman went shortly after to Team MacKinnon where he joined a handful of Colorado Avalanche players.
That means on Saturday at 3 p.m. depending on how Team MacKinnon coach Rick Bowness utilizes his goalies, Pastrnak could be shooting on his Boston teammate.
It might not be the only matchup that will come with Boston bragging rights on the line. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery is coaching Team Matthews. If the Auston Matthews-led Maple Leaf-laden squad beats Team Hughers, Montgomery will face either Pastrnak or Swayman in the final.
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