TAMPA – You want to talk about an enigma?

All postseason long, there has been no individual – not even Tim Thomas – who has been more captivating, mystifying, and puzzling all at once than Lightning coach Guy Boucher. He and his team have rolled through Pittsburgh and the nation’s capital as the No. 5 seed, leaving in their trail a defeated higher seed and a city full of people wondering what just happened. 

The former Hamilton Bulldogs coach is smooth with the media. He comes off as so kind that one has to wonder whether a team would get anything done if he were Nathan Horton’s coach. He’s secretive, as he won’t talk about his signature facial scar and did everything but the throw-away-the-key gesture when asked time and time again about his Game 5 starting netminder. Above all else, he’s the cool young guy, compared to Claude Julien’s generally strictly business demeanor. 

It was hard to believe at the beginning of the series that such a question would pop up regarding the 39-year-old coach, but given the events of the last couple days, you’ve got to wonder: What the hell is he doing?

With the Lightning two wins away from the Stanley Cup finals, the rookie coach showed some guts – and perhaps got caught up in his own mystique – when he decided to go with his backup goaltender/likely punchline to any joke about Dennis Seidenberg in Mike Smith. Down sat Dwayne Roloson, who had entered the series leading all playoff netminders in save percentage and goals against average but was yanked twice in the series’ first four games. It was a dicey move, but if anyone had the stones to do it, it was Boucher.

“When people deserve things … I'm one of those guys that I'll give people a chance,” Boucher said following the game of his decision to start Smith, who faced 19 shots and allowed two goals no one could have stopped in the loss. “I felt that Smitty had been terrific for us for a long, long time, and he deserved to get a game. At the same time, I felt that giving a little breather to Roli, a bit like Vancouver did with [Roberto] Luongo, and Luongo came back and they have been winning since.” 

Maybe Boucher truly did just want to give Smith a critical playoff start to reward his 29 saves in relief over Games 2 and 4 while resting the 41-year-old Roloson. Boucher announced Tuesday that Roloson will return to the Tampa net Wednesday at St. Pete Times Forum as the team fights to force a Game 7.

“Well, I mean, he was the guy that took us here, and that's how I felt before last game," Boucher said. "But like I said, I felt like it was time to give him a little breather.  At the same time, I felt that Smitty played really well. So it's a perfect situation to put Smitty in. If something were to go wrong in the previous game, put a new goaltender in for a do-or-die, I don't think it would have been a good moment for anybody.”

That logic sounds genius when it comes from Boucher’s mouth, but if Roloson is “the guy that took” the Lightning to where they are, shouldn’t the idea be to rest him after the playoffs? Unless there’s something physically wrong with him, Roloson could be 61 and sitting him wouldn’t make sense. If it’s about performance, then how short a leash does the coach have with his netminders if he’s going to deny Smith another look after not hurting the team in Game 5? 

“This is a perfect situation,” Boucher added Tuesday. “[Roloson] is going to be the only rested guy [between] the two teams.”

Hear that, Claude? And Tuukka Rask is going to stay on the bench while the far less-rested Thomas starts Game 6? By Boucher’s logic, Julien is really rolling the dice by starting his best goaltender.

The Bruins spent the second round wondering from game to game which goaltender they would end up facing. They chased Brian Boucher in Games 1 and 3 against the Flyers, saw the Philadelphia starter miss a chunk of Game 2 with a wrist injury, and then faced Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 4 as they swept Philadelphia out of the playoffs. 

Yet as the B's moved past the Flyers and onto the Eastern Conference finals, it seemed the goaltending questions would be minimal-to-nonexistent against the Lightning. Now the Lightning have to get comfortable playing in front of a different guy each night as they try to stay alive.

"I don't think it changes the team's game at all," Gregory Campbell said of playing in front of different goaltenders each night, as he has experienced during the regular season with Rask and Thomas. "To be honest, I don't think it's a distraction for them either. Both of their goalies are good. They have the capability of winning games for them, and they've done that this year."

With the B’s now a win away from the Stanley Cup finals, there have been far more questions about Tampa’s goaltending than one would have expected. Yet given the way its been handled, it’s Boucher’s reasoning that’s most questionable.